Treaty Number Three, Or The North-West Angle Treaty - Privy Council
The Treaties with The Indians of Manitoba, The North-West Territories,
and Kee-Wa-Tin, in The Dominion of Canada.
In the year 1871 the Privy Council of Canada issued a joint commission
to Messrs. W. M. Simpson, S. J. Dawson and W. J. Pether, authorizing
them to treat with the Ojibway Indians for the surrender to the
Crown of the lands they inhabited--covering the area from the watershed
of Lake Superior to the north-west angle of the Lake of the Woods,
and from the American border to the height of land from which the
streams flow towards the Hudson's Bay. This step had become necessary
in order to make the route known as "the Dawson route,"
extending from Prince Arthur's Landing on Lake Superior to the north-west
angle of the Lake of the Woods, which was then being opened up,
"secure for the passage of emigrants and of the people of the
Dominion generally," and also to enable the Government to throw
open for settlement any portion of the land which might be susceptible
of improvement and profitable occupation. The Commissioners accepted
the appointment, and in July 1871, met the Indians at Fort Francis.
The tribes preferred claims for right of way through their country.
The Commissioners reported "that they had admitted these to
a limited extent and had made them presents in provisions and clothing
and were also to pay them a small amount in money, it being fully
and distinctly understood by the Indians that these presents and
clothing were accepted by them as an equivalent for all past claims
whatever." The Commissioners having explained to them fully
the intentions of the Government as to obtaining a surrender of
their territorial rights, and giving in return therefor reserves
of land and annual payments, asked them to consider the proposals
calmly* and meet the Commissioners the succeeding summer to come
to an arrangement. In 1872, the Indians were found not to be ready
for the making of a treaty and the subject was postponed. In the
year 1873 a commission was issued to the Hon. Alexander Morris,
then Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba and the North-West Territories,
Lieut. -Col. Provencher, who had in the interval been appointed
Commissioner of Indian Affairs in the place of Mr. Simpson, who
had resigned, and Lindsay Russell Esq., but the latter being unable
to act, Mr. Dawson, now M.P. for Algoma, was appointed Commissioner
in his stead. These Commissioners having accepted the duty confided
to them, met the Indians at the north-west angle of the Lake of
the Woods in the end of September, 1873, and, after protracted and
difficult negotiations, succeeded in effecting a treaty with them.
A copy of the treaty will be found in the Appendix, and a brief
record of the utterances of the Indians and of the Commissioners,
which was taken down in short hand by one of the soldiers of the
militia force, is hereto subjoined. This treaty was one of great
importance, as it not only tranquilized the large Indian population
affected by it, but eventually shaped the terms of all the treaties,
four, five, six and seven, which have since been made with the Indians
of the North-West Territories--who speedily became apprised of the
concessions which had been granted to the Ojibway nation. The closing
scenes were striking and impressive. The chief speaker, Mawe-do-pe-nais,
thus winding up the conference on the part of the Indians, in his
final address to the Lieutenant-Governor and his fellow Commissioners:
"Now you see me stand before you all: what has been done here
to day has been done openly before the Great Spirit and before the
nation, and I hope I may never hear any one say that this treaty
has been done secretly: and now in closing this council, I take
off my glove, and in giving you my hand I deliver over my birthright
and lands: and in taking your hand I hold fast all the promises
you have made, and I hope they will last as long as the sun rises
and the water flows, as you have said."
The conference then adjourned, and on re-assembling, after the
treaty had been read and explained, the Commissioners signed it
and the Lieutenant-Governor called on an aged hereditary Chief,
Kee-ta-kay-pi-nais, to sign next. The Chief came forward, but declined
to touch the pen, saying, "I must first have the money in my
hand." The Lieutenant Governor immediately held out his hand
and directed the interpreter to say to the chief, "Take my
hand and feel the money in it. If you cannot trust me for half an
hour do not trust me forever." When this was repeated by the
interpreter, the Chief smiled, took the out-stretched hand, and
at once touched the pen, while his mark was being made, his last
lingering distrust having been effectively dispelled by this prompt
action and reply. The other Chiefs followed, and then the interpreter
was directed to tell Kee-ta-kay-pi-nais, the Chief, that he would
be paid forthwith, but the Chief at once replied, "Oh no, it
is evening now, and I will wait till tomorrow." The payments
were duly made next day, and so was closed, a treaty, whereby a
territory was enabled to be opened up, of great importance to Canada,
embracing as it does the Pacific Railway route to the North-West
Territories--a wide extent of fertile lands, and, as is believed,
great mineral resources. I now quote the official dispatch of the
Lieutenant-Governor, dated the 14th October, 1873, in which will
be found, a full narrative of the proceedings, connected with the
treaty, and a statement of the results thereby effected. I also
submit a shorthand report of the negotiations connected with the
treaty.
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