Saturday, February 23, 2013

Treaties and Stuff - Part 5

In addition to the emphasis on agriculture, Treaty 6 contains two clauses that caused an hysterically negative reaction from the Chief Civil Servant in Ottawa, namely, the "medicine chest" clause and the "assistance during famine" clause, which read as follows:

"That a medicine chest shall be kept at the house of each Indian Agent for the use and benefit of the Indians."

Sometime in the 1930s this clause was interpreted by the courts to mean that all health services would be provided to the Indians, by the government in Ottawa. It has been pointed out that the Hudson's Bay Company provided medical services to Indians, and also that when Rupertsland (Hudson's Bay Company's territory) had been sold to Canada, the Indians were appalled by the loss of these services and the sale of their land, and assumed the Queen's government was intent on taking over the role previously played by the company.

And...

"That in the event hereafter of the Indians comprised within this treaty being overtaken by any pestilence, or by a general famine, the Queen, on being satisfied and certified thereof by Her Indian Agent or Agents, will grant to the Indians assistance of such character and to such extent as Her Chief Superintendent of Indian Affairs shall deem necessary and sufficient to relieve the Indians from the calamity that shall have befallen them."

At the time Treaty 6 was being negotiated, the specter of famine was already in view. The buffalo were rapidly disappearing, and hunger was already gnawing at Indian well-being.  There is little wonder that the need for such assistant was on the minds of the Indians as they negotiated the terms of their land surrender. While Ottawa bureaucrats were appalled, the Indians were grateful that the Queen had stepped up to replace the role previously played by the Company, which, during it's final days, had indeed, provided Indians with just such assistance.

However, the government in Ottawa was ill prepared, both in terms of logistics and mindset, to adequately fulfill these treaty promises, and a widespread famine did ensue while assistance from Ottawa was parsimonious at best.

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