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TREATY 8: 1899 - 1999
National Archives of Canada marks
National Aboriginal Day with new exhibition
OTTAWA,
June 16, 1999 The National Archives of Canada will open a new exhibition
entitled Treaty 8 : 1899-1999, on June 21, 1999 National
Aboriginal Day and also the centennial of the signing of Treaty 8. The exhibition will be
shown until December 31, 1999 at the National Archives, 395 Wellington St. in Ottawa and
on the National Archives Web site (www.collectionscanada.gc.ca)
Treaty 8: 1899-1999 exhibits
some of the National Archives rich holdings related to the First Nations. It
explores the reason for producing a treaty from both native and non-native perspectives,
the significance of Treaty 8, how it was negotiated and subsequently administered. This is
illustrated by 24 archival documents: maps, photos, a watercolour, a film and various
textual records speeches, reports, certificates and other publications. The
centrepiece of the exhibition is, of course, the 100-year old Treaty 8 itself.
Treaty 8
First negotiated in
late June 1899, Treaty 8 embraces an area of some 840,000 square kilometres in the
Athabasca region of Canadas northwestern interior more than three and a half
times the size of Great Britain. It encompasses much of what is now the northern half of
Alberta, the northeastern quarter of British Columbia, the northwestern corner of
Saskatchewan, and the area south of Hay River and Great Slave Lake in the present-day
Northwest Territories. At the time, it was not only the largest land settlement undertaken
by the Canadian government with First Nations, but also the first treaty to recognize that
the "aboriginal title" of Indians and Métis are co-existent.
Treaty 8 is a living
document. Its impact on the daily lives of First Nations and Métis peoples is as
significant now as on the day it was first signed. The treaty provides the basis for
continuing relations between the First Nations of the Athabasca and the rest of Canada.
Given its historical and sacred significance for the signatories to Treaty 8, the original
treaty has returned to Alberta for the first time since the signing to be part of the
Treaty 8 Centennial Commemoration. Its journey west was recently marked by a pipe ceremony
on Parliament Hill led by elders and representatives of the Treaty 8 First Nations. Until
its return to the Treaty 8: 1899-1999 exhibition at the National Archives on
June 30, a facsimile will be shown in its place. The treaty can also be consulted in the
virtual version of the exhibition on the National Archives Web site.
Treaty 8:
1899-1999 is open 7 days a week from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on the main floor of the
National Archives, 395 Wellington St. in Ottawa.
For information: (613)
992-2618.
Media are invited to an
advanced showing at 10 a.m. Monday, June 21, at 395 Wellington St., Ottawa.
For more information
and reservation please contact:
Pauline Portelance
Media Relations Officer
Telephone: (613) 992-9361
E-mail: media@lac-bac.gc.ca
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