The other face of the Treaty medallion shows two men clasping hands. One is First Nations and the other is European. At their feet you see a buried hatchet. There was no conquest. Our treaty is a commitment to peace and friendship between equals. Behind the two figures, our tipis stretch to the horizon. There are no fences. The Crown was confirming that we would continue to live on the land according to our traditions and without interference.
While I’m talking specifically about Treaty 4, a similar spirit and intent informed treaty-making right across this land, from the earliest peace and friendship treaties with the Mi’kmaw and the Wolastoqey on the East Coast through to the often-overlooked Douglas Treaties on Vancouver Island. The Crown entered into more than 70 treaties with First Nations before 1923. In every case, our people saw the treaty process as an affirmation that we would live alongside our new neighbours on the basis of mutual respect and reciprocity.
For Indigenous Peoples, the treaties are still very much alive. That is why we continue to say to our non-Indigenous neighbours, “We are all Treaty people.”
However, we also know that the original spirit and intent of the treaties was quickly betrayed. Even as it negotiated Treaty 4, Canada was implementing repressive laws that confined First Nations to tiny reserves, overthrew our traditional structures of government and tore First Nations, Inuit and Métis children from their families and cultures. There was no respect and no reciprocity.
Indigenous Peoples in Canada today live with the consequences of that betrayal.