Numbered Treaties in the context of "Canada"

The Cree are a North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations macro-communities. There are numerous Cree peoples and several nations closely related to the Cree, these being the Plains Cree, Woodland Cree, Rocky Cree, Swampy Cree, Moose Cree, and East Cree with the Atikamekw, Innu, and Naskapi being closely related. Also closely related to the Cree are the Oji-Cree and Métis, both nations of mixed heritage, the former with Ojibweg (Chippewa) and the latter with European fur traders. Cree homelands account for a majority of eastern and central Canada, from Eeyou Istchee in the east in what is now Quebec to northern Ontario, much of the Canadian Prairies, and up into British Columbia and the Northwest Territories. Although a majority of Cree live in Canada, there are small communities in the United States, living mostly in Montana where they share Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation with the Ojibwe people.

The Cree are in a variety of treaty relations with the Canadian state. Most notable are the Numbered Treaties which cover a majority of Cree homelands. In Quebec, the East Cree (along with the Inuit of Nunavik) entered into one of the first modern treaties: the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement which formalized relations between the province and both Eeyou Istchee and the Nunavik region of Inuit Nunangat. A documented westward migration, over time, has been strongly associated with their roles as traders and hunters in the North American fur trade.

Treaty 1 (also known as the "stone fort treaty") is an agreement established on August 3, 1871, between the Crown and the Anishinaabe and Swampy Cree, Canadian based First Nations. The first of a series of treaties called the Numbered Treaties that occurred between 1871 and 1921, this accord has been held to be essentially about peace and friendship. However, the eight days of treaty-making ended with the Indigenous groups agreeing to "cede, release, surrender and yield up to Her Majesty the Queen and successors forever all the lands" in southern Manitoba to the Crown, in exchange for an annual annuity and material goods such as clothing and agricultural supplies. Indigenous treaty delegates and other leaders did not intend any cession, release, or surrender of the land in question.

Within a year of the agreement, however, the indigenous communities approached the Canadian government declaring that a number of the items promised, which would become known as the "Outside Promises", within the treaty had not been handed over to them yet, although subjects of the Crown continued to settle the land-based upon the agreed-upon Treaty. On April 30, 1875, a council of the federal government passed an order stating that it must be ensured that all of the Outside Promises were to be fulfilled and considered a part of the main agreements within Treaty 1. However, due to the different intentions and understandings of the Canadian officials and the indigenous communities at the time of its creation, this treaty continues to be considered controversial well into the 21st century.

Treaty No. 9 (also known as The James Bay Treaty) is a numbered treaty first signed in 1905–1906 between Anishinaabe (Algonquin and Ojibwe) and Omushkegowuk Cree communities and the Canadian Crown, which includes both the government of Canada and the government of the province of Ontario. It is commonly known as the "James Bay Treaty," since the eastern edge of the treaty territory is the shore of James Bay in Northern Ontario.

By the early 1900s, both federal and provincial governments were interested in taking control of lands around the Hudson and James Bay watersheds in northern Ontario, traditionally home to Cree, Oji-Cree, and Ojibwe peoples.

Treaty 6 is the sixth of the numbered treaties that were signed by the Canadian Crown and various First Nations between 1871 and 1877. It is one of a total of 11 numbered treaties signed between the Canadian Crown and First Nations. Specifically, Treaty 6 is an agreement between the Crown and the Plains and Woods Cree, Assiniboine, and other band governments at Fort Carlton and Fort Pitt. Key figures, representing the Crown, involved in the negotiations were Alexander Morris, Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba and The North-West Territories; James McKay, The Minister of Agriculture for Manitoba; and William J. Christie, a chief factor of the Hudson's Bay Company. Chief Mistawasis and Chief Ahtahkakoop represented the Carlton Cree.

Treaty 6 included terms that had not been incorporated into Treaties 1 to 5, including a medicine chest at the house of the Indian agent on the reserve, protection from famine and pestilence, more agricultural implements, and on-reserve education. The area agreed upon by the Plains and Woods Cree represents most of the central area of the current provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Indigenous peoples in Canada demand to have their land rights and their Aboriginal titles respected by the Canadian government. These outstanding land claims are some of the main political issues facing Indigenous peoples today.

The Government of Canada started recognizing Indigenous land claims in 1973. Federal policy divided the claims in two categories: comprehensive claims and specific claims. Comprehensive claims deal with Indigenous rights of Métis, First Nations and Inuit communities that did not sign treaties with the Government of Canada. Specific claims, on the other hand, are filed by First Nations communities over Canada's breach of the Numbered Treaties, the Indian Act or any other agreements between the Crown and First Nations.