# Treaty 2

The second of the Numbered Treaties signed between the Crown of Canada and various Aboriginal peoples. Treaty 2 involved the Chippewa living in southwestern Manitoba and a small part of southeastern Saskatchewan.
Treaty text is extracted from "A Complete Collection of the Treaties and Conventions between Great Britain and Foreign Powers", Vol. XV, 1885
(2.)—TREATY with the Chippewa Tribe of Indians. Manitoba Post, August 21, 1871.
Whereas all the Indians inhabiting the said country have, pursuant to an appointment made by the said Commissioner, been convened at a meeting at Manitoba Post, to deliberate upon certain matters of interest to Her Most Gracious Majesty of the one part, and to the said Indians of the other:
And whereas the said Indians have been notified and informed by Her Majesty's said Commissioner that it is the desire of Her Majesty to open up to settlement and immigration a tract of country bounded and described as hereinafter mentioned, and to obtain the consent thereto of her Indian subjects inhabiting the said tract, and to make a Treaty and arrangement with them so that there may be peace and good will between them and Her Majesty, and that they may know and be assured of what allowance they are to count upon and receive from Her Majesty's bounty and benevolence:
And whereas the Indians of the said tract, duly convened in Council as aforesaid, and being requested by Her Majesty's said Commissioner to name certain Chiefs and Headmen who should ​be authorized on their behalf to conduct such negotiations and sign any Treaty to be founded thereon, and to become responsible to Her Majesty for the faithful performance by their respective bands of such obligations as shall be assumed by them, the said Indians have thereupon named the following persons for that purpose, that is to say:—
For the Swan Creek and Lake Manitoba Indians, Son-sonse, or Little Long Ears; for the Indians of Fairford and the neighbouring localities, Ma-sah-kee-yash, or He who Flies to the Bottom, and Richard Woodhouse, whose Indian name is Kewee-tah-quun-na-yash, or He who Flies round the Feathers; for the Indians of Waterhen River and Crane River and the neighbouring localities, Francois, or, Broken Fingers; and for the Indians of Riding Mountains and Dauphin Lake and the remainder of the territory hereby ceded, Mekis (the Eagle), or, Giroux. And thereupon, in open Council, the different bands have presented their respective Chiefs to his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba and of the North-West Territory, being present at such Council, and to the said Commissioner, as the Chiefs and Headmen for the purposes aforesaid of the respective bands of Indians inhabiting the said district hereinafter described:
And whereas the said Lieutenant-Governor and the said Commissioner then and there received and acknowledged the persons so presented as Chiefs and Headmen, for the purpose aforesaid, of the respective bands of Indians inhabiting the said district hereinafter described:
And whereas the said Commissioner has proceeded to negotiate a Treaty with the said Indians, and the same has finally been agreed upon and concluded as follows, that is to say:
The Chippewa tribe of Indians, and all other the Indians inhabiting the district hereinafter described and defined, do hereby cede, release, surrender, and yield up to Her Majesty the Queen and her successors for ever, all the lands included within the following limits, that is to say: all that tract of country lying partly to the north and partly to the west of a tract of land ceded to Her Majesty the Queen by the Indians inhabiting the Province of Manitoba, and certain adjoining localities, under the terms of a Treaty made at Lower Fort Garry on the 3rd day of August last past, the land now intended to be ceded and surrendered being particularly described as follows, that is to say: beginning at the mouth of Winnipeg River, on the north line of the lands ceded by said Treaty, thence running along the eastern shore of Lake Winnipeg, northwardly as far as the mouth of Beren's River; thence across said lake to its western shore at the north bank of the mouth of the Little Saskatchewan or Dauphin River; thence up said stream and along the northern ​and western shores thereof, and of St. Martin's Lake, and along the north bank of the stream flowing into St. Martin's Lake from Lake Manitoba by the general course of such stream to such last-mentioned lake; thence by the eastern and northern shores of Lake Manitoba to the mouth of the Waterhen River; thence by the eastern and northern shores of said river up stream to the northernmost extremity of a small lake known as Waterhen Lake; thence in a line due west to and across Lake Winnipegosis; thence in a straight line to the most northerly waters forming the source of the Shell River; thence to a point west of the same, 2 miles distant from the river, measuring at right angles thereto; thence by a line parallel with the Shell River to its mouth and then crossing the Assiniboine River and running parallel thereto and 2 miles distant therefrom and to the westward thereof to a point opposite Fort Ellice; thence in a south-westerly course to the north-western point of the Moose Mountains; thence by a line due south to the United States' frontier; thence by the frontier eastwardly to the westward line of said tract ceded by Treaty as aforesaid; thence bounded thereby, by the west, north-west, and north lines of said tract to the place of beginning at the mouth of Winnipeg River; to have and to hold the same to Her Majesty the Queen and her successors for ever, and Her Majesty the Queen hereby agrees and undertakes to lay aside and reserve, for the sole and exclusive use of the Indians inhabiting the said tract, the following lots of land, that is to say:
For the use of the Indians belonging to the band of which Mekis is Chief, so much land between Turtle River and Valley River on the south side of Lake Dauphin as will make 160 acres for each family of five persons, or in the same proportion for a greater or smaller number of persons.
