1. The Numbered Treaties

2. Why Did the Government Sign Treaties?
To obtain land and resources to build the railway
To create farmland for immigrants
To extend Canadian territory to the Pacific
To claim natural resources in northern Canada
To prevent possible bloodshed (as experienced in the U.S.A.)

3. Indian Wars in the United States (partial list)
Cherokee–American wars (1776–1794)
Wyoming Valley Massacre (1778)
Northwest Indian War (1785–95)
Seminole Wars (1812–58)
Black Hawk War (1832)
Osage Indian War (1837)
Cayuse War (1848–55)
Navajo Wars (1849–66)
Apache Wars (1854–86)
Yuma War (1850–53)
Utah Indian Wars (1851–53)
Mohave War (1858)
Yakima War (1855)
Mountain Meadows massacre (1857)
Paiute War (1860)
Kiowa-Comanche War (1860)
Dakota War of 1862 (1862)
Bear River Massacre (1863)
Black Hawk War (1865–72)
Bannock War (1878)
Cheyenne War (1878–79)
Sheepeater Indian War (1879)
White River War (1879)
Wounded Knee Massacre (1890)
Red Cloud's War (1866–68)
Comanche Wars (1867–75)
Battle of Washita River (68)
Marias Massacre (1870)
Modoc War (1872–73)
Red River War (1874)
Apache Wars (1873, 1885–86)
Black Hills War (1876–77)

4. First Nations Reasons for Signing Treaties
Promise of reserve land
Promise of hunting and fishing rights
Promise of annual payments
Promise of education and health care
Promise of agricultural machinery and training

5. Time Period
There are eleven numbered treaties in all, signed between the Canadian federal government and First Nations peoples
Signed during a 50 year period from 1871 – 1921
The first seven treaties were signed between 1871 – 1877, mostly relating to southern and central parts of today’s Prairie provinces
Canada wanted this land for primarily for settlement

6. Time Period
Four more treaties, mostly relating to the northern areas of Canada, were signed between 1889 – 1921
Canada wanted this land primarily for resource extraction (oil, mining, lumber)

7. Conditions Placed on the First Nations
Give up their rights to the land forever
Promise they would keep the peace and maintain law and order
Never possess any liquor on their reserves
Fishing and hunting rights did not extend to land the government was using for settlement, lumber, or mining

8. Native Groups Involved
Not all native groups signed treaties
The Inuit, most of the peoples of British Columbia, and the Métis were not approached by the government

9. Issues Related to the Treaties
The railroad and increasing settlement made it harder for First Nations to survive on hunting and fishing
First Nations peoples were displaced to designated reserve lands, often the poorest areas for agriculture

10. Scene from The Revenant, 2015

11. Issues Related to the Treaties
Freedom of movement was restricted, and the people were confined to reserves rather than being free to follow a traditional migratory lifestyle

12. Issues Related to the Treaties
People who were designated as “Indians” by the government did not have the same rights as other citizens until 1960

13. Issues Related to the Treaties
Misunderstandings occurred over terms of treaties
Some oral promises made by the government were not honoured
In other cases misunderstandings arose because of faulty translation
Some modern land claims are based on unfulfilled terms of the numbered treaties

14. Issues Related to the Treaties
In 2002, an Alberta court judge ruled that all Aboriginals covered under Treaty Eight do not have to pay federal taxes, regardless if they live on a reserve or not
By that point, the treaty had been 103 years old!