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Under Treaty, First Nations were not required to serve in conflicts involving the Crown or Canada.

Yet thousands chose to serve, defending a country that did not treat them as equals, demonstrating commitment to their communities and Canada. When they returned home, Indigenous veterans found their Treaty and human rights denied—losing status, land, and access to the same supports given to other veterans. While non-Indigenous veterans received farmland and benefits, Indigenous veterans were often excluded from these programs.

“When we remember Indigenous veterans, we also remember the promises of peace, respect, and mutual support that the Treaties represent,” said Treaty Commissioner Dr. Kathy Walker. “By living the Treaties we can work to undo past wrongs and uphold those promises today.”

Today, as part of your reconciliation journey, take time to learn about and honour these veterans—their courage, their sacrifice, and their resilience.

ithiniw-simâkanisihkânak / Indian Veterans
Salamô omasinahikîwin / Written by Solomon Ratt

We Answered the Call: A History of the Saskatchewan First Nations’ Contribution to Canada’s Freedom and Democracy

30 Years Later: On the Founding of Indigenous Veterans Day

The Indigenous Veterans Initiative: Finding Unmarked Graves

Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association and the Office of the Treaty Commissioner are proud to announce the signing of a memorandum of understanding. Following a Pipe Ceremony, the signing took place Nov. 3, 2025 between Treaty Commissioner Dr. Kathy Walker and SUMA President Randy Goulden at the Office of the Treaty Commissioner in Saskatoon.

The OTC and SUMA aim to work together to promote understanding of Treaty rights and Truth and Reconciliation among Saskatchewan’s urban municipalities and to facilitate relationship-building between First Nations and municipalities.

“SUMA is demonstrating great leadership in committing to strengthen Treaty relations among urban municipalities in Saskatchewan,” said Treaty Commissioner Dr. Kathy Walker.

“This partnership embodies living the Treaties through education, recognition of our shared history, collaborative problem-solving and respectful relations. It is rooted in mutual respect and wîtaskêwin, or living together in peace and harmony, for our mutual benefit.”

“Municipalities and First Nations have been each other’s neighbours since before Saskatchewan even became a province,” said SUMA President Randy Goulden.

“We’re grateful to work with the Office of the Treaty Commissioner to make sure urban municipalities have the knowledge and tools they need to collaborate with First Nations partners and advance shared priorities, including updated infrastructure, economic development, and community safety.”

SUMA and the Office of the Treaty Commissioner recognize that all urban municipalities in Saskatchewan are located within Treaty territories, making all urban municipalities and their residents Treaty people. All residents of Saskatchewan, including within First Nations and non-First Nations communities, stand to benefit from strengthened Treaty relationships.

Photo (L-R): SUMA CEO Jean-Marc Nadeau, Treaty Commissioner Dr. Kathy Walker, SUMA Manager of Communications Roxanne Korpan, Elder Julie Pitzel, OTC Director of Public Policy and Development Darrelyne Bickel, SUMA President Randy Goulden, and OTC Treaty Relations Lead Charlie Clark.

The first ever Treaty Learning Journey 2: Living Our Treaties Conference hosted by the Office of the Treaty Commissioner was held in October. The gathering was a partnership with the Yorkton Tribal Council to bring the event to a new region.

The first edition of the conference Treaty Learning Journey: Let’s Talk Truth began in 2022 and the OTC team kept hearing from attendees that they wanted more. With this in mind, the second part was created.

The event included a panel of Knowledge Keepers and elders on what it means to live the Treaties, Treaty and UNDRIP, information from the Treaty Land Sharing Network, and group sessions on moving Treaty forward.

“The more people we can give this education to, the better,” said OTC Director of Education, Elaine Sutherland. She points to the words of the late senator Murray Sinclair, “Education got us into this mess, and education will get us out.”

There were more than 100 people who attended the conference including leaders, educators and people from all different sectors were present.

“We also had a lot of people coming from other regions of the province to come to Yorkton,” said Dr. Kathy Walker, Treaty Commissioner of Saskatchewan.

