Climate change among the focal points at gathering marking 150 years of Treaty 4
Pasqua First Nation Chief pushes importance of water and its protection
A week-long gathering in southern Saskatchewan is reflecting on Treaty 4, marking the past and celebrating the future.
Treaty 4 was signed on Sept. 15, 1874, between the Cree, Assiniboine, Saulteaux and the Crown. The agreement covers about 195,000 square kilometres of territory, including most of southern Saskatchewan.
The annual gathering has been recognizing the signing of Treaty 4 for the past 30 years. The main location is at the Treaty 4 grounds in Fort Qu'Appelle, but there are events in other locations like Yorkton and Balcarres.
It began Monday with a pipe ceremony and feast, and extends to Sunday when it closes out with a traditional powwow.
On Tuesday, there was a youth-focused climate action forum. Pasqua First Nation Chief Matthew Todd Peigan said he wanted to push the importance of protecting water.
"What are we leaving our generation, what are we leaving our youth of tomorrow? Are we leaving them in a better place? And if we're not, don't you think it's our responsibility to make them aware of the issues before them?" he said on Tuesday.
Peigan estimated there could be as many as 1,000 youth there, given the number of nations invited.
Among them was Keshay Stanley, from Nekaneet Cree Nation, located in southern Saskatchewan, near Maple Creek.
Her family's ranch is near the First Nation.
"Well, due to the climate change, we have had a lot of droughts," she said.
"We do have lakes. We have a couple rivers out there and normally we have animals who go down there to drink some water and because of the climate change there's nothing for the animals there. So it has affected their animals."
LISTEN | This week marks 150 since the signing of Treaty 4 in what is now Fort Qu'Appelle. We used this opportunity to dig into the significance of this and a check-in on how we are doing as a country at upholding our treaty obligations.
Some of the areas at the gathering were dedicated to activities like learning how to make bannock, or the history of Treaty 4.
Peigan said he doesn't believe that Treaty 4 is being properly upheld.
"When the Indian Act was first created, it administered Treaties. But then, over time, the Indian Act was amended to basically assimilate, isolate Indigenous people through starvation policies, the famine eras, confined to First Nations land … the assimilation through the residential school system, the assimilation right up into the Sixties Scoop," he said.
He said he's passing that knowledge onto the new generations, and hoping they don't have to endure genocidal policies similar to previous generations.