At ten in the morning the Governor and Commissioners, escorted by the Mounted Police, proceeded to the treaty tent a short distance from the fort. About eleven o'clock the Indians commenced to gather, as at Carlton, in a large semi-circle. In front were the young men, galloping about on their horses, then the Chiefs and head men, followed by the main body of the band to the number of two or three hundred. As they approached the manoeuvres of the horsemen became more and more excited and daring, racing wildly about so rapidly as to be barely distinguishable; unfortunately, from some mischance, two horses and their riders came into collision with such tremendous force as to throw both horses and men violently to the ground; both horses were severely injured and one of the Indians had his hip put out of joint; fortunately, Dr. Kittson of the police, was near by and speedily gave relief to the poor sufferer. The ceremonies, however, still went on; four pipe-stems were carried about and presented to be stroked in token of good feeling and amity (during this performance the band of the Mounted Police played "God save the Queen"), blessings invoked on the whole gathering, the dances performed by the various bands, and finally the pipes of peace smoked by the Governor and Commissioners in turn. The stems, which were finely decorated, were placed with great solemnity on the table in front of the Governor, to be covered for the bearers with blue cloth.
The Chiefs and head men now seated themselves in front of the tent, when the Governor addressed them:
"Indians of the plains, Crees, Chippewayans, Assiniboines and Chippewas, my message is to all. I am here to-day as your Governor under the Queen. The Crees for many days have sent word that they wanted to see some one face to face. The Crees are the principal tribe of the plain Indians, and it is for me a pleasant duty to be here to-day and receive the welcome I have from them. I am here because the Queen
and her Councillors have the good of the Indian at heart, because you are the Queen's children and we must think of you for to-day and to-morrow; the condition of the Indians and their future has given the Queen's Councillors much anxiety. In the old provinces of Canada from which I came we have many Indians, they are growing in numbers and are as a rule happy and prosperous; for a hundred years red and white hands have been clasped together in peace. The instructions of the Queen are to treat the Indians as brothers, and so we ought to be. The Great Spirit made this earth we are on. He planted the trees and made the rivers flow for the good of all his people, white and red; the country is very wide and there is room for all. It is six years since the Queen took back into her own hands the government of her subjects, red and white, in this country; it was thought her Indian children would be better cared for in her own hand. This is the seventh time in the last five years that her Indian children have been called together for this purpose; this is the fourth time that I have met my Indian brothers, and standing here on this bright day with the sun above us, I cast my eyes to the East down to the great lakes and I see a broad road leading from there to the Red River, I see it stretching on to Ellice, I see it branching there, the one to Qu'Appelle and Cypress Hills, the other by Pelly to Carlton; it is a wide and plain trail. Anyone can see it, and on that road, taking for the Queen, the hand of the Governor and Commissioners I see all the Indians. I see the Queen's Councillors taking the Indian by the hand saying we are brothers, we will lift you up, we will teach you, if you will learn, the cunning of the white man. All along that road I see Indians gathering, I see gardens growing and houses building; I see them receiving money from the Queen's Commissioners to purchase clothing for their children; at the same time I see them enjoying their hunting and fishing as before, I see them retaining their old mode of living with the Queen's gift in addition.
"I met the Crees at Carlton, they heard my words there, they read my face, and through that my heart, and said my words were true, and they took my hand on behalf of the Queen. What they did I wish you to do; I wish you to travel on the road I have spoken of, a road I see stretching out broad and plain to the Rocky Mountains. I know you have been told many stories, some of them not true; do not listen to the bad voices of men who have their own ends to serve, listen rather to those who have only your good at heart. I have come a long way to meet you; last year I sent you a message that you would be met this year, and I do not forget my promises.
"I went to Ottawa, where the Queen's Councillors have their council chamber, to talk, amongst other things, about you.
"I have come seven hundred miles to see you. Why should I take all this trouble? For two reasons, first, the duty was put upon me as one of the Queen's Councillors, to see you with my brother Commissioners, Hon. W. J. Christie and Hon. Jas. McKay. The other reason is a personal one, because since I was a young man my heart was warm to the Indians, and I have taken a great interest in them; for more than twenty-five years I have studied their condition in the present and in the future. I have been many years in public life, but the first words I spoke in public were for the Indians, and in that vision of the day I saw the Queen's white men understanding their duty; I saw them understanding that they had no right to wrap themselves up in a cold mantle of selfishness, that they had no right to turn away and say, 'Am I my brother's keeper?' On the contrary, I saw them saying, the Indians are our brothers, we must try to help them to make a living for themselves and their children. I tell you, you must think of those who will come after you. As I came here I saw tracks leading to the lakes and water-courses, once well beaten, now grown over with grass; I saw bones bleaching by the wayside; I saw the places where the buffalo had been, and I
thought what will become of the Indian. I said to myself, we must teach the children to prepare for the future; if we do not, but a few suns will pass and they will melt away like snow before the sun in spring-time. You know my words are true; you see for yourselves and know that your numbers are lessening every year. Now the whole burden of my message from the Queen is that we wish to help you in the days that are to come, we do not want to take away the means of living that you have now, we do not want to tie you down; we want you to have homes of your own where your children can be taught to raise for themselves food from the mother earth. You may not all be ready for that, but some, I have no doubt, are, and in a short time others will follow. I am here to talk plainly, I have nothing to hide; I am here to tell you what we are ready to do. Your tribe is not all here at the present time, some of the principal Chiefs are absent, this cannot be avoided, the country is wide and when the buffalo come near you must follow them; this does not matter, for what I have to give is for the absent as well as for the present. Next year if the treaty is made, a Commissioner will be sent to you, and you will be notified of the times and places of meeting, so that you will not have long journeys; after that, two or three servants of the Queen will be appointed to live in the country to look after the Indians, and see that the terms of the treaty are carried out.
"I have not yet given you my message. I know you have heard what your brothers did at Carlton, and I expect you to do the same here, for if you do not you will be the first Indians who refused to take my hand. At Carlton I had a slight difficulty; one of the Chiefs dreamt that instead of making the treaty at the camp of the great body of the Indians, I made it at his, and so his people stood aside. I was sorry for him and his people. I did not wish to go and leave them out. I sent him word after I had made the treaty, and brought him in with the others. When I went to North-West Angle I met
the Chippewa nation; they were not all present, but the absent ones were seen the next year. I told them the message from the Queen, and what she wished to do for them; in all four thousand Indians accepted the Treaty, and now, I am glad to say, many of them have homes and gardens of their own. The next year I went to Qu'Appelle and saw the Crees and Chippewas, and there five thousand understood us and took our hands. Last summer I went with Mr. McKay to Lake Winnipeg, and there all the Swampy Crees accepted the Queen's terms. Now I have stroked the pipe with your brothers at Carlton as with you.