Recent “Plows and Cows” Settlements
August 30, 2024
Logo: Lac La Ronge Indian Band
On August 25, 2024 it was announced that the Lac La Ronge Indian Band[1] had approved a whopping $601.5 million settlement with the federal government to address non-compliance with the "cows and plows" clause of Treaty 6. Earlier in the month, Sturgeon Lake First Nation voted in favour of a $152-million settlement over the federal government's reneged agricultural promises outlined in Treaty 6.
It is among several settlements referred to as "cows and plows" agreements between Saskatchewan First Nation communities and the federal government over the failure to fulfil treaty promises to provide agricultural assistance and tools.
Under treaties 4,5,6 and 10, the Crown promised agricultural benefits, specifically livestock and farming equipment, to the First Nations that signed. Those promises went unfulfilled and recently became subject to settlement talks for compensation. The amounts being offered and accepted are massive. It is worthwhile explaining to all Canadians the importance of these settlements, and why they were necessary. Importantly, all Canadians should be aware of the injustices these settlements are designed to repair.
In short, when Canada was first forming in the post-Confederation era of the late 19th century, there was a desire to link up the fledgling nation (made up of the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) with the British colony on the west coast – British Columbia. In order to do this Canada purchased the land in between, known as Rupert’s Land, from the Hudson’s Bay Company and proceeded to enter into negotiations with First Nations people and the Metis who occupied those lands to effect land transfers. In part this was considered necessary in order to comply with the dictates of the Royal Proclamation of 1763[2].
The resultant treaties with the First Nations, known collectively as the Numbered Treaties, were specifically designed to secure the land needed to establish new provinces through the prairies that would facilitate the development of a railway and enable settlement. Notwithstanding, the treaties were also part of a grand design, to put into effect a government policy to “solve the Indian problem” (which research has shown to have been overtly stated by government officials at that time). That plan was to put into effect treaties and law (i.e. the Indian Act) to eliminate distinct indigenous populations and culture through assimilation into the immigrant’s culture of the fledgling nation – Canada.
Prior to contact with Europeans the indigenous people of the prairies were organized as nomadic hunter-gather societies that depended on the bountiful supply of natural resources including the massive bison herds. That way of life, though it was demonstrably sustainable prior to contact, was permanently disrupted by the incursion of Europeans who caused the rapid depletion of the bison and other resources. By the time Canada had set its eyes on incorporating the prairies into its fold, the indigenous way of life was already no longer viable.
This put the indigenous people of the west at a significant disadvantage when it came to negotiating with the Canadian government. They ran the risk of literally starving to death if they refused to accept the assistance being offered by the new government in exchange for the land. They were desperate and vulnerable.
As an aside it should be noted that it is unlikely that any of the various indigenous groups who were involved in the negotiations of the numbered treaties consciously ceded land to the newcomers. Rather it is likely they believed they were negotiating for fair use of common land. There is strong evidence that the written treaties did not accurately reflect the discussions but rather were altered to match what the government actually wanted. This complication remains difficult to reconcile but is definitely representative of the fact that the Numbered Treaties were not entered into in good faith.
Instead of agreeing to for fair use of common land the Numbered Treaties set aside reserve lands for the indigenous people and, under the Indian Act, the government sought to confine them to those lands. The idea was for the indigenous people to make use of a given tract of land to transition from their nomadic ways to an agrarian lifestyle whereby they would be stationary, self-sufficient and would be able to contribute to the wider society as farmers. Hence, each treaty contained promises to provide the necessary equipment, seeds, livestock and training to get them started in a new way of life. Moreover, for each reserve the government assigned “Indian Agents” who would be available to help the people develop agriculture and assimilate.
At least so goes the theory. In practice the Indian Agents were appallingly racist and deliberately set out to deny First Nations people under their charge basic Human Rights. Their duty was to provide the necessary assistance for the people to develop a self-sustaining and self-sufficient existence. Instead, Agents denied the people the opportunities to grow economically by exercising various powers over them. For example, indigenous people required approval from the Indian Agent to even leave the reserves. This approval was often held back including when travel was needed to take produce to market.
Moreover, Agents were responsible for the distribution of the promised farming equipment, seeds, livestock and training and often simply denied people access to these provisions. It is hard to imagine today that a government official would be so cruel as to deny people things they needed for survival. However, there is plenty of evidence that some Agents deliberately held back food supplies and essentially attempted to starve some of the people they were supposed to protect and nourish. Even when food was being distributed it was often of substandard quality and lead to increased incidence of severe health problems and death amongst the indigenous people. Further evidence shows that many Agents engaged in profiteering through kick-backs in securing sources of food for indigenous people.
These practices are well documented. Anyone wanting to learn more is encouraged to pick up a copy of Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation, and the Loss of Indigenous Life [2014] by James Daschuk. Daschuk examines the roles that Old World diseases, climate, and, most disturbingly, Canadian politics played in the deaths and subjugation of thousands of Indigenous people in the realization of Sir John A. Macdonald’s "National Dream." It was a dream that came at great expense. Specifically, the cost was: the then and now present disparity in health and economic well-being between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations, and the lingering racism and misunderstanding that permeates the Canadian national consciousness to this day.
It is with the backdrop of this history that we can come to understand why large settlements are justified to correct for the damages done when the government reneged on its promises and in fact had gone further than merely reneging and invoked policies that were cruel and inhuman.
This is also why we need to understand the importance of other initiatives that are taking place to correct for these and other injustices. For example, in Regina recently two city councillors proposed the renaming of Dewdney Avenue which had been named for Edgar Dewdney, a man instrumental in the establishment of Regina as Saskatchewan’s capital. Dewdney also played an important role in the establishment the reserves and the systematic deprivation of indigenous people including the deliberate policy of starvation. Unfortunately, city council over-ruled the motion![3] This contributes to the nullification or at least dilution of other meaningful efforts to reconcile.
We need to understand that with reconciliation comes the transformation of our current Canadian society and culture. We do have to eradicate the portrayal of history which is decidedly bias towards the European experience. We need to realize that people who may seem to have done important and even heroic things that contributed to the building of Canada were also people who did horrible things. Looking back at Canadian history ultimately exposes us all to events that we wish did not happen. But they did. Monetary settlements to compensate people for the damages caused is part of fixing the relationship between the indigenous people and the newcomers and is only one of the actions needed and is far from being enough.
We need a comprehensive strategy for reconciliation that includes increasing awareness of our history and carries out all sorts of steps (perhaps at least 94 :) that we need to take to create a new Canadian reality that includes our indigenous people as key founders.
[1] Lac La Ronge is in north-central Saskatchewan and is the second-largest First Nation in Saskatchewan with a population of 12,395
[2] See also a previous Anokiigamig article: https://anokiigamig.substack.com/p/resolving-issues-via-legal-battles?r=37xozd
[3] See https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/regina-council-dewdney-avenue-renaming-reaction-1.7303983
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