Treaty 6 is one of the numbered treaties between the Canadian Crown and various First Nations, signed between 1871 and 1877. It is the sixth of eleven such treaties. Specifically, Treaty 6 was an agreement between the Crown and the Plains and Woods Cree, Assiniboine, and other band governments at Fort Carlton and Fort Pitt. Key figures representing the Crown in the negotiations included Alexander Morris, Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba and The North-West Territories; James McKay, Minister of Agriculture for Manitoba; and William J. Christie, a chief factor of the Hudson's Bay Company. Chief Mistawasis and Chief Ahtahkakoop represented the Carlton Cree. Treaty 6 introduced terms not present in Treaties 1 through 5, such as a medicine chest at the Indian agent's house on the reserve, protection from famine and pestilence, additional agricultural tools, and on-reserve education. The treaty covered much of the central area of present-day Saskatchewan and Alberta. The treaty signings occurred from August 18, 1876, to September 9, 1876. Additional signings by bands within the treaty area took place later, including one by a Manitoba band in 1898, and the last was signed in the Montreal Lake area in the same year. Since its signing, there have been numerous claims of miscommunication regarding the treaty terms from both Indigenous and Crown perspectives. This has led to ongoing disputes between Indigenous peoples and the government over differing interpretations of the treaty terms. Treaty 6 remains active today, and Treaty 6 Recognition Day has been celebrated annually in Edmonton each August since 2013 to commemorate the signing.

Treaty 6 - Wikipedia