Treaty 8
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The fur trade brought a large influx of Cree and, later, Iroquois to the Peace River country. The population of fur-bearing animals, which had been a long-time food source for the First Nations in the Peace River country, was depleted. In 1897, there was another influx of gold seekers on their way to the Klondike. These newcomers arrived with few provisions and aggressively trapped and hunted the local wildlife and poisoned the dogs of Aboriginal Peoples.
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All of these pressures brought complaints from the Aboriginal Peoples to local North West Mounted Police (NWMP). The result was the formation of the Treaty 8 commission by the federal government. The commission was led by the Honourable David Laird and an ex-NWMP officer, James Walker.
The two centres of Lesser Slave Lake and Dunvegan were where the Treaty was negotiated and first signed on 21 June 1899. As more First Nations bands negotiated and signed Treaty 8, additions and changes were made to the Treaty.
Treaty 8 was the largest and last treaty signed in Canada. The Treaty sets aside 840,000 square kilometres of land. This land is now the home of 39 First Nations communities. These territories are stretched across northern Saskatchewan, Alberta, and the Northwest Territories. The Lubicon band occupying the Little Buffalo-Cadotte territory did not sign the treaty and continues to assert their rights as they seek a settlement.