By Jas M. Morgan Members of the Tootinaowaziibeeng Treaty Reserve (TTR) in Manitoba recently voted to ratify the Treaty 4 Agricultural Benefits Settlement Agreement. Commonly known as the “cows and plows” settlement, the agreement aims to address longstanding, unmet promises made by the British Crown in 1874 to TTR and other Indigenous communities in several treaties, including Treaty 4. This settlement compensates Indigenous communities for agricultural support that was promised but never delivered. When the British Crown signed Treaty 4 in the 1800s, it committed to providing Saulteaux peoples with farming equipment, livestock and enough seed to cultivate the lands they were assigned. Canada’s push to teach Prairie Indigenous Peoples how to farm was part of a broader colonial project to settle so-called “nomadic” communities. Yet despite these historical promises,…
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