And for the use of tho Indians belonging to the band of which Francois, or Broken Fingers, is Chief, so much land on Crane River running into Lake Manitoba as will make 160 acres for each family of five persons, or in the same proportion for a greater or smaller number of persons. And for the use of the band of Indians belonging to the bands of which Ma-sah-kee-yash and Richard Woodhouse are Chiefs, so much land on the river between Lake Manitoba and St. Martin's Lake—known as "Fairford River," and including the present Indian mission grounds—as will make 160 acres for each family of five persons, or in the same proportion for a greater or smaller number of persons. And for the use of the Indians of whom Son-souse is Chief, so much land on the east side of Lake Manitoba, to be laid off north of the creek near which a fallen elm tree now lies, and about half way between Oak Point and Manitoba Post, so much land as will make 160 acres for each family of five persons, or in the same proportion for a greater or smaller ​number of persons. Saving, nevertheless, the rights of any white or other settler now in occupation of any lands within the lines of any such reserve.
And with a view to show the satisfaction of Her Majesty with the behaviour and good conduct of her Indians, parties to this Treaty, she hereby, through her Commissioner, makes them a present of 3 dollars for each Indian—man, woman, and child—belonging to the bands here represented.
And further, Her Majesty agrees to maintain a school in each reserve hereby made, whenever the Indians of the reserve shall desire it.
Her Majesty further agrees with her said Indians, that within the boundary of Indian reserves, until otherwise enacted by the proper legislative authority, no intoxicating liquor shall be allowed to be introduced or sold; and all laws now in force or hereafter to be enacted to preserve her Indian subjects inhabiting the reserves or living elsewhere within her North-West Territories, from the evil influence of the use of intoxicating liquors, shall be strictly enforced.
And further, that Her Majesty's Commissioner shall, as soon as possible after the execution of this Treaty, cause to be taken an accurate census of all the Indians inhabiting the tract above described, distributing them in families, and shall in every year ensuing the date hereof, at some period during the month of August in each year, to be duly notified to the Indians, and at or near their respective reserves, pay to each Indian family of five persons the sum of 15 dollars Canadian currency, or in like proportion for a larger or smaller family, such payment to be made in such articles as the Indians shall require of blankets, clothing, prints (assorted colours), twine or traps, at the current cash price in Montreal, or otherwise, if Her Majesty shall deem the same desirable in the interest of her Indian people, in cash.
And the undersigned Chiefs, on their own behalf, and on behalf of all other Indians inhabiting the tract within ceded, do hereby solemnly promise and engage to strictly observe this Treaty, and also to conduct and behave themselves as good and loyal subjects of Her Majesty the Queen. They promise and engage that they will, in all respects, obey and abide by the law; that they will maintain peace and good order between each other, and also between themselves and other tribes of Indians, and between themselves and others of Her Majesty's subjects, whether Indians or whites, now inhabiting, or here after to inhabit, any part of the said ceded tract, and that they will not molest the person or property of any inhabitants of such ceded tract, or the property of Her Majesty the Queen, or interfere with or trouble any person passing or travelling through the said tract, or any part thereof; and that they will aid and assist the officers of Her Majesty in bringing to justice ​and punishment any Indian offending against the stipulations of this Treaty, or infringing the laws in force in the country so ceded.
In witness whereof Her Majesty's said Commissioner and the said Indian Chiefs have hereunto subscribed and set their hands at Manitoba Post, this day and year herein first above named.
| Their | Wemyss M. Simpson, Indian Commissioner |
| X | Mekes. |
| X | Son-sonse. |
| X | Ma-sah-kee-yash. |
| X | Francois. |
| marks. | Richard Woodhouse |
Signed by the Chiefs within named in presence of the following witnesses (the same having been first read and explained):—
This work is in the public domain worldwide because it was prepared or published by or under the direction or control of the Canadian Government or any government department prior to 1974.
Section 12 of the Canadian Copyright Act provides a reservation for Crown rights or privileges. Lack of modern case law on the subject makes it unclear whether perpetual prerogative rights over these documents still apply, or whether these rights have lapsed. Notwithstanding, these documents are reproducible under the terms of the Reproduction of Federal Law Order.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse