08/21/2026
Treaty 2: 155 Years
On August 21, 1871, the Anishinaabe Nation entered into Treaty with representatives of Queen Victoria and the British Crown at Manitoba House, also known as Manitoba Post, in present-day Kinosota, Manitoba, on the southwest shore of Lake Manitoba.
Treaty 2 was entered into on behalf of the Anishinaabe by five negotiators: Mekis, Sou-sonce, Ma-sah-kee-yash, François (Broken Fingers) and Richard Woodhouse.
Representing the Crown were Treaty Commissioner Wemyss Simpson, Lieutenant Governor Adams George Archibald, James McKay and Molyneux St. John, Clerk of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.
Treaty 2 Territory encompasses approximately 21.5 million acres of our ancestral homelands. It remains the sovereign territory of the Anishinaabe Nation.
During the negotiations, the Nation agreed to share a portion of the land to allow for immigration and settlement by the Crown’s people. In return, the Crown agreed to compensate the Anishinaabe Nation for the use of the lands it would take up for that purpose. That obligation was not honoured.
The Anishinaabe did not agree to surrender their sovereignty, their responsibilities to the land or their inherent right to govern themselves. Treaty was and remains a Nation-to-Nation agreement intended to establish peaceful coexistence, mutual respect and shared responsibilities.
Today, 155 years later, we honour the ancestors who entered into Treaty and reaffirm that Treaty 2 is a living agreement. Its spirit and intent continue to guide our Nations, our governments and our responsibilities to future generations.
We are still here.
Our Treaty remains.
Our responsibilities continue. 🪶
