First Nations Chiefs and Bison Conservation
Several First Nation chiefs made it known before, during, and after the negotiations of Treaty Six in 1876, that they were concerned about the decline of the bison and asked Treaty Commissioner Morris to take action. Their positions are stated in Treaty documentation.
In 1876, the Government was mainly concerned with making a treaty with the Cree, the majority inhabitants of the Saskatchewan River country. Reports suggest that neither Morris nor the Indians knew at this time that in three years the buffalo would be entirely gone from the Canadian prairies. However, they were both aware that the buffalo were going.
Treaty Six was offered and signed at Fort Carlton and Duck Lake in late August, 1876. A Saulteaux Chief from Duck Lake told the commissioners, "When I look at the buffalo, it appears to me as if there was only one. I trust to the Queen and to the Governor, it is only through their aid we can manage to preserve them."
"After the closing formalities and treaty payments had been concluded, Morris invited the Duck Lake band to meet him so that such a large number of Indians might not be excluded from the treaty. They did so on Monday the 28th when Chief Beardy addressed Morris: "He said some things were too little. He was anxious about the buffalo." ... Morris reiterated what he had told the main body, that ....the Governor-General and the Council of the North-West Territories would examine the feasibility of a law to help preserve the buffalo." Having received these assurances, three additional chiefs and their headmen signed the treaty."
In September of 1876 at Fort Pitt, Chief Sweet Grass, whom Morris described as "the principal Chief of the Plains Cree", also spoke of his prime concern for the bison.
"After some time, Sweet Grass spoke. His address was an acceptance of the Government's terms, although his words as reported by Morris seemed a plea for co-operation in protecting the Indians from extinction. 'When I hold your hand and touch your heart, let us be as one; use your utmost to help me and help my children so that they may prosper.' Sweet Grass referred to the decline of the buffalo and looked to the Government to help protect them. 'It is for that reason I give you my hand.'"
Morris reported that the people assented to the speech of Sweet Grass.
However, Chief Mistahimaskwa (Big Bear) (c1825-1887) arrived after the above took place, having been out visiting hunting camps. He held out in the hope of making a better treaty.
"He visited Morris and told him that he spoke for the bands out on the prairie. He recognized the importance of the treaty negotiations and expressed his surprise that the chiefs who were present had not waited for him to arrive. Big Bear wanted the buffalo preserved and was pleased that something was to be done about it. He said that he could not sign the treaty because his people were not present but promised to tell them what he had heard and to return the next year."
Afterwards, Big Bear repeatedly refused to sign the treaty, arguing that his people were being lured into a trap. He sought more Indian control over the land and resources than the land cession view of the treaty provided. In particular, he wanted an opportunity to discuss emergency measures for conserving the remaining herds of plains bison. He met with Blackfeet to the west and also with Chief Sitting Bull.
Despite Mistahimaskwa's urgings, no action was taken and the great herds rapidly vanished from Saskatchewan. In the face of this calamity, he and his band took treaty in 1882. It should also be noted that First Nations people interpreted the loss of the bison as the "general famine" covered under Treaty 6 but the government distributed only meager rations in a disorganized way and insisted it was a favour and not a treaty obligation.
The elimination of the bison paved the way for settlement by European farmers, a process that ultimately saw the wholesale replacement of the prairie ecosystem with monocultures of imported species.
Treaty Research Report -
Treaty Six
(1876)
by
John Leonard Taylor,
Treaties and Historical Research Centre,
Indian and Northern Affairs Canada,
1985
Information on Big Bear based on submission by Candace Savage.
Big Bear