Page:A Complete Collection of the Treaties and Conventions between Great Britain and Foreign Powers, Vol. XV.pdf/749

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GREAT BRITAIN (Canada).
705

And Her Majesty the Queen hereby agrees and undertakes to lay aside reserves for farming lands, due respect being had to lands at present cultivated by the said Indians, and other reserves for the benefit of the said Indians, to be administered and dealt with for them by Her Majesty's Government of the Dominion of Canada; provided all such reserves shall not exceed in all 160 acres for each family of five, or in that proportion for larger or smaller families, in manner following, that is to say:—For the band of Saulteaux in the Berens' River region now settled, or who may within two years settle therein, a reserve commencing at the outlet of Berens' River into Lake Winnipeg, and extending along the shores of said lake and up said river and into the interior behind said lake and river, so as to comprehend 160 acres for each family of five, a reasonable addition being, however, to be made by Her Majesty to the extent of the said reserve for the inclusion in the tract so reserved of swamp, but reserving the free navigation of the said lake and river, and free access to the shores and waters thereof, for Her Majesty and all her subjects, and excepting thereout such land as may have been granted to or stipulated to be held by the Hudson's Bay Company, and also such land as Her Majesty or her successors may in her good pleasure see fit to grant to the Mission established at or near Berens' River, by the Methodist Church of Canada, for a church, school-house, parsonage, burial-ground, and farm, or other mission purposes; and to the Indians residing at Poplar River, falling into Lake Winnipeg north of Berens' River, a reserve not exceeding 160 acres to each family of five, respecting as much as possible their present improvements:—and inasmuch as a number of the Indians now residing in and about Norway House, of the band of whom David Rundle is Chief, are desirous of removing to a locality where they can cultivate the soil, Her Majesty the Queen hereby agrees to lay aside a reserve on the west side of Lake Winnipeg, in the vicinity of Fisher River, so as to give 100 acres to each family of five, or in that proportion for larger or smaller families, who shall remove to the said locality within "three years," it being estimated that 90 families or thereabout will remove within the said period, and that a reserve will be laid aside sufficient for that or the actual number:—and it is further agreed that those of the band who remain in the vicinity of "Norway House" shall retain for their own use their present gardens, buildings, and improvements until the same be departed with by the Queen's Government with their consent first had and obtained for their individual benefit, if any value can be realized therefor;—and with regard to the band of Wood Indians of whom Ta-pas-ta-num or Donald William Sinclair Ross is Chief, a reserve at Otta Island, on the west side of Cross Lake, of 160 acres for each family of five, or in that proportion for