In 1879 the buffalo disappeared from the Canadian North-West, leaving the Plains Indians in an extreme state of destitution. In accordance with its treaty commitments to the Indians, the federal government undertook the responsibility of feeding the Indians of Treaties Four, Six and Seven. The government, in addition, introduced the reserve agricultural program, which it was hoped would transform the Indians into a self-supporting agrarian people. While the initial costs of rationing the Indians and assisting them in farming operations were high, it was hoped that within a few years the government would be largely relieved of such expenditures.<p>In spite of the promising early returns made on reserves in the early 1880's the agricultural program did not succeed quickly enough to suit the government. One of the major reasons for the delay of the program was in fact the government's preoccupation with maintaining economy in Indian administration at all costs. When the government undertook a general reduction of expenditures on Indian administration in the North-West in 1833, any possibility of the reserve agricultural program succeeding was ended.<p>The actions of various Indian bands and leaders in the North-West during these years were characterized by a desire to achieve suitable terms which would permit their people to make the transition to the farming way of life. The general cutbacks in spending introduced in 1883, however, sparked the formation of an Indian political movement seeking improved conditions. This movement grew rapidly, and likely would have unified Indians from all sections of the North-West in insisting upon the renegotiation of the treaties during the summer of 1885, had the Metis not rebelled. Although Indian participation in the North-West Uprising of 1885 was limited, it prompted the adoption of a policy of repression by the government in dealing with the Indians. The plan of assisting the Indians in becoming self-sufficient farmers was forgotten, and they became the charges of the Department of Indian Affairs.

The story of how and why the Canadian government negotiated Treaty 8 with First Nations living in north-western Canada, and its attitude toward the people whom it casually left out of treaty, provide an excellent example of how the Canadian government approached treaty negotiations in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Treaty 8 is both typical of the other numbered treaties negotiated with First Nations in the late nineteenth century in western Canada as well as different, in that it was the first of the "northern" numbered treaties negotiated with First Nations.<p> This thesis looks at Treaty 8 in both ways: how it illustrates a common approach to treaty making on the part of the Canadian government, and how it differs from other treaties and other treaty negotiation processes. The thesis also tells the story of the people left out of Treaty 8 negotiations in northern Alberta and north-western Saskatchewan, as well as their struggles to obtain justice for this governmental oversight.<p> This thesis looks at a number of issues related to Treaty 8 which earlier historians have either not focused on or overlooked. The first is that the territory covered by Treaty 8 is greater than the area into which treaty commissioners were sent in 1899 and 1900. The second related point is that the government policy of the time that treaties should be negotiated at as little expense and cost to the government as possible meant that people were left out of treaty negotiations.

In 1879 the buffalo disappeared from the Canadian North-West, leaving the Plains Indians in an extreme state of destitution. In accordance with its treaty commitments to the Indians, the federal government undertook the responsibility of feeding the Indians of Treaties Four, Six and Seven. The government, in addition, introduced the reserve agricultural program, which it was hoped would transform the Indians into a self-supporting agrarian people. While the initial costs of rationing the Indians and assisting them in farming operations were high, it was hoped that within a few years the government would be largely relieved of such expenditures.<p>In spite of the promising early returns made on reserves in the early 1880's the agricultural program did not succeed quickly enough to suit the government. One of the major reasons for the delay of the program was in fact the government's preoccupation with maintaining economy in Indian administration at all costs. When the government undertook a general reduction of expenditures on Indian administration in the North-West in 1833, any possibility of the reserve agricultural program succeeding was ended.<p>The actions of various Indian bands and leaders in the North-West during these years were characterized by a desire to achieve suitable terms which would permit their people to make the transition to the farming way of life. The general cutbacks in spending introduced in 1883, however, sparked the formation of an Indian political movement seeking improved conditions. This movement grew rapidly, and likely would have unified Indians from all sections of the North-West in insisting upon the renegotiation of the treaties during the summer of 1885, had the Metis not rebelled. Although Indian participation in the North-West Uprising of 1885 was limited, it prompted the adoption of a policy of repression by the government in dealing with the Indians. The plan of assisting the Indians in becoming self-sufficient farmers was forgotten, and they became the charges of the Department of Indian Affairs.

