Events commemorate 150th anniversary of Treaty 6

A powwow, a treaty signing reenactment, and community gatherings continue this week to mark 150 years since First Nations and the Crown first entered into Treaty 6 on Aug. 23, 1876. Organizers are framing the anniversary as both a historic milestone and a reminder that Treaty 6 remains a living agreement shaping relationships around land, education, healthcare, governance, and reconciliation. Fort Edmonton Park will host a reenactment of the treaty signing on Aug. 19 at the Indigenous Peoples Experience. The event will include exhibits, programming, powwow performances, a pop-up market, and interpretation connected to the history and continuing significance of Treaty 6. On Aug. 20, Enoch Cree Nation will host a commemorative powwow. The free outdoor event will include dancer registration starts at noon with a Grand Entry and continues into the evening.

Additional events include Papaschase Band Treaty Days and Beaver Hills Market at the Bison Lodge in Edmonton from Aug. 20 to 23, with food, vendors, drumming, and teepee teachings. Edmonton's High Level Bridge will also be lit green, blue, and yellow on Aug. 23 to honour Treaty 6 Recognition Day. The Confederacy of Treaty No. 6 First Nations hosted free cultural teachings, including moccasin making, drumming and singing, moose-hide stretching, traditional games, and more. There will also be commemorations in Saskatchewan at Fort Carlton and Fort Pitt, two locations where the treaty was originally signed.

Joey Pete, the grand chief of the Confederacy of Treaty No. 6 First Nations, called for more respect after Rajan Sawhney, the provincial minister of Indigenous relations, did not attend a commemorative event at Edmonton's city hall on Aug. 17. "If we want true reconciliation, it's time that they need to come and sit at the table with us and understand treaty and respect us and stop pushing us aside," Pete told reporters. "Where's our minister of Indigenous (relations)? She's not even here — 150 years — is that reconciliation? To me, it's not." Pete is among the chiefs who have challenged separatists. "Alberta sovereignty is illusion," he said in January. "Without treaty, Alberta, as we know it, wouldn't even exist."