Catalogue of broken promises in Treaty 7: Bruised Head
By Ry Clarke - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on October 7, 2022.
Herald photo by Ry Clarke
Mike Bruised Head speaks at SACPA on the history of Treaty 7 Thursday at the Lethbridge Seniors Citizens Organization.The Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA) hosted Mike Bruised Head during its weekly seminar on Thursday discussing the history of Treaty 7 and exploring Indigenous awareness of that historical event.
“There is a long conversation on Treaty 7,” said Bruised Head. “The treaty was also to open the door for CP Rail by John A. Macdonald. There was an agenda behind it. Also, some of the provisions and commendations given, such as health, education, farming, ranching, have never materialized. […] To the audience here, I want to give them a quick overview, to get the point on what the treaty really meant to us, and this Blackfoot word Inistsi, it means to create peace.”
Thanks to the platform through SACPA, Bruised Head was able to talk about the importance of this knowledge and message.
“Every time I am doing a speech or documentation, I like to see myself as the mediator, the educator, and educate those people that are refusing to listen or just blocking it up. I don’t mind opening closed minds at all, because they need to be educated to know. The more people get educated, there is less racism, segregation, and discrimination,” said Bruised Head.
Bruised Head comes from a long educational background, getting his Bachelor of Education from the U of L in 1996. He would go on to work as a teacher, vice-principal, and principal from 1996 to 2011 on the Kainai Board of Education, along with recently defending his doctoral dissertation at the U of L in Cultural, Social, and Political Thought on June 20, 2022.
Though he spoke for 30 minutes at SACPA, Bruised Head said he could speak on the topic for days, noting the complexity of the matter and the many factors that went into the signing of Treaty 7.
But he was grateful for the time he spent talking with those in attendance to help spread awareness on Indigenous history.
“We got the bad end of the deal,” said Bruised Head. “This is actually a three-day, or four-day, presentation, and I need water before smoke comes out my ears.”
9-8
The Treaty was signed by their leaders at the time and none of us were there, none! I have heard so many theories from back then and historians changing family histories that had been passed down because they felt is wasn’t true, that I am really disappointed with this whole mess.
Treaties were signed to end the attacks on settlers and to protect both the Indians and the settlers. We have forgotten about the savage attacks on settlers in this very area where woman and children were raped, tortured and brultaly murdered. Trying to find any of those histories in libraries or museums have disappeared. Who is responsible for hiding those incidents in history? I have some of the information regarding those incidents still saved, but you won’t find them easily in libraries anymore.
The leaders made those deals 150 years ago and we have paid dearly ourselves for those bad treaties. Our federal goverment has recently in the last 3 years given out almost $65 billion to the indigenous for mistakes made in the past and we pay over $17 billion annually to support the 1.3 million indigenous, with only about half of that number taking full benefits/payments.
We have had our council threatened in a meeting this spring by this speaker and another that they can take their money and spend it in another city and that they can easily take back the mayor’s blackfoot name he recieved and head dress because they could not have the Bowman Center for a resource center.
The taxpayer has paid dearly, yet every week we hear more attacks on us, the ones who have paid to support them all these decades.
Once again, they bite the hand that has fed them!
Reconciliation has held us all hostage and cost us tens of billions, yet no appreciation is shown, instead, the attacks continue!
This city administration has sold out our city to the indigenous, as it is over run by addicts and homeless, many of which came from their own people failing them, even banishing them! We have a new project being built to house the indigenous woman and children who are fleeing from abuse on the Blackfoot Nation reserves, which include Siksika, Pikani and Kainai. The question is does that include the Blackfeet in Montana as well? Why is not Standoff the headquarters, because is appears they want to make Lethbridge their own city and the leadership appears to be allowing it! So are the feds pumping the millions into our budget to support all this? NO!!!
Look no further for your plight then your own mirrors and stop this blame game and take some responsibility. Change starts on your reserves in your own homes!
Reconciliation cannot be forced on a society, it is an agreement, yet you think the blame game is the way…..you are not ready for reconciliation, and in my mind, it is not needed……time to realize that your lifestyle has caused you most of your demise!