“Treaties are a relationship. A living relationship that requires each of us to breathe life, to embody and to implement in our lives and in our work,” she said, in an interview with SaskToday.

Read more about the event:

Yorkton Conference offers Treaty education opportunity in Yorkton

Yorkton conference was a learning opportunity about treaties

We stand in solidarity with Samuel’s family and all families and communities who have lost loved ones through horrific acts of violence. We support them in their fight for accountability and justice.

The Bird family has requested privacy as they grieve. In this time of mourning, we ask everyone to respect the family’s request.

Anyone affected by the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous people can access support through the 24-hour hotline at 1-844-413-6649.

This year Saskatchewan marked 120 years as a province. The Office of the Treaty Commissioner attended the Sask120 event at the Remai Modern in Saskatoon to help reflect on the story of Treaty governance of these lands.

It’s important to note that the Treaties predate the establishment of the Province of Saskatchewan by three decades and that Treaty boundaries exceed provincial boundaries. Despite the Treaties being foundational constitutional agreements, most people in Saskatchewan don’t know much about Treaties, and that is not by accident.

Teaching Treaties as a foundational pillar of history and governance on this land has not been a fundamental part of the provincial education curriculum.  Settlement proceeded without honouring the Treaty relationship, with Treaty nations and citizens often treated as obstacles rather than as partners in forging a peaceful and harmonious way of life for everyone based on sharing the land.

That lack of education has created outstanding issues that First Nations continue to deal with today including the misunderstanding of Treaty rights, the belief that Treaties are outdated, and a lack of awareness that First Nations never surrendered the land.

A big part of the work of the OTC is Treaty education and awareness, a role that is necessary for us all to understand the truth of our shared history: Treaties are the original blueprint for reconciliation and we are all Treaty people.

The Government of Saskatchewan has taken meaningful steps to advance Treaty education over the past 20 years:  highway signs mark Treaty boundaries, Treaty education is now mandated in K–12 schools, and the province proclaims Treaties Recognition Week annually.

While important steps, there is still a lot of work to be done. Treaty education needs to be more consistent.

Treaties are not just moral obligations, they are recognized in First Nations core constitutional documents, Canada’s Constitution and internationally in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Honouring Treaties enables shared success through innovation and ongoing dialogue, nurtures just relationships, and offers a path forward where all people benefit.

The Office of the Treaty Commissioner (OTC) mourns the passing of kêhtê-aya Jacob Bill, at age 101. We send condolences to his family, friends, colleagues and the people of Pelican Lake First Nation, Treaty 6.

At his passing, Elder Bill was a member of the OTC’s Treaty kihtehayah Council providing advice on all research conducted by the office and giving guidance to the work of the office as a whole.

He advised the Treaty Table for the OTC in the 1990s and 2000s and contributed to the book Treaty Elders of Saskatchewan: Our Dream Is That We May One Day Be Clearly Recognized as Nations authored by Harold Cardinal and Walter Hildebrandt and based on extensive interviews with Treaty kêhtê-ayak.

Jacob Bill, who was 76 when he was interviewed for the book, was the last surviving voice of the book.

In the book, kêhtê-aya Jacob Bill talks about the Treaties as ‘kihci-asotamatowina’ or as ‘sacred undertakings,’ noting that “When one makes a sacred promise to the Creator … such an undertaking is a grave matter, and it is to be feared in the event of a breach.”

In his final interview with OTC last year, he told interviewer Abel Charles, Grandmother’s Bay, Treaty 6A (1889) simply that “from this Treaty, all life comes from it.”

He will be greatly missed, but his knowledge and teachings on Treaty and the nêhiyawak, which he said means ‘People of the Four Directions’ will live on.

The Voices of Treaty 4 – Commemorating 150 Years of Treaty documentary by the Office of the Treaty Commissioner is now available free online.

Created as part of the 150-year commemoration of Treaty 4, this film features voices from Zagime Anishinabek, Piapot First Nation, Rolling River First Nation, George Gordon First Nation, Kahkewistahaw First Nation, Kawacatoose First Nation, Okanese First Nation, Cote First Nation, and others.

