b'TREATY RECOGNITION WEEKMarci Becking, Senior Communications Officer at the Anishinabek Nation, works with Grades 4-8 students at Antler River School in Chippewas of the Thames First Nation to put together the Treaty of Niagara LEGO wampum belt during a Treaties Recognition Week event hosted by the Anishinabek Nation on November 4, 2019. The activity is from the We are all Treaty People teachers kit designed by the Anishinabek Nation. Photo credit: Laura BarriosWe are all Treaty People.Honouring the spirit and intent of BY WALTER PERRAULTtreaties during Treaty Recognition WeekT reaty Recognition Week is notTreaty #3 is a sacred relationshipThe earliest is the two-row wampum, only about recognizing theand a trilateral agreement between ouran agreement between the Dutch and importance of the treaty rela- Creator, Grand Council Treaty #3 andHaudenosaunee in 1613 in what is tionship, but also understandingthe Crown, he said. He added thatnow New York state. The two-row and educating yourself and others on whyTreaty #3 continues to honour the treatywampum represents a river, and the treaties are as relevant today as they wereand consents to sharing the land andparallel lines represent the paths of each when they were first signed. natural resources but reminds people thatpartys vessel; while they may travel On November 4, Ontario kicked offTreaty #3 never ceded their land to theforward together, they will not intersect its fourth annual Treaty Recognitionfederal government entirely, nor gave upor interfere with each other. Week, created to honour the importanceits sovereignty as an independent nation. Early treaties addressed hunting, of treaties and help Ontarians learn moreA treaty is a legally binding agreementfishing and harvesting rights, the about treaty relationships between Firstbetween nations. establishment of reserve land and payment Nations and the federal government. European countries colonizingof annuities, among others. Modern-day In a statement about Treaty RecognitionNorth America made treaties with thetreaties (those signed after 1975) include Week, Francis Kavanaugh, OgichidaaIndigenous Peoples occupying the land.areas such as land use management, Grand Council Treaty #3 Grand Chief, saidThese agreements often set out rules ofresource revenue sharing and financial its important that everyone learns moregovernance, land use and the relationshipsettlements. Treaty rights are enshrined in about treaty rights and relationships. between parties.Section 35 of the 1982 Constitution Act.20l ISSUE 2 2019/20C hIEfS ofo ntarIoA dvocAte magazInE'