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A Living Agreement: Treaty 6 at 150

Season 5/Episode 2 – English Transcript

One hundred and fifty years ago, First Nations leaders and representatives of the Crown gathered on the Prairies to negotiate Treaty 6. But what was written down was only part of the agreement.

In this episode, award-winning Cree, French, and Iroquois journalist Brandi Morin explores the promises made in 1876—and why understanding the treaty means looking beyond the written document. Then, Beverly Asmann, a descendant of Treaty 6 signatory Michel Callihoo, shares how those broken promises shaped her own family and why she’s still fighting to restore the Michel community today.

Since this episode was recorded, the Michel Callihoo Nation Society says Indigenous Services Canada has completed its review of the Nation’s formal submission for band recognition under Section 17 of the Indian Act. The Minister of Indigenous Services has directed officials to begin working with MCNS toward an agreement for the reinstatement of the Michel Band.

For Michel descendants, it marks a significant step forward after generations of work toward recognition. There is still much work ahead, but the process is now moving toward negotiations with Canada on a proposed agreement to re-establish the Band.

Update: Since this episode was recorded, the Michel Callihoo Nation Society says Indigenous Services Canada has completed its review of the Nation’s formal submission for band recognition under Section 17 of the Indian Act. The Minister of Indigenous Services has directed officials to begin working with MCNS toward an agreement for the reinstatement of the Michel Band.

For Michel descendants, it marks a significant step forward after generations of work toward recognition. There is still much work ahead, but the process is now moving toward negotiations with Canada on a proposed agreement to re-establish the Band.

Listen to the episode:

Angela Misri [00:00:05] It’s August, 1876. Along the banks of the North Saskatchewan River outside Fort Carlton, more than 250 lodges stretch across the prairie.

Nearly 2,000 people have gathered here, Plains Cree and Woods Cree leaders, Nakoda, also known historically as the Assiniboine leaders, their families, interpreters, Hudson’s Bay Company employees, representatives of the Crown.

Campfires burn, children weave between the lodges, conversations drift through the late summer air. But before anyone negotiates, before anyone reaches for a pen, a pipe is raised. The commissioners join in what they’ll later describe as the Dance of the Stem. For the First Nations gathered here, this isn’t a formality. The promises about to be made are witnessed by everyone present and by the Creator.

Welcome to Canadian Time Machine, I’m Angela Misri. This podcast receives funding from the Government of Canada and is produced by The Walrus Lab. This episode explores the 150th anniversary of Treaty 6. This isn’t the first treaty the Crown has negotiated in Canada. Over the previous five years, treaties 1 through 5 had already been signed, and news of those agreements had travelled across the prairies. As the buffalo disappeared and famine and disease spread, many Indigenous leaders wanted a treaty of their own, one they believed could help protect their people and create a lasting relationship with the Crown. So over the next several days, the two sides negotiated what became Treaty 6, an agreement covering more than 300,000 square kilometres of what is now central Alberta and Saskatchewan. The written treaty promises reserve land, annual payments, farming tools, schools, and assistance during times of famine. But what was written down wasn’t the whole agreement.

Brandi Morin [00:02:28] You know, when our leaders, when they sat down with the crown, they didn’t reach for that pen, okay? They reached for the pipe.

Angela Misri [00:02:36] Meet Brandi Morin. She’s an award-winning Cree, French, and Iroquois journalist from Treaty 6 territory. And before she became known for telling other people’s stories, she had to make sense of her own.

Brandi Morin [00:02:49] You know, I grew up on the prairies and had a little bit of a rocky start. You know my family was very broken and dysfunctional. And so I ended up in foster care at a very young age and went in and out of that system up right up until I was 18 years old. On my mother’s side, my kookum, my grandmother, she was a survivor of residential schools, a survivor of you know, colonialism and all of the displacement. And a lot of that ensuing violence and dysfunction just rippled out into our family and our family life.

Angela Misri In the early days of her career, Brandi reported on the local news.

Brandi Morin Back then, when I was working for these small little outlets, I would like be so excited to go to. You know, the school book sale and these kids telling their story or to go and visit with a grandma who’s, you know baking an apple pie and wanting their stories, every single story that I did to, you to basically shine to the world.

Angela Misri [00:04:01] Soon, she became more and more aware of how Indigenous people were being portrayed in the media, how it was further perpetuating racism and ignorance towards their communities. And it lit a spark in her.

Brandi Morin [00:04:13] When I started interviewing elders or youth or going out to cover processing a moose hide or other cultural activities, I just started to fall completely in love and I missed my kookum so much because we were so close. And I know that I missed out on a lot of these rich traditions that our people had.

Angela Misri [00:04:40] Then in 2014, Brandi pitched what she thought would be a simple story about a talented homeless man in Edmonton. Instead, it became the story that changed how she approached journalism.

Brandi Morin [00:04:51] There was a First Nations man that had gone viral in Edmonton, and he had sat down on an outdoor piano downtown Edmonton that was placed there by the city, you know, for public use, and he began playing this beautiful, beautiful melody, and a bystander captured him on video.

Angela Misri [00:05:30] But while the internet knew his music, almost no one knew where Ryan Arcand was. Brandi spent the next three days searching downtown Edmonton through back alleys, homeless shelters and city streets. On the last day, her eight-year-old daughter came with her.

Brandi Morin [00:05:46] So we left and I said, okay, I’m going to do one, one last drive around the Jasper Ave area and see, so literally, you know, we drive down Jasper Ab and all of a sudden I see what looks like Ryan and he’s crossing the street in a sea of people. And I saw him and I literally got out of my car and yelled across the street, “Ryan, Ryan”, and I got his attention and I ended up waving him over, pulled my car to this. You know, across the road, grabbed him. And from there, you know we went to a park and started an interview and over the next few days I got to know him and to know of his story.

Angela Misri [00:06:28] Brandi’s article about Ryan opens like this. Etched onto Ryan Arcand’s face are lines that hold the memories of a lifetime of misfortunes and make him appear much older than his 43 years.

Brandi Morin [00:06:42] And when that story was published, it was one of the most powerful stories that I had ever written. And it ended up being spread far and wide. And I was so, so inspired.

Angela Misri [00:06:54] Brandi........

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