CFCR COMMUNITY CONNECT – May 2025
Welcome to CFCR Community Connect – where we help to connect you with local community organizations in Saskatoon.
Office of the Treaty Commissioner is the Community Connect feature for May 2025!
Office of the Treaty Commissioner (OTC for short) is to facilitate a bilateral process to discuss treaty and jurisdictional issues between Saskatchewan First Nations and the government of Canada, with the government of Saskatchewan present as an observer.
The OTC works to make sure the people of Saskatchewan have a good understanding of treaties, the treaty relationship and reconciliation, through the education system, offering a speakers bureau, holding events, and sharing the stories of people’s call to action.
What types of programs or activities do you offer? What’s your most successful program?
The Office of the Treaty Commissioner works in three main areas, Treaty Education, Research and Archives, and Reconciliation.
The OTC is dedicated to making Saskatchewan residents more knowledgeable about Treaty history, the Treaty relationship, and your Treaty responsibilities as a Treaty person, with the goal of improving relations between all Saskatchewