‘Secret treaty’ of 1870s focus of new comic book

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This article was published 24/06/2024 (480 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mennonites in southern Manitoba have long forgotten about it, but members of Swan Lake First Nation still remember the “handshake treaty” between the two groups.

It happened in the 1870s, when Mennonite settlers first came to what was called the West Reserve — farmland set aside for the immigrants from west of the Red River towards Morden and Winkler.

As per stories passed down among Swan Lake First Nation members, some Mennonites were initially terrified when they encountered a group of Indigenous people in the area.

After explaining they meant them no harm, the Indigenous people and Mennonites shook hands.

For Indigenous people, that was a way to signal they would share the land and help each other, said Dave Scott, an elder and spiritual leader in the First Nation. “That’s what the treaty with the Mennonites was about.”

Over the years, Indigenous people remembered the treaty, even if, as Scott said, it disappeared from Mennonites’ memory.

Hans Werner is a retired history professor from the University of Winnipeg who specialized in Mennonite studies.

“There is no written record of such a treaty,” said Werner, who has read many diaries and other documents from Mennonite settlers of that period but found no mention of the treaty.

“Just because there are no documented sources doesn’t mean it didn’t happen,” he said, noting the traditional European way of recording history is through written documents. “We can’t say oral tradition has any less weight.”

It’s clear from the stories told by people like Scott that some sort of understanding was reached between Indigenous people and Mennonite settlers in the 1870s, Werner said.

“It’s an important story in their Indigenous culture, one that was important enough to be passed down,” he said.

Two people who want to keep the story of the treaty alive are Melanie Neufeld, director of mission engagement for the Mennonite Church Manitoba, and Jonathan Dyck, a freelance designer and illustrator who has created a short comic book called The Secret Treaty: A Lost Story of Ojibwe and Mennonite Neighbours.

The two, both of whom trace their roots to Mennonite settlers in Manitoba in the late 19th century, have organized a “secret treaty” tour and book launch at Neubergthal Commons June 29 as a way to share stories about relations between Indigenous people and those early Mennonite settlers.

The goal of the event is to learn more about those encounters, develop relationships and find new ways to share the land, said Neufeld.

“Mennonites played a critical role in the settlement and creation of the province,” she said, adding while there “is much to celebrate from that, we haven’t really spent as much time reflecting on what was lost for Indigenous people, and how our coming here benefitted Mennonites but adversely affected others.”

The event in Neubergthal, 100 kilometres south of Winnipeg, is a way to remember that history and explore “steps on a path to reconciliation,” she said.

Dyck said the comic book, which was written in collaboration with Scott, is a culmination of his own research into his roots.

Along the way, he became interested in what the area was like before settlers arrived, before southern Manitoba was divided into grids for farming, and how the arrival of his ancestors affected Indigenous people.

“As I learned more, the more I heard Indigenous stories like the ‘secret treaty,’” he said.

Proceeds from the sale of the book will be used to support education at Swan Lake First Nation, Dyck said.

For information about the event, which starts at 3 p.m. see wfp.to/yoK.

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