Notice Board

The Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA) presents a session with Dr. Mike Bruised Head as he discusses Treaty 7 and its generational effect on the Blackfoot People.

Treaty 7: What are the Impacts from a Blackfoot Perspective?

Date/time: Thursday, October 6, 2022, from 12 to 1 p.m. The Atrium Dining room will be available by 11:15 a.m.

Cost: Free, but donations are gratefully accepted 

Location: Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization (LSCO) Atrium Dining Room, 500 - 11 Street South, Lethbridge, AB

Please arrive early to patronize the LSCO cafeteria and enjoy their excellent variety of good value food options.

Treaty 7 is an agreement between the Canadian government and several, mainly Blackfoot, First Nations band governments in what is today southern Alberta. The idea of developing treaties for Blackfoot lands was suggested to Blackfoot Chief Crowfoot in 1875. Negotiations were concluded two years later and on September 22, 1877, the agreement was signed at the present-day Siksika Nation reserve, east of Calgary. Chief Crowfoot was one of the signatories to Treaty 7. Another signing of this treaty occurred December 4, 1877, to accommodate other Blackfoot leaders who were not present at the primary September 1877 signing.

The Canadian government wanted the treaty to allow them to build the railroad across Canada, but the implications for the Indigenous people after the signing of Treaty 7 were mainly suffering and hardship. The buffalo disappeared rapidly and the promised support from Canada’s government to help transition the First Nations bands into an agricultural lifestyle did largely not happen. The speaker will argue that overall, the treaty did not have the positive impact for Indigenous Peoples that they initially believed it would. When comparing the difference in cultures during the treaty negotiations, it is likely the Indigenous population was misinformed/misguided by the settlers at the time, who strongly insisted that the treaty be a written document, not an oral agreement that Indigenous Peoples better understand.

Speaker: Dr. Mike Bruised Head (or in the Blackfoot language, Ninna Piksii)  

Mike Bruised Head graduated from St. Mary's High School on the Blood Reserve in 1976. He received a Bachelor of Arts (BA) from the University of Lethbridge in 1980 and served on the Blood Tribe Chief and Council from 1981 to 1983. Bruised Head was employed at the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College in 1984-85 as a college administrator and was executive director of Sikoohkotoki Friendship Centre from 1986 to 1994. He convocated in 1996 with a Bachelor of Education (BEd) from U of L. 

Employed by the Kainai Board of Education as a high school teacher, vice-principal, and principal from 1996 to 2011, he obtained a Master of Administration and Supervision (MA) from Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington (2003). Bruised Head was Elected to Blood Tribe Chief and Council in 2011 and served until 2016. He Formally created Kainai Ecosystems Protection Agency (KEPA) and served as chair for KEPA from 2012 to 2016.

Bruised Head currently serves on the Oldman Watershed Council and participates on the Crown of the Continent Roundtable Leadership Committee and Crown Partners. Involved in Kainai ceremonies and cultural events, he speaks Blackfoot fluently. He is presently serving as president of the University of Lethbridge Iniskim Indigenous Alumni Chapter and Chairman of the Kainai Board of Education. He recently defended his doctoral dissertation at the University of Lethbridge in Cultural, Social and Political Thought (CSPT) at a public presentation on June 20, 2022.

For further information on the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs, visit the SACPA website.