Treaty caravan stops in Alberta

In early June, Grand Chief Derek Nepinak of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs launched a 10-day motorcycle tour of First Nations across the Prairies to raise awareness of treaty rights. The motorcycle caravan traveled more than 4,000 km to about 40 First Nations in six traditional territories in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. The route saw the caravan hit Alberta in the middle of the 10 days, travelling in Treaty 7 territory meeting with the Blackfoot people before swinging north into central Alberta on Queen Elizabeth II highway, to the lands of the Cree in and around Edmonton and then heading east through Treaty 6 lands, into the lands of Onion Lake Cree Nation. The caravan was “to remind our people that we are born free and with full liberties as the Indigenous peoples of these lands,” stated a news release.