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OPINION: ‘Cows and plows’ settlement over a broken Indigenous treaty shows the urgent need for more transparent governance

Reading Time: 4 minutes Members of the Tootinaowaziibeeng Treaty Reserve (TTR) in Manitoba recently voted to ratify the Treaty 4 Agricultural Benefits Settlement Agreement. This cows-and-plows settlement is a step toward rectifying historical wrongs. The process has also highlighted several ongoing governing challenges. This includes exposing a flawed Crown/Indigenous consultation process as well as the need for trust-building with Indigenous leadership.



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Canada, First Nations agree on unmet agricultural claims

Reading Time: 2 minutes A handful of specific agricultural benefit claims between the federal government and nine First Nations were settled on Friday. Once fully settled, these claims—unmet promises in treaties 5, 6 and 10 territories throughout the Prairie provinces—will represent almost $1.4 billion in combined compensation to these First Nations.



 Children run through the pathways of a corn maze designed to honour children who died while attending residential schools. Photo: supplied

Every child matters

A corn maze commemorating the lost children is a place to reflect and remember

Reading Time: 4 minutes Children run through the pathways of a corn maze designed to honour children who died while attending residential schools.

Students from the File Hills and other residential schools were not only recruited to become model farmers, they were selected to join the Canadian Expeditionary Forces sent off to fight in the First World War.  Photo: Courtesy of University of Regina archives “A Failed Experiment” Collection.

Reconciling the painful past creates hope for a more promising future

The File Hills Colony near Balcarres, Sask. epitomized everything that was wrong about colonial attitudes towards Indigenous peoples. But new models for Indigenous agriculture are emerging

Reading Time: 6 minutes More than a century after its creation, there is no visible sign remaining of the File Hills Farm Colony in southern Saskatchewan. But the painful memories of an experiment that epitomized the culture of assimilation permeating that era’s attitudes towards Canada’s Indigenous peoples still live in the collective memories of residential school survivors. Likewise for some of the racist attitudes and policies that still exist today. 


Treaty land sharing: Farmers and Indigenous communities gather to discuss their common connections to land. Photo: Bill DeKay

Sharing the countryside

Finding a new way of living together is key to the future of rural Canada

Reading Time: 4 minutes The launch of the Treaty Land Sharing Network was about people who share the countryside, together setting a different course than the one scripted for them.

The OCN Smart Farm is located in the Veterans Hall of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation near The Pas, Man.

Transforming the house

Business thinking is helping lead the way to a new era of world-class Indigenous agriculture in Canada. But how do we eliminate the remaining barriers?

Reading Time: 14 minutes The story of the Opaskwayak Smart Farm at Opaskwayak Cree Nation in The Pas, Man., starts with an improbable rescue. It was 2013. A group of hunters from OCN were way out in the bush when they stumbled upon a car stuck in the mud on a remote dirt road. The car belonged to a […] Read more