(left to right) Grand Chief Joey Pete Grand Chief of the Confederacy of Treaty No. 6, Chief Edwin Ananas Beardy's and Okemasis' Cree Nation, Chief Daryl Watson Mistawasis Nêhiyawak, King Charles III, Chief Larry Ahenkew Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation, Councillor Gary LaPlante Stoney Knoll First Nation, Chief Christine Longjohn Sturgeon Lake First Nation and Chief Desmond Bull Louis Bull Tribe, who are seven elected representatives of First Nations signatories to Treaty Number Six, the 1876 treaty between the Crown and First Nations in modern-day Saskatchewan and Alberta, Canada, during an audience at Buckingham Palace, London. Picture date: Wednesday March 11. PA Photo. Photo credit: Aaron Chown/PA Wire
The grand chief of the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations says King Charles “expressed his concern” after hearing about Alberta’s separatist push in a face-to-face meeting with Indigenous leaders on Wednesday.
Grand Chief Joey Pete, who was part of a delegation of Treaty 6 chiefs who went to Buckingham Palace, said in a news release that the King was “very interested” in what the Indigenous leaders had to say.
“We made him aware of the separatism issue in Alberta and the threat to treaty it represents,” the chief said.
The meeting took place in response to invitations Indigenous leaders had sent to the King to attend an event this summer marking the 150th anniversary of Treaty 6 being signed.
Pete also said he asked the King to issue a royal proclamation to affirm the sacredness of the treaty and the rights it affords.
“It was a significant meeting, as treaty partners and equals.”
Pete is also chief of the Sunchild First Nation, southwest of Edmonton.
Louis Bull Tribe Chief Desmond Bull, who was also part of the delegation, said another topic of conversation was Canada’s “ongoing failure to meet treaty obligations.”
“He took it all very seriously,” Bull said.
Pete was not available for an interview, but earlier Wednesday he said that the King was “quite shocked” to hear of “direct violations to treaty and to the Crown as well” posed by Alberta’s separatism movement.
Pete also said the King is planning to meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney next week.
Alberta’s Indigenous relations minister, Rajan Sawhney, said Wednesday she was hoping to speak with Pete directly about the alleged treaty violations.
“I would like to know more about what he thinks those treaty violations are, and I think I’d have to speak to him, to hear from him directly, to understand his perspective,” Sawhney told reporters at the provincial legislature in Edmonton.
“At this point I don’t agree with those allegations.”
Sawhney said she thought it was a good opportunity for the Treaty 6 delegation to meet with the King, and for the King to meet with Carney.
“Dialogue is important at every level about a number of different issues. Everybody has their perspective. I’d be interested in learning more about what comes out of those meetings.”
Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This report by The Canadian Press
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