“Collecting oral history from Elders and knowledge-holders was not a typical interview process. It was based on deep, respectful relationships and local protocols,” said Benji Noon, the film’s director, during the film’s release. “It was truly an honour to speak with all the people in the documentary. I learned so much.”

Voices of Treaty 4 is designed to be a resource not only for Treaty 4 Nations, but for all Treaty people, Saskatchewan residents and Canadians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous.

“Our office is so excited to share this important piece of our Treaty history and are so thankful to the citizens of Treaty 4 for their support and cooperation throughout this project. It would not have been possible without them,” said Dr. Kathy Walker, Treaty Commissioner of Saskatchewan.

“When the project began last year, our goal was to support the preservation of our valuable oral history and narratives, which is a crucial step in our truth and reconciliation journey.”

We invite everyone to watch the film.

On Aug. 23, descendants of the Stoney Knoll people came together with descendants of the Mennonite and Lutheran settlers for a gathering at Stoney Knoll to mark the 149th anniversary of the signing of Treaty 6 at Fort Carlton.

The event was held at the Stoney Knoll interpretative site, which acknowledges the Treaty history of the area. The Treaty Commissioner of Saskatchewan, Dr. Kathy Walker, was pleased to be able to attend the event.

In 1876, Chief Chipeewayan and four headmen entered into Treaty and a reserve at Stoney Knoll was surveyed for them, but the descendants of the Stoney Knoll First Nation are still waiting for the land promised under Treaty.

While some progress has been made toward federal recognition and the Stoney Knoll land claim, more work remains. Historically known as the Young Chippewan Band, the community once lived where the town of Laird is now.

The Aug. 23 gathering also marked an MOU signed in 2006 between Stoney Knoll descendants, and local Mennonite and Lutheran residents that committed all signatories to working together peacefully.

Robert Schultz, the last surviving signatory and former chair of St. John’s Lutheran Church, spoke with Treaty Commissioner Walker.

“When we were approached, we just felt we had to open up to everything that was going on,” he said. “I didn’t know what was gonna come out of it.”

The relationship building has become an important part of the MOU, said Walker.

This summer, an act of reconciliation and repatriation took place when Pamela Wintringham returned a collection of arrowheads to Beardy’s & Okemasis First Nation (BOFN). The artifacts, originally found by her grandfather on the family’s farm, were given back to the community that were the original users of the land.

Pamela was inspired to take this step after attending the Office of the Treaty Commissioners’ Treaty Learning Journey in 2024, where she deepened her understanding of the time before Treaty, Treaty making, breaches of Treaty, and reconciliation.

She approached Beardy’s & Okemasis to offer the arrowheads, because she said it felt like the right thing to do.

Chief Edwin Ananas accepted the artifacts on behalf of BOFN and said that they will be preserved and displayed in the Nation’s governance centre.

“I hope that her action moves others to take steps to acknowledge the history of these lands and to honour that history with real action,” said Treaty Commissioner of Saskatchewan, Dr. Kathy Walker.

This shows that individuals have a role to play in the reconciliation journey, and that honouring Treaty relationships begins with respect, understanding, and willingness to act.

The day was chosen to reflect the first meeting of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations in 1982.

The Office of the Treaty Commissioner of Saskatchewan appreciates the opportunity to celebrate and reflect on the Treaties signed between First Nations and the Crown as international law.

“kêhtê-ayak have long noted that treaties are international, nation-to-nation agreements,” said Treaty Commissioner Dr. Kathy Walker, “On the 100th commemoration of Treaty 6, leader John Tootoosis said ‘When the Treaty was signed they accepted us as a nation, that is the reason it is a Treaty.’”

The international aspect of Treaty is also reflected in the 1763 Royal Proclamation that recognized Indigenous title and mandated the nation-to-nation process of Treaty-making among First Nations and the British Crown. Many federal government commissioned reports, such as the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, also have recognized the Treaty relationship as nation-to-nation.

“Treaties are at the heart of our shared future—offering us a blueprint for peace and harmony among nations—to guide how we walk together today.”

International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is a chance to celebrate successes, embrace resilience, and commit to bringing about good relations in the years to come.