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Primary sourceDocument3 August 1871

Treaty 1

3 August 1871

The first of Canada's Numbered Treaties, negotiated in 1871 under Macdonald's government with the Anishinaabe and Swampy Cree.

This treaty was negotiated under Macdonald's government as part of his policy of opening the West to settlement and the railway.

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Map of the Treaty 1 territory in southern Manitoba, shown as a purple shaded area over a dark satellite-style map with bright green lakes and rivers. Labels read Treaty 1 Territory, Canada, and United States.
Map of Treaty 1 Territory. Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, Government of Canada.

About this source

What it is

Treaty 1, also known as the Stone Fort Treaty, is an agreement made in August 1871 between the Crown and the Anishinaabe and Swampy Cree First Nations at Lower Fort Garry in Manitoba. It was the first of the Numbered Treaties signed between 1871 and 1921.

Why it matters

Negotiated under the government of Prime Minister John A. Macdonald, the treaty was meant to open the Canadian West for settlement and railway construction. Indigenous leaders such as Mis-koo-kenew (Henry Prince) and Canadian officials like Lieutenant Governor Adams Archibald understood its terms very differently, and this disagreement over what was promised remains controversial today.

Look closer

  • Why might the Canadian government and the Indigenous negotiators have understood the same words in the treaty so differently?
  • What does the unmet "Outside Promises" tell you about how the treaty was carried out?
  • How does this treaty connect to Macdonald's wider policy of westward expansion?

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