From Nipissing University News

Treaty No. 9: Making the Agreement to Share the Land in Far Northern Ontario in 1905

Nipissing University professor Dr. John S. Long’s new book, Treaty No. 9: Making the Agreement to Share the Land in Far Northern Ontario in 1905, has recently been published by McGill-Queen’s University Press.

Have you ever wondered why the First Nations of far northern Ontario are so opposed to Ontario’s Far North Act? Long’s new book argues that the Indigenous peoples of this vast region never surrendered their territories or their rights. They accepted the good wishes of Queen Victoria’s son, King Edward VII, for their prosperity and happiness. They accepted his one-time gift of $8 per person, they cooked the bannock and tea he provided for a feast, and their chiefs received the Union Jack as a symbol of the King’s protection. More importantly, Indigenous peoples who signed Treaty No. 9 agreed to two oral promises provided by the King’s messengers: their manner of making a living by hunting and fishing would in no way be interfered with; and they would not be required to live on the small parcels of land being set aside as reserves. They accepted the King’s future promise of $4 per person, still paid to their descendents, forever – as a symbol of peace and friendship, not surrender.

For a link to the publisher’s web page for the book, click here

From the Introduction 

For more than a century, the vast lands of Northern Ontario have been shared among the governments of Canada, Ontario, and the First Nations who signed Treaty No. 9 in 1905. For just as long, details about the signing of the constitutionally recognized agreement have been known only through the accounts of two of the commissioners appointed by the Government of Canada. Treaty No. 9 provides a truer perspective on the treaty by adding the neglected account of a third commissioner and tracing the treaty's origins, negotiation, explanation, interpretation, signing, implementation, and recent commemoration.

Restoring nearly forgotten perspectives to the historical record, John Long considers the methods used by the government of Canada to explain Treaty No. 9 to Northern Ontario First Nations. He shows that many crucial details about the treaty's contents were omitted in the transmission of writing to speech, while other promises were made orally but not included in the written treaty. Reproducing the three treaty commissioners' personal journals in their entirety, Long reveals the contradictions that suggest the treaty parchment was never fully explained to the First Nations who signed it.

A masterful historical work, Treaty No. 9 sets the record straight while illuminating the machinations and deceit behind treaty-making.