Keewatin v. Minister of Natural Resources

Part 11. Post-Treaty Events 183[949] Lovisek's report (Ex. 28) contains the following at pp 147-149 recording Morris'comments about a conversation with the Chiefs with respect to a Petition dated June 21, 1875[Ex. 1, Vol. 8, tab 359, p. 8.]:One of the chiefs asked for a copy of the Treaty, "saying they want to know what is written…"1st The first chief Canda-comigo-wi-ninie … said I had promised that no drink should be intheir country … I told him a law had been made against it, and I would report his wishes andask that the law be enforced.…3rd. He complained that the promises of the Treaty were not being kept. ……The chief said, … It is all rock at White Fish Lake… I want to give up part of that and getmore on the Lake of the Woods.9 th . ... The second chief … said… We … want an agent for ourselves at the Lake of theWoods…2011 ONSC 4801 (CanLII)…He asked for a copy of the Treaty……The Saulteaux understood that their treaty relationship was personal and with the Commissionerswith whom they had personally dealt with at Northwest Angle, particularly Morris. This is why whenthe Saulteaux had a complaint about the treaty they travelled long distances to meet personally withMorris and later his successor, Cauchon. This demonstrates that the Saulteaux understood that thetreaty agreement was personal and limited to certain parties. The Saulteaux were not indifferent to theparties they had entered into for such an important agreement. The agreement created a relationshipwhich the Saulteaux would have understood through such mechanisms as alliance, kinship andreciprocity. These mechanisms involved mutual obligation, interpersonal relations and kinship. Boththe Saulteaux and Treaty Commissioners now shared a mutual relationship in the form of a symbolickinship to the Queen, which enabled what Historian Jean Friesen has described as reciprocalobligations.Morris forwarded the Chiefs' complaints of June 21, 1875 to the Minister of the Interior on July 3,1875. Chief Sakatcheway (also known as Perrot) asked for "cattle, tools, implements, uniforms andflags." Morris relayed this information to Provencher, who said he had sent them to Indian AgentPither. Morris wrote:…It is essential that the stipulations of the Treaty be exactly observed and the carrying out ofthe same should occupy the whole time of the agent charged therewith…[Emphasis added; footnotes omitted.][950] In August 1875, the federal government appointed Surveyor General Dennis ("Dennis")to complete negotiations for the selection of reserves for the Rainy River and Lake of the Woodsbands. (Chartrand report, Ex. 60, p. 214; Lovisek report, Ex. 28 at p. 149.) Lovisek's report, Ex.28, contains the following at pp. 149-150:The Surveyor General of the Dominion of Canada J. Dennis arrived in Fort Frances on September 10,1875 to address a number of treaty related issues which had arisen since 1873. As part of hismeetings with the [Ojibway], on October 1, 1875, Dennis entered into a detailed agreement with theRainy River Chiefs on the extent and location of their eight reserves. This agreement is often referredto as the Rainy River Reserve Agreement. … The October 1, 1875 Rainy River Reserve Agreementwas signed by several [Ojibway] signatories, some of whom had endorsed the Morris Document. Butthe signatories to the Rainy River Reserve Agreement signed with the marks of their totems. …