What do you think?
Rate this book
Breathing Life into the Stone Fort Treaty: An Anishinabe Understanding of Treaty One
In order to interpret and implement a treaty between the Crown and Canada’s First Nations, we must look to its spirit and intent, and consider what was contemplated by the parties at the time the treaty was negotiated, argues author Aimée Craft. Using a detailed analysis of Treaty One – covering what is today southern Manitoba – she illustrates how Anishinabe laws (inaakonigewin) defined Treaty One negotiations and opened the door to a “gathering of spirit.” Those laws included the obligations and responsibilities that derive from the relationship to the land, the need to wait for all participants before negotiations began in order to respect their jurisdiction and decision making authority, and the rooting of the treaty relationship in kinship, including references to the Queen as a mother. These legal concepts and many more are examined in this book with the author illustrating how the terms of Treaty One were defined by such principles. Anishinabe laws (inaakonigewin) defined the settler-Anishinabe relationship well before the Treaty One negotiations in 1871 – for example the Selkirk Treaty of 1817 which in part laid the groundwork for Treaty One. While the focus of this book is on Treaty One, the principles of interpretation apply equally to all treaties with First Nations.
- GenresCanadaNonfiction
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 30, 2021
Should be required reading for all Settlers in Manitoba.
Kichi Miigwch, Aimée Craft.
Kichi Miigwch, Aimée Craft.
March 18, 2023
This book significantly expanded not only my understanding of the Treaty, but also Anishinaabe law in general. I read this as it relates to my thesis, but this book would be a good read for anyone. It helped me understand the differing perspectives and elaborated on things I've heard about but didn't truly know about (ex: verbal promises). It is written in a pretty academic way, but I would still recommend for anyone (aka everyone) who has benefited from the Treaties.
May 14, 2019
just really good. give a sense of the history and negotiations of Treaty 1 with a focus on the Anishnabe perspective, which also makes it a good starting point to think about other treaties and the contemporary relationships and obligations of them.
July 8, 2013
A brief but helpful understanding of legal perspectives on treaty one in Manitoba and Anishinabe First Nations. I appreciated the attempt to look at both worldviews of the parties involved to start to imagine where some of the confusion and conflict has arisen regarding the treaty. It seems important background reading for continuing dialogue today.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews