Change of crown bring mixed feelings for Sask. First Nations

Ahtahkakoop First Nation elder Clifford Ahenakew said he wished the Queen would have lived forever. (Taylor Barrow/CTV News)

The passing of Queen Elizabeth II has Indigenous people varying how they feel, according to the former representative for the Battlefords Agency Tribal Chiefs.

“There would be a portion of people that would try to understand it and then there would be a very small portion that it really mattered,” said Neil SasAkamoose.

According to SasAkamoose, on his first nation, Ahtahkakoop First Nation, she mattered.

Since it is closely aligned to the crown. 87-year-old elder Clifford Ahenakew was sad when he heard of the Queen’s passing.

“It was a big loss, I wish she had lived forever,” said Ahenakew.

On the passing of the Queen the Office of the Treaty Commissioner of Saskatchewan provided this statement on its website “Indigenous peoples have long had a complex relationship with the Crown. It was the monarchy that colonized what is now known as Canada, but it was also the crown that negotiated Treaties with Indigenous Nations. Those Treaties promised that the Crown would honour Treaty rights and Indigenous ways of life would be protected.”

TREATY RIGHTS

In 1876 Treaty 6 was signed, which gave Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation members and other first nations treaty rights. These include the right to education, healthcare, agriculture benefits and annuities.

“The promises made between the Cree people of that time in that area and with the crown, they followed that,” said SasAkamoose.

However, according to Cree Lawyer Delia Opekokew from Canoe Lake, those treaty agreements haven’t always been met.

“There's a lot of Supreme Court cases that First Nations have won to have their treaty rights protected,” she said.

NEW ERA

As the monarch turns over to King Charles, Opekokew said she hopes he will do more for treaty rights.

“King Charles can do a better job going forward to ensure that treaty rights are positively enforced without having to go to court,” said Opekokew. “His ancestors that were signatories to the treaty, not direct signatories but commissioners were representing them.”

For Ahenakew, he is optimistic in King Charles taking over to do more. He recalls a promise made by the Treaty 6 Commissioner Alexander Morris at the time of its signing:

“Till the sun goes down. Sunshine, grass goes, rivers flow, that’s a life time thing. That’s the way it was. But it’s not happening,”

The verses “as long as the sun shines, the grass goes and the river flow,” meant to indicate the everlasting nature of the Treaty.