What is Treaty Week?

As we are leading up to Treaty Week many teachers are looking for resources to support students learning.  At this time we would like to acknowledge that many of us have learning to do around this topic, and we need to address this learning so we can move forward.

During this week we encourage students and teachers to learn, wonder and ask questions about treaties, treaty relationships and how treaties have shaped Canada as a nation.

“What is Treaty Week?”  Treaty Recognition Week occurs in the first week in November and was first introduced in 2016.  It was created to bring attention to the importance of Treaties and to help people from Ontario learn more about treaty rights and treaty relationships.

The Canadian Encyclopedia tells us :

"Indigenous treaties in Canada are constitutionally recognized agreements between the Crown and Indigenous peoples. Most of these agreements describe exchanges where Indigenous nations agree to share some of their interests in their ancestral lands in return for various payments and promises. On a deeper level, treaties are sometimes understood, particularly by Indigenous people, as sacred covenants between nations that establish a relationship between those for whom Canada is an ancient homeland and those whose family roots lie in other countries. Treaties, therefore, form the constitutional and moral basis of an alliance between Indigenous peoples and Canada."
From  

You may have seen a Wampum Belt and connect that with treaties between settlers and Indigenous people.  In Canada, it has been well documented that treaties took place between Nations hundreds of years before European contact.  Many of these agreements were documented using wampum belts and are still alive today.

Wampum belts are one example of the way that Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe and other Woodlands Nation’s history and culture is tied to oral tradition. For each wampum belt, there’s a certain set of promises that an assigned Carrier of the belt memorizes, and recites at the appropriate times. The design, and even the number of beads, acts as a mnemonic device, much like the picture-writing on the birch bark scrolls. The wampum keeper would hold the belt and read it by sight and touch and memory. The oral tradition of the wampum belts is a formal, highly allegorical diplomatic language.
-Ojibwe Cultural Foundation 2011

This video explains the significance of the wampum belts.



This video explains the traditional meaning of treaties:


After watching this video this may be a prompt you pose this to your class:
Notice the language the elder uses,
 “..It was to create a relationship where you worked in harmony and consulted with each other at what would work best for all nations, not just one or the other”.

 What do you think this means?
 Is this spirit of relationship and harmony reflected with the later treaties with the settlers?

Where to next?  
The internet has many photos of Wampum Belts, and the Treaty Kit that each school was given in 2017 includes lots of information.  Use this kit to help start your inquiry and research into what it means to be treaty people.

This infographic can be a great tool to start the inquiry process around treaties.  What questions do you come up with as you read this infographic?

English version: https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1380223988016/1380224163492




French version: https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/DAM/DAM-INTER-HQ-AL/STAGING/texte-text/treatyMaking-infopic-pdf_1380133996417_fra.pdf


The revised Social Studies/History and Geography Curriculum document has many great sample questions to guide you and your students on learning more about treaties in Canada.



Stay tuned for more resources for your own learning and understanding of treaties and treaty relationships in Canada, as well as resources for your classroom!

Baamaapii Ngowaabmin!