Cultivating Treaty Relationships: The Significance of the Cows and Ploughs Clauses for the Numbered Treaties

• Main Author: Enns, Thomas S.D.
• Other Authors: Newman, Dwight, Hoehn, Felix, Farnese, Patricia, Theriault, Sophie
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: historic treaties; food law; agricultural benefits; Canada; First Nations
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10388/15339

The modern interpretation and implementation of historic treaty promises is an ongoing opportunity for relationship-building in Canada that includes working to fulfill the spirit and intent of the originating formal agreements between the Crown and First Nations. This thesis analyzes the interpretation and implementation of one such treaty promise on the Canadian prairies – the historic treaty promise to provide agricultural benefits such as livestock, farm equipment and seed to treaty signatories. The promise of agricultural benefits is important because it represents a treaty obligation with broad and far-reaching food system implications that remain substantively misinterpreted and unimplemented in the present day. By looking at the spirit and intent of agricultural benefits as a food system promise through the lens of food law, a strong case can be made for the continued value and significance of agricultural benefits promises to the ongoing treaty relationship. When the historic treaties were negotiated, agriculture was seen as an opportunity to create mutual gain for both the Crown and First Nations. The agricultural benefits promises were presented as a way to support First Nations in the colonially imposed transition to an agrarian food system and economy. For the Crown, these agricultural benefits promises aided in solidifying treaty negotiations and ensuring adhesion to the treaties. For First Nations, they alleviated concerns about food security, promised an opportunity for a sustainable food system, and held the potential for access to future economic development opportunities. Whereas the mutual advantage of agricultural benefits was made abundantly clear at the time of treaty making, these promises were ineffectively kept and remain unfulfilled in contemporary interpretation and implementation. In this thesis, I analyze the agricultural benefits promises through the Supreme Court of Canada’s principles and framework for historic treaty interpretation. I demonstrate how recent trial and appellate ...