The Saulteaux Nation is comprised of 7 major clans the larger of which is the Bear Clan. This thesis examines the holistic philosophy of the Saulteaux world view and the oral teachings of the Bear Clan. The teachings, which emphasize the nature of healing and personal growth, were related by Elder Danny Musqua to myself from within the context of traditional Bear Clan ceremonies and practices. This thesis documents my journey to understand these teachings and in the process to arrive at a deeper understanding of self. This is done within the context of Bear Clan culture and within the context of my relationship with Elder Danny Musqua. This thesis relates my struggle to make meaning of these teachings on a personal level and how these teachings have affected my life.<p> Narrative Inquiry is the methodology employed in this study. Through a reliance on narrative as the research methodology, the oral tradition of the Bear Clan and its traditional methods of knowledge transmission are honoured. The methodology utilized in this study is relatively unstructured in that no formal questioning process is utilized. Instead, it relies upon the relationship between the Elder/teacher and the son/learner in which to transmit knowledge. This process stresses the relationship between Danny and myself and emphasizes trust and respect as important elements of learning. In this relationship, knowledge was transmitted through participation in the sweatlodge, the learning lodge and through conversations with Danny. This approach to research respected the implicit nature of the oral tradition and allowed for me to make meaning of Danny's teachings in their original context and interpret them at a level appropriate for my own personal development.<p> This thesis struggles to define traditional healing and the role that the healer, the one oppressed by illness and the spiritual realm play in the healing process. This thesis may prove valuable in educating and informing those who do not have an understanding of concepts of First Nations' healing. It may also serve as an invitation to all people, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, to expand their notions of healing or to search out a similar path in life.

The Saulteaux Nation is comprised of 7 major clans the larger of which is the Bear Clan. This thesis examines the holistic philosophy of the Saulteaux world view and the oral teachings of the Bear Clan. The teachings, which emphasize the nature of healing and personal growth, were related by Elder Danny Musqua to myself from within the context of traditional Bear Clan ceremonies and practices. This thesis documents my journey to understand these teachings and in the process to arrive at a deeper understanding of self. This is done within the context of Bear Clan culture and within the context of my relationship with Elder Danny Musqua. This thesis relates my struggle to make meaning of these teachings on a personal level and how these teachings have affected my life.<p> Narrative Inquiry is the methodology employed in this study. Through a reliance on narrative as the research methodology, the oral tradition of the Bear Clan and its traditional methods of knowledge transmission are honoured. The methodology utilized in this study is relatively unstructured in that no formal questioning process is utilized. Instead, it relies upon the relationship between the Elder/teacher and the son/learner in which to transmit knowledge. This process stresses the relationship between Danny and myself and emphasizes trust and respect as important elements of learning. In this relationship, knowledge was transmitted through participation in the sweatlodge, the learning lodge and through conversations with Danny. This approach to research respected the implicit nature of the oral tradition and allowed for me to make meaning of Danny's teachings in their original context and interpret them at a level appropriate for my own personal development.<p> This thesis struggles to define traditional healing and the role that the healer, the one oppressed by illness and the spiritual realm play in the healing process. This thesis may prove valuable in educating and informing those who do not have an understanding of concepts of First Nations' healing. It may also serve as an invitation to all people, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, to expand their notions of healing or to search out a similar path in life.

In 1817, the fifth Earl of Selkirk and certain Saulteaux chiefs negotiated the Selkirk Treaty to secure the existence of a fragile Euro-Canadian settlement near the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. Selkirk died soon after, and his agents and successors disputed the content of the treaty with the Indigenous negotiating parties. The historiography of the Selkirk Treaty has not reached a consensus on these disputes, in part due to the number of ostensibly contradictory sources it draws upon. This thesis argues that these disputes can be best answered, and these ostensibly contradictory sources best reconciled, by situating them and the Selkirk Treaty within the context of the Indigenous and Imperial land frameworks that operated in Red River in 1817. This thesis first identifies unresolved questions in the historiography of the Selkirk Treaty. Using primary sources cited in the historiography, it then outlines the ideas acting within the Indigenous and Imperial land frameworks operative over Red River. It argues these ideas and frameworks remained intact during the negotiation of the Selkirk Treaty. On the basis of these frameworks, this thesis further argues that neither Lord Selkirk nor the Saulteaux negotiators intended the Selkirk Treaty to consist of a permanent alienation of Indigenous land. However, after Selkirk’s death, his agents and successors came to trust the Indenture of the Selkirk Treaty, a written and signed record of the treaty, as the only trustworthy record of the agreement. Selkirk’s agents and successors then read the Indenture as a permanent alienation of land, but this thesis argues that, on the basis of the borders specified in the Indenture, that document alone is inadequate to interpret the Selkirk Treaty. The primary purpose of this thesis is to provide a point of departure for future research into the Selkirk Treaty. At the same time, it is intended as a corrective against assuming the ideas of either Indigenous or Euro-Canadian actors about land rights in colonization zones. It is also meant to act as a caution against relying any more heavily on the Indenture of the Selkirk Treaty than scholars do on the written records of other treaties. It is further hoped that this thesis contributes to a better understanding of Red River’s Métis population in these early years by situating them within the framework of the broader Iron Alliance.