Treaty 2 Territory – The First Nations in Treaty 2 Territory Grand Council and Treaty Gathering has been scheduled for August 27-28, 2019 on the Animozeebeeng Anishinaabe Nation (Lake Manitoba).
“We are strong supporters of the treaty, our FNT2T Government and what we are doing as The Nation. It is time we celebrate our unity and take back our territory through our collective Nation, Territory and Government”, said host Chief Cornell McLean.
The purpose of the Grand Council is to celebrate the 148th anniversary of the meeting of Chippewa and Cree Nation and representatives of Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland at Manitoba House at Lake Manitoba on August 21, 1871. The event continues to be of great historical significance.
“On 21 August 1871 a treaty was agreed to with the Queen of England and Ireland representatives. We have 21.5 million acres in our territory and because of the formation of our government we are able to get the lands back and be compensated for lands taken up by settlement and immigration”, said Grand Chief Eugene Eastman.
The talks with Canada continue as we move toward the reclamation of our Nation and territory. Time to continue our work together and bring our Nation back into being prosperous and healthy for our people like prior to the treaty of 1871.
“Our Treaty is important to us and our treaty partners (Canada on behalf of the Crown) need to understand this was a partnership, the days are gone that we sit back and watch our resources and land getting extracted without our consent”, said Chief Cameron Catcheway.
The First Nations in Treaty 2 Territory (FNT2T) is a geographically based government that has been established to rebuild and reconstitute the collective Nations under an Inherent Nation-based and Treaty-based within the Treaty 2 territory that geographically include Treaty No. 1, 4 and 5 and non-treaty Nations.
The work to re-establish the collective Nation started in the late 1990’s and through the dedication of numerous leaders and coordinated efforts, Anishinaabe Agowidiiwinan – Treaty 2 (AA-T2) was established in 1998. Most recent and in its early stage the First Nations of Treaty 2 Territory (FNT2T) Government was formed 12 June 2018 and continued the latest transformation on 7 August 2019 at Lake Manitoba introducing more people involvement.
At the Grand Council gathering, Councils will take place, including the Chiefs, Knowledge, Men, Women and Youth. The governing committees will also have a chance to meet and gather. The Gathering is organized by Anishinaabe Agowidiiwinan – Treaty 2, which is mandated to advance interests in culture, language and history. This year is very exciting as we celebrate the establishment of the Government of First Nations in Treaty 2 Territory.
“We recognize that the Treaty 2 territory have a diverse history and includes local Nations that did not make Treaty 2 specifically. We recognize we have Anishinaabe, Cree, Dakota and Nakota Nations in our Territory. With this recognition, we have chosen to open the opportunity to other local Nations within the Treaty 2 Territory to join and rebuild the collective Nation together”, Said Grand Chief Eastman.
The gathering begins with registration on Tuesday at 8am. If you have not registered yet you still have time online at www.treaty2.com. We also have camping available at the grounds.
All First Nations in the Treaty 2 Territory are invited to attend and come and talk about our future as we move forward together.
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For further information please email us at office@treaty2.com or visit our website to register at www.treaty2.com
Last modified: August 27, 2019
