Treaty 1

Treaty 1 (also known as the "Stone Fort Treaty") is an agreement established on August 3, 1871, between the Crown and the Anishinaabe and Swampy Cree, Canadian based First Nations. The first of a series of treaties called the Numbered Treaties that occurred between 1871 and 1921,^[1] this accord has been held to be essentially about peace and friendship.^[2] However, the eight days of treaty-making ended with the Indigenous groups agreeing to "cede, release, surrender and yield up to Her Majesty the Queen and successors forever all the lands" in southern Manitoba to the Crown, in exchange for an annual annuity and material goods such as clothing and agricultural supplies.^[3]

Within a year of the agreement, however, the indigenous communities approached the Canadian government declaring that a number of the items promised, which would become known as the "Outside Promises", within the treaty had not been handed over to them yet, although subjects of the Crown continued to settle the land-based upon the agreed-upon Treaty.^[1] On April 30, 1875, a council of the federal government passed an order stating that it must be ensured that all of the Outside Promises were to be fulfilled and considered a part of the main agreements within Treaty 1.^[3] However, due to the different intentions and understandings of the Canadian officials and the indigenous communities at the time of its creation, this treaty continues to be considered controversial well into the 21st century.