The story of how and why the Canadian government negotiated Treaty 8 with First Nations living in north-western Canada, and its attitude toward the people whom it casually left out of treaty, provide an excellent example of how the Canadian government approached treaty negotiations in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Treaty 8 is both typical of the other numbered treaties negotiated with First Nations in the late nineteenth century in western Canada as well as different, in that it was the first of the "northern" numbered treaties negotiated with First Nations.<p> This thesis looks at Treaty 8 in both ways: how it illustrates a common approach to treaty making on the part of the Canadian government, and how it differs from other treaties and other treaty negotiation processes. The thesis also tells the story of the people left out of Treaty 8 negotiations in northern Alberta and north-western Saskatchewan, as well as their struggles to obtain justice for this governmental oversight.<p> This thesis looks at a number of issues related to Treaty 8 which earlier historians have either not focused on or overlooked. The first is that the territory covered by Treaty 8 is greater than the area into which treaty commissioners were sent in 1899 and 1900. The second related point is that the government policy of the time that treaties should be negotiated at as little expense and cost to the government as possible meant that people were left out of treaty negotiations.

L’objectif de la présente étude est de documenter la fécondité des Indiennes inscrites au Canada en fonction du traité historique d’affiliation. Les traités historiques sont des ententes légales qui lient le gouvernement du Canada et certains membres des Premières Nations et qui décrivent, notamment, les dispositions prévues à leur égard pour compenser la cession de leurs terres. Mêmes si les traités ont principalement une fonction légale, ils regroupent aussi des individus qui partagent des caractéristiques communes sur le plan culturel, linguistique, socioéconomique, territorial et historique. À partir de données extraites du Registre des Indiens, nous avons produit l’indice synthétique de fécondité (ISF) pour chacune des populations affiliées aux traités historiques pour les périodes 1994-1998, 1999-2003 et 2004-2008. Nous voulions savoir si la fécondité des Indiennes inscrites différait en fonction du traité d’affiliation, si on observait des changements dans le temps et si de grandes tendances pouvaient être identifiées selon les régions couvertes par les traités. Des différences importantes sont relevées, particulièrement entre les traités numérotés qui couvrent les Prairies et les traités de l’est du pays. Étant donné l’absence dans le Registre des Indiens, d’informations sur les caractéristiques sociales, culturelles et économiques des populations affiliées aux différents traités, il n’est pas possible d’avancer des explications précises concernant ces écarts. Toutefois, il est possible de proposer une association entre la fécondité du moment et certaines caractéristiques des populations affiliées aux traités historiques et les dimensions géographique et historique des traités. / This research aims to document the fertility of registered Indians in Canada in relation to their affiliation with historic treaties. The historic treaties are legal agreements, between the government of Canada and certain members of the First Nations, which describe lands surrendered and related compensation. Although the treaties have mainly a legal role, they apply to Indigenous peoples sharing similar characteristics along cultural, linguistic, socioeconomic, territorial and historical lines. We used anonymized data extracted from the Indian Register to produce the total fertility rate (TFR) for the population concerned by each historic treaty for the periods 1994-1998, 1999-2003 and 2004-2008. We wanted to know if the fertility of registered Indians differed by treaty memberships, if we observed changes over time and if notable trends could be identified depending on the regions covered by the treaties. Our analyses show that important differences exist, particularly between the numbered treaties, which cover the Prairies provinces, and the treaties populations of Eastern Canada. Since the data collected by the Indian Register do not contain information on social, cultural and economic characteristics of Indigenous peoples that could explain these differences, it is not possible to develop precise explanations of these variations. However, it is possible to propose an association between the fertility rate and the geographical and historic aspects of the treaties populations.