Tree planted in honour of Selkirk treaty

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This article was published 19/07/2017 (3031 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An aptly named Lord Selkirk Sugar Maple tree has been planted at city hall to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Selkirk Treaty.

Two-hundred years after their ancestors signed the treaty, which allowed the Selkirk Settlers to live and farm within two miles of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, the current Lord Selkirk and Brokenhead Ojibwa Nation Chief Jim Bear joined Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman Wednesday to help plant the tree.

“It’s a story of peace and partnership between the First Nations and the newcomers to this land,” Bowman said. “What a beautiful symbol of peace and partnership.”

Bear, a descendant of Chief Peguis, said the treaty enabled the settlers “to share First Nation’s land and to live in peaceful co-existence with the First Nation people.”

The current Lord Selkirk, James Alexander Douglas-Hamilton, said when his ancestor signed the treaty with Chief Peguis and four other Indigenous chiefs, it was the first treaty in what would become Western Canada.

“It gave the Selkirk Settlers an excellent opportunity to survive in this land,” he said. “Without their help, the settlers may well have perished.”

Kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca