A Closer Look at a Historic Treaty: The Story of Treaty 11

Let’s take a closer look at Treaty 11.

Treaty 11 covers a huge area of the Northwest Territories as well as small portions of the Yukon and Nunavut. When oil was discovered at Fort Norman in 1920, the federal Crown sought to finalize a treaty with the many First Nations in the area, in order to establish title to the land and encourage resource exploration. The federal government began treaty negotiations.

Treaty 11 was negotiated and signed during the summers of 1921 and 1922. It guaranteed Indigenous rights to hunt, fish and trap and promised they would not be confined to reserves. Unfortunately, the treaty was largely imposed on First Nations from the outset, the terms were misinterpreted, and most treaty promises were not kept. The dissatisfaction of First Nations with Treaty 11 led, in part, to the more recent negotiation of present-day modern treaties.