TEEATY AT LESSEE SLAVE LAKE 67 



obey the laws of the land — that will he just the same whether 

 you make a treaty or not; the laws must be obeyed. The 

 Queen's Government wishes to give the Indians here the 

 same terms as it has given all the Indians all over the coun- 

 try, from the prairies to Lake Superior. Indians in other 

 places, who took treaty years ago, are now better off than 

 they were before. They grow grain and raise cattle like 

 the white people. Their children have learned to read and 

 write. 



" l^ow, I will give you an outline of the terms we offer 

 you. If you agree to take treaty, every one this year gets 

 a present of $12.00. A family of five, man, wife and three 

 children, will thus get $60.00; a family of eight, $96.00; 

 and after this year, and for every year afterwards, $5.00 

 for each person forever. To such chiefs as you may select, 

 and that the Government approves of, we will give $25.00 

 each year, and the counsellors $15.00 each. The chiefs also 

 get a silver medal and a flag, such as you see now at our 

 tent, right now as soon as the treaty is signed. Next year, 

 as soon as we know how many chiefs there are, and every 

 three years thereafter, each chief will get a suit of clothes, 

 and every counsellor a suit, only not quite so good as that of 

 the chief. Then, as the white men are coming in and set- 

 tling in the country, and as the Queen wishes the Indians 

 to have lands of their own, we will give one square mile, or 

 640 acres, to each family of five ; but there will be no com- 

 pulsion to force Indians to go into a reserve. He who does 

 not wish to go into a band can get 160 acres of land for 

 himself, and the same for each member of his family. These 

 reserves are holdings you can select when you please, sub- 

 ject to the approval of the Government, for you might select 

 lands which might interfere with the rights or lands of 

 settlers. The Government must be sure that the land which 

 you select is in the right place. Then, again, as some of you 

 may want to sow grain or potatoes, the Government will 

 give you ploughs or harrows, hoes, etc., to enable you to do 



