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During Treaty negotiations, Indigenous Nations agreed to share the land; to take care of these lands alongside Settler communities, with at the core of these treaties the basic principle that land is how we take care of ourselves and one another. As of late, folks aren’t convinced that is happening.
Settlers and Indigenous peoples alike are concerned with the privatization of land. With privatization comes a litany of legislation and laws that dispermit and undermine the principles of the Treaties. Without the actual land to be Treaty people, cultural practices cannot be retained, learned, conducted, and all of our history cannot be remembered.
For Indigenous Nations, this is nothing new. Did you know that 8,866,668 acres of Canada’s surface area is set aside for reserve status? On the face of it, that is a lot of land. However, that is less than one percent of Canada’s land. In Saskatchewan, less than two percent of land is set aside for reserve status. That also applies to public land, where Crown Land has been consistently auctioned off for decades. So, what are we to do about this?
A local example is the Treaty Land Sharing Network which has farmers, ranches, and land-owners endeavoring to respect Treaty Lands by opening up their space to Indigenous and Metis communities. This, in practice, are Settlers and Indigenous Peoples sharing and taking care of the land, paying homage to the initial intent of the Treaties. Learn more about the Treaty Land Sharing Network here.
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