Making Treaty Road - Episode 4
During the production of the first season of TREATY ROAD, hosts Erin Goodpipe and Saxon de Cocq kept these journals of their experiences and thoughts on Treaty and their personal journey that touches on the production, history and family legacy. Here are their thoughts while shooting the fourth episode about Treaty No. 4 (and the unexpected detour that was Erin’s new baby!).
Erin’s Journal
I am completely biased in my favouritism of Treaty 4. I believe it is the most beautiful place in the world, also known as “God’s land” (an inside joke in Indian country). Truthfully, it is because of the value it has for me and my people. It is my homelands and it is where my mother, my aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and great grandparents are laid to rest, so the land is filled with them and their stories - in the prairie crocuses, the sage we pick in the summer, in the deer down in the coolies that we hunt in the fall, the walleye in our lakes. It reminds me of a teaching we have about life, death and the great “recycling” process we are all a part of; which is that when we pass on, our spirits make their journey onwards and our physical bodies return to their home, to unci maka / mother earth, to nourish creation (our bodies are eaten by the worms, the bird eat the worms, and so on). Quite literally, my people are embedded in the land, sky and water territory in a way that the English language could never articulate.
It’s a special time since I have recently (much to my surprise), given birth to my first baby, Šônkiš, three weeks ahead of his due date!! This means that we had to halt parts of our journey so that my family and I could all transition into our new family roles. I find it quite funny that he chose to be born in his homelands, right when we were in Treaty 4. It seems all too fitting and meant to be.
Today, we are beginning our time in Treaty 4 on Standing Buffalo Dakota Nation - my home rez! I am also introducing my son to Saxon and my community for the first time so this is an extra special moment. I am not surprised that when we arrived, the community had gathered and had food waiting. Members of Tatanka Najin always revel in the opportunity to hear some of our history from our leadership and our older ones, so in a spirit of respect, that is why they have gathered. It’s also important that Saxon and viewers understand that not all of us are Treaty people, in the sense that not all Nations signed treaties with Canada. The Dakota did not sign treaty but we also have a special relationship to Nations around us who have. After this, we went not far from where we were gathered to where I used to live, where my Uncle Keith now lives with his family and does ceremony for the community. It is tucked in the valley and right next to the buffalo pasture. It’s fitting that Saxon can see where I grew up, since so much of our journey is looking at his and our lineage.
Later we went to meet Corey, who is a good friend of mine who does amazing work in film, media and overall does so much for the community. His mother is from Treaty 4 and he has deep roots here. It feels like everyone that we are visiting in Treaty 4 are like family.
It’s also a mix of emotions given that we are looking at how the right to “education” has deeply impacted Indigenous people. Learning is about knowledge transmission and our relationship to knowledge (and knowledge means many things). Our people knew how important education is because they spoke of this at the Treaty negotiations and advocated for the right to education. The crown and government also knew the importance of knowledge transmission and used it as a weapon against Indigenous children and families via colonial policies such as day, industrial and residential schools systems.
This is a large and harrowing topic since entire generations of my family and so many others in Indigenous communities are so deeply impacted. There is a famous saying an official made about the intent of these education systems. They were to “kill the Indian in the child” which meant they were programs of cultural annihilation. Indeed, they were also genocidal in their own ways since so many were abused, harmed or murdered in these schools. Many of us grew up hearing these horror stories in our families and the recent findings of the remains of children who attended these schools across Canada, has re-awoken generational pain and trauma. I believe that some of us see this as a spiritual time, where these children are speaking up and that we are ready to listen to what they have to say. I really felt that when Saxon and I visited Muskowekwan Residential School with Vanessa and Corey.
Today I am so excited to bring Saxon to one of my favourite places, the First Nations University of Canada! This place means so much to me, with its blend of Indigenous community and cultural learning with western education. It is a place that has brought me prosperity with a community of learners and educators who are invested in revitalizing Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing. What is special about this space is that you feel the value of kinship; there are so many professors, university administrators, researchers, artists, elders, knowledge carriers, and caretakers of the space, who all feel like family. I have been to wakes and funerals, life events, ceremony and even chose to be married in the atrium/glass tipi. So I am so excited for Saxon to see the strength and beauty of education, from an Indigenous led institution! I bet it is a place that Saxon would have wanted to attend post secondary.
Our last stop is at the Regina Indian Industrial School grounds, which is on the edge of the city of Regina. It is a snowy cold day and I wonder how Saxon is processing both the grief and trauma of the people, but also their beauty and strength. It’s a lot to hold and it’s a lot to think of one’s direct ancestor having such an impact on the agreements that would alter the lives of so many. We will have to take great care of one another in this process.
Saxon’s Journal
Well, Treaty 4 sure hit a change of direction. We had a plan and had many meetings set up, and it all came crashing to a halt. Erin’s baby decided to come three weeks early. Apparently, he didn’t care about our filming schedule at all. It was a 1am that I was awaken by a series of text messages from director Candy Fox, telling me that Erin had gone into labour. In the morning, with nothing else to do but wait, we decided that I should do a sitdown interview explaining what had happened. Later that day we learned that Erin had given birth to a healthy little (big) baby boy named Shoongis (Šônkiš). It was great news. Shoongis was born in his mother’s home territory.
After the interview I was feeling very rundown. That day I got on a plane and flew home. Within hours of getting home, I took a covid test and it came back positive. I stayed in bed for almost a week.
A month later we were back at it and we met up a Standing Buffalo First Nation, where the community welcomed their newest member by gathering at the community hall. We sat down and chatted with elders and the chief for a couple of hours, learning about treaty. I was surprised to learn that Standing Buffalo did not sign the treaty and is considered an unceded territory.
Today we visited the Muskowekwan Residential School. This was a remarkably somber part of our journey, but we were lucky to have Vanessa Wolf invite us to the school. I was astonished to learn that not only did Vanessa attend the school, but her parents, grandparents and great grandparents attended as well, and she described an evolution of the residential school system through the generations.
Today we visited the signing monument in Fort Qu’ Appelle. It is the largest monument to treaty that we have come across. And even though I question McKay’s motivations, and even though I see his involvement in the treaties as one that served the colonial agenda of the Canadian Government, I am still disappointed that he wasn’t present at the treaty making and therefore his name isn’t inscribed on this truly impressive monument.
