FORT QU’APPELLE – The 28th annual Treaty 4 Gathering wrapped up on Sunday in Fort Qu’Appelle, attracting an estimated 20,000 throughout the week.
“The biggest goal is just to gather. It’s going to get into winter time and people are a little bit less nomadic. So this is one of the last big gatherings of the year,” said Cherish Francis, a Treaty 4 planning committee member.
There are 34 First Nations in southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba represented in Treaty 4.
The event is dedicated to remembering the treaty that was signed in 1874.
“It was an exchange. What our old people said: ‘We share the land with our white brothers, the European settlers,’” said Noel Starblanket, adding the event acts as a way of “honoring of our grandfathers and great-grandfathers who had the foresight to think about us.”
A career fair, dry dance, and powwow were some of the events that were held on the weekend to wrap up the gathering.
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