Treaty 7 is an agreement between the Crown and several, mainly Blackfoot, First Nation band governments in what is today the southern portion of Alberta. The idea of developing treaties for Blackfoot lands was brought to Blackfoot chief Crowfoot by John McDougall in 1875. Negotiations concluded on September 22, 1877, at the Blackfoot Crossing of the Bow River, at the present-day Siksika Nation reserve, approximately east of Calgary, although a secondary signing occurred on December 4th of that same year, to accommodate Blackfoot leaders who were not present at the primary signing. Chief Crowfoot was one of the signatories to Treaty 7.
Treaty 7 is one of eleven Numbered Treaties signed between First Nations and the Crown between 1871 and 1921. The treaty established a delimited area of land for the tribes (a reserve), promised annual payments, provisions, or both, from the Crown to the tribes and promised continued hunting and trapping rights on the "tract surrendered". In exchange, the tribes ceded their rights to their traditional territory, of which they had earlier been recognized as the owners.
Britain had transferred whatever jurisdiction over "Indians and lands reserved for the Indians" it may have had to the Province of Canada in the 1840s. This authority devolved to the government of Canada at Confederation in 1867 and applied to the areas of the North-Western Territory and Rupert's Land that were transferred to Canada in 1870, including the part that became Alberta in 1905. The British government, in an exchange of letters at the time of the transfer, sought assurances that Canada would provide the Crown's obligation to First Nations.
thumb|A brass medal commemorating the treaty in the [[Glenbow Museum, 1877.]]
List of the Treaty 7 First Nations
- Bearspaw First Nation (Stoney First Nation / Nakoda / Îyârhe Nakoda)
- Chiniki First Nation (Stoney First Nation / Nakoda / Îyârhe Nakoda)
- Blood Tribe (Kainai Nation) (Blackfoot / Káínaa / Niitsítapi)
- Piikani Nation (Blackfoot / Piikáni / Aapatohsipikáni / Niitsítapi)
- Siksika Nation (Blackfoot / Siksiká / Niitsítapi)
- Tsuut'ina Nation (Sarcee / Tsúūt'ínà)
- Wesley First Nation (Stoney First Nation / Nakoda / Îyârhe Nakoda)
Context
In the late 1800s, five Indigenous nations were situated along the southern parts of western Canada. These were the Siksika (Blackfoot), Kainai (Blood), Piikani (Peigan), Stoney-Nakoda, and Tsuut’ina (Sarcee). These five Nations owned their lands and used them for hunting grounds, as well as for settlement areas. Their territories started as far south as southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, and northern Montana. They were nomadic populations, and freely followed the buffalo herds from which they gained many of their resources, which they used to sustain themselves. Buffalo were the foundation of not only the economy of the people of the plains but also of their culture and way of life. The buffalo provided the people of the plains with food, clothing and warmth, fuel, and sacred objects. Unfortunately, due to over-hunting in the plains, the buffalo populations would come to be greatly diminished, and by 1879, the buffalo could no longer be found in any significant numbers across the plains. This forced the people to pursue other ways of life in search of new sources of food.
Meanwhile, the Canadian government was pursuing the means to build a railway, which necessitated the acquisition of the land from the Indigenous people. The government brought forward the idea of a treaty to the Indigenous people who resided on the land that was needed for the railway, as they had done before, through the previous treaties with First Nations peoples.
The leaders of the plains were interested in the treaty, due to their concerns about the direction in which the lives of their peoples were headed. They had become aware that their resources were rapidly depleting as a result of overhunting and the commercialization of the usage of animals through the Hudson's Bay Company. To make matters worse, diseases such as smallpox were killing both the old and the young, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to control the spread of diseases to which there was no native immunity. However, they were also concerned about their future and the future of their culture, and what the influx of American settlers and traders would mean for their communities. The Canadian government's side of the negotiations for Treaty 7 were handled by David Laird, lieutenant governor of the North-West Territories, and James Macleod, commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police, who were together acting as the Crown's treaty commissioners. The First Nations representatives were largely from the Blackfoot confederacy, due to their inhabiting the majority of the land that the Canadian government sought after. Chief Crowfoot of the Blackfoot nation was sent to negotiate on behalf of the confederacy.
The negotiations took place at the Blackfoot crossing, within Blackfoot territory. The location was somewhat problematic for some of the involved nations, due to its distance from their hunting grounds. The treaty commissioners, Laird and Macleod, arrived on September 16, along with the Siksika, Stoney-Nakoda and Tsuut’ina. Those who arrived that day all agreed to push the meeting back by two days in order to allow the remaining nations to arrive. On September 19, the negotiations began between the commissioners and the five nations. Laird and Macleod began their side of the negotiations by stating the facts about the decline in the buffalo population. Laird in particular proposed an offer help to the Indigenous people by introducing new laws that would protect the buffalo populations, along with teaching the Indigenous people more about agriculture and ranching that would allow them a way to transition away from a dependence on the buffalo. Along with the exchange of land, an immediate payment was given to every man, woman, and child, along with the promise of annual payments of $25 to the nation's chief.
Immediate aftermath
Due to their rapidly depleting population of buffalo, the Indigenous people were interested in learning more about agriculture and how to cultivate their own produce, to help them navigate a more sedentary life. The government brought money, cattle, and the promise of education with the intention of teaching Indigenous people the Western ways of living, so that they would be able to sustain their populations without the buffalo.
Opinions on what the treaties mean differ across groups. Government officials have been cited as saying that the treaties were contracts allowing the Canadian government to take control of Indigenous lands in return for other types of compensation. All these implications of the treaties have contributed to the level of poverty and grievances experienced on the reserves and by Indigenous peoples today.
Special consideration must be given to the differences of cultures as pertains to negotiations. When comparing the difference in cultures during the treaty signing, it is possible the Indigenous population could have been misinformed or misguided, whether unwittingly or intentionally. The settlers at the time strongly advocated for the treaty to be a written document but the tradition of the Indigenous people was, and still is, an oral one. Due to the treaty being a written document, it is possible that other negotiations were made, which may have persuaded the Nations to sign the treaty, but were not officially reported. These conventional differences lead many to believe the Indigenous populations did not fully understanding the scope and ramifications of the treaties. It is speculated that if the Indigenous people involved had been properly informed of what was entailed in the documents, they would not have agreed to or signed these treaties.
The Canadian government has been attempting to reconcile with the Indigenous people of Canada. In the 1982 constitutional amendment, the government provided protection to the Indigenous people and the treaty rights of the Indigenous people of Canada.