s
and the Indians. It is not alone that we wish to prevent Indians
from molesting the whites, it is also to prevent the whites from
molesting or doing harm to the Indians. The Queen's soldiers
are just as much for the protection of the Indians as for the
white man. The Commissioners made an appointment to meet you
at a certain time, but on account of bad weather on river and
lake, we are late, which we are sorry for, but are glad to meet
so many of you here to-day.

"We understand stories have been told you, that if you made a
treaty with us you would become servants and slaves; but we wish
you to understand that such is not the case, but that you will
be just as free after signing a treaty as you are now. The treaty
is a free offer; take it or not, just as you please. If you
refuse it there is no harm done; we will not be bad friends
on that account. One thing Indians must understand, that if they
do not make a treaty they must obey the laws of the land--that
will be just the same whether you make a treaty or not; the
laws must be obeyed. The Queen's Government wishes to give the
Indians here the same terms as it has given all the Indians all
over the country, from the prairies to Lake Superior. Indians
in other places, who took treaty years ago, are now better off
than they were before. They grow grain and raise cattle like
the white people. Their children have learned to read and write.

"Now, I will give you an outline of the terms we offer you. If you
agree to take treaty, every one this year gets a present of $12.00.
A family of five, man, wife and three children, will thus get $60.00;
a family of eight, $96.00; and after this year, and for every year
afterwards, $5.00 for each person forever. To such chiefs as you
may select, and that the Government approves of, we will give
$25.00 each year, and the counsellors $15.00 each. The chiefs
also get a silver medal and a flag, such as you see now at our
tent, right now as soon as the treaty is signed. Next year, as
soon as we know how many chiefs there are, and every three years
thereafter, each chief will get a suit of clothes, and every
counsellor a suit, only not quite so good as that of the chief.
Then, as the white men are coming in and settling in the country,
and as the Queen wishes the Indians to have lands of their own,
we will give one square mile, or 640 acres, to each family of
five; but there will be no compulsion to force Indians to go
into a reserve