Treaty Road

As Erin and Saxon begin their journey of discovery on Treaty 1 territory in Manitoba, they learn how the concept of land surrender was obscured by the Crown’s manipulation. James McKay plays an important role, but his intentions remain a mystery.

Erin and Saxon visit Treaty 2 territory and find out how people were forcibly displaced from their homes in the creation of a national park. Attempts to seek justice reveal that Canadian law offers no protection to Indigenous people.

In Treaty 3 territory, Erin and Saxon learn about the ongoing struggle to protect the water from contamination. They visit a blockade in Grassy Narrows, Ont., where a woman poisoned by mercury explains environmental racism.

Erin becomes a mother and visits her homelands on Treaty 4 territory in Saskatchewan. She and Saxon walk through the remains of a residential school and learn about the push to honour the memory of children whose lives were lost at residential schools.

Erin and Saxon find out how Treaty 5 limited people’s ability to feed their communities. The duo learns how innovative gardeners in Norway House, Man., provide greens year-round, and land-based learning brings them out onto the ice.

As the buffalo near extinction, the Plains Indigenous Peoples struggle to survive, but they add a medicine chest clause to Treaty 6 to try protecting their health. The Indian Act is pushed through and undermines any rights enshrined in the treaties.