Column: Revisiting Williams Treaties 100 years later
Pictured are the chiefs of the Williams Treaty First Nations. Back row, from left: Chief Taynar Simpson, Alderville; Chief Ted Williams, Rama; Chief Keith Knott, Curve Lake; Chief Laurie Carr, Hiawatha; Chief Kelly LaRocca, Scugog; Chief Donna Big Canoe
Despite long-overdue apology five years ago, columnist wonders: ‘Are the Williams Treaty First Nations to endure another 100 years of deceit?’
In late autumn, exactly 100 years after their kin had signed the 1923 Williams Treaties, descendants of those signatories representing seven Anishinaabeg Nation communities in Ontario gathered at Rama to observe the centennial of that accord.
In 1923, the Anishinaabeg would not have been able to gather as readily as they could today. The only people who could travel by car at that time were the commissioners representing Canada and Ontario. Thus, the commission visited all of them separately through 1922 and 1923.
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