Treaty People’s Creed DRAFT

We are, all of us, Treaty People: original inhabitants and those who came later - inheritors of a diverse history, dwellers in a common land, travellers toward a better day.

We have known friendship and animosity cooperation and oppression blessing and pain. And now we embrace the sacred covenant that heralds a new beginning: that softens the heart and dismantles the prisons of the present and the past.

We joyfully claim our rights and responsibilities as Treaty People.

“Treaties are solemn agreements between two or more nations that create binding obligations.” (Indian Claims Commission: The Facts on Treaties, 2000, quoted in “We Are All Treaty People”, Office of the Treaty Commissioner, 2008, page 10).

Responses to the Creed may be sent to Dawn ([email protected]) or Bill ([email protected]). Thanks to John Whyte for the inspiration that led to the Treaty People’s Creed.

1 Suggested Discussion Questions:

1. When did you first encounter the phrase, “we are all treaty people”? 2. How do you react to the thought of being a treaty person? 3. What is your response to the Treaty People’s Creed? 4. Do you think that reciting the Creed makes any requirements of us? If so, what?

Discussion Guide for Treaty People’s Creed

The Treaty People’s Creed was developed by a task group of the Justice and Right Relations Home Group of Saskatchewan Conference, after being born in the heart of a United Church person in Regina. Using his ideas and phrases as a starting point, a first draft was written at Calling Lakes Centre in May 2011. Following trial use, feedback and revisions, the Creed will be presented to the J & RR Home Group for final approval in the fall of 2011.

The basic concept underlying the Creed is that “We are all treaty people,” a phrase first introduced to the Justice and Right Relations Group in April, 2004, during a session called “Treaty as Covenant.” The Creed is intended for use primarily by the J & RR Group and by individuals, congregations and groups within Saskatchewan Conference wishing to claim their place in the treaty story.

Some Background:

In a video titled “Treaties and Treaty Rights In Saskatchewan”, former Treaty Commissioner David Arnot reminds us that the treaties involved two parties: the First Nations peoples and the British Crown.1 The Queen’s representative and chief negotiator was Lt. Gov. Alexander Morris. In that role, Morris represented all non-indigenous Canadians, both past and present, in treaties that were understood to be for all time – in Morris’ words: “for as long as the sun shines, the grass grows, and the rivers flow”.2 Five treaties were signed in Saskatchewan between 1874 and 1906.

According to Arnot, the treaties were not “quick land sale transactions”, but rather, legal agreements binding on both parties. Even more, they were, to First Nations people, “sacred covenants,” agreements made before the Creator and meant to be permanently honoured.3 However, “The ‘Queen’s representatives’ did not hold the treaties as sacred documents in as much as they were a means to an end. They were about gaining access to the land.”4

The treaties conferred benefits on both First Nations peoples and the newcomers. In a resource titled “We Are All Treaty People,” published by the Office of the Treaty Commissioner, we read:

2 “As a treaty settlement, the Crown believed they were to receive: 1) peaceful access to lands for settlement, farming, railways and development; 2) peaceful settlement of the West; 3) minimal costs for westward expansion and prevention of costly wars with First Nations peoples; and 4) protection for Western lands by stopping American expansion, as well as other benefits.

“As a treaty settlement, First Nations peoples believed they were receiving: 1) physical survival for their nations; 2) peaceful relations with the newcomers through ongoing equitable relations; 3) respect for culture and spiritual survival as distinct nations by the preservation of their distinctive traditions and institutions; and 4) a transition to a new lifestyle by learning different technologies within education, economics and health, as well as other benefits.”5

The signing of the treaties established a new relationship between First Nations peoples and the newcomers: a relationship of peace, mutual respect and cooperation. Unfortunately, the promises made in the treaties were immediately broken by the Crown, accompanied by an inevitable breakdown in the relationship between the two parties. The influx of settlers after Confederation, spurred on by the government, created an ongoing need for more and more arable land. To accommodate the revenue-generating settler-farmers, the government forced First Nations people onto small tracts of poor land and placed severe restrictions on their movements and activities. In 1876, the Indian Act was passed, with the explicit purpose of “civilizing” First Nations peoples and assimilating them into Canadian society. The main tool of this plan, now seen by many as cultural genocide, was the establishment of residential schools. Between the 1880s and the 1990s, as many as 150,000 First Nations, Métis, and Inuit children attended approximately 130 schools.6 The last school to close was Gordon’s, north of Regina, in 1996. Gradually, Canadians are becoming aware that the residential school system was disastrous for indigenous peoples, affecting families and communities from one generation to the next. Taken with the Crown’s larger program of growth and domination, both the spirit and the content of the treaties were ignored and relationships between the two treaty partners were shattered.

A New Start:

In recent years, many Canadians have come to realize that our nation not only broke the treaties, but deliberately set out to destroy both the livelihood and cultures of First Nations peoples. Owning their complicity in the oppression of indigenous peoples, the United, Anglican and Presbyterian Churches, and the Roman Catholic Oblates, have all issued apologies between 1986 and 2001. The federal government followed suit in June of 2008, though as yet, none of these apologies has been officially accepted. Land settlements, financial settlements and other attempts at righting the wrongs of the past are being pursued. The Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement of 2007 led to the establishing of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the first of its kind in North America. The task of the Commission is to hear the stories of the survivors of residential schools, and those indirectly affected, and to seek opportunities for healing and reconciliation. By spring, 2011, nearly 1,000 statements have been collected. The Commission’s mandate will run until 2013, with the possibility of an extension.7

3 In addition, we have the opportunity, as stated in the Treaty People’s Creed, to remember and embrace the covenant made long ago, a covenant that establishes a relationship of peace, justice and mutual respect between the indigenous and non-indigenous populations of Canada.

A treaty confers both rights and responsibilities on those who enter into it. In the Treaty People’s Creed we gratefully accept the rights that belong, legally and morally, to every Canadian, i.e. security of person, freedom, equality, and access to resources. We also assume responsibilities, i.e. recognition that many resources derive from lands once occupied by Aboriginal peoples; acknowledgement that treaty promises have been broken and even basic human rights are not enjoyed equally by all; commitment to fair and just land and monetary settlements; and the fundamental right to self-determination.8

One attempt by the United Church to further the cause of reconciliation is to promote the understanding that “we are all treaty people.” Renewing the treaties, we believe, is crucial to right relationship between First Nations and other Canadians. The Saskatchewan Justice and Right Relations Group is hopeful that the “Treaty People’s Creed” will play a part in this effort at renewal and restoration.

ENDNOTES

1. David Arnot, video presentation, Treaties and Treaty Rights in Saskatchewan, Office of the Treaty Commissioner (OTC), 2000.

2. Alexander Morris, The Treaties of Canada with the Indians of Manitoba and the North-West Territories. 1880, quoted in We Are All Treaty People, OTC, 2008.

3. David Arnot, video presentation, Treaties and Treaty Rights in Saskatchewan, Office of the Treaty Commissioner, 2000.

4. Stan McKay, article, “Understanding Treaty As Covenant” in Kairos document, In Peace & Friendship: A New Relationship with Aboriginal Peoples, 2011, page 8.

5. Office of the Treaty Commissioner, We Are All Treaty People, 2008, page 13.

6. Kim Quinney, regional liaison for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, in a presentation to the Saskatchewan Justice and Right Relations Group, May 12, 2011.

7. Ibid.

8. Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (1996), quoted in the Kairos resource In Peace and Friendship: A New Relationship with Aboriginal Peoples, 2011, page 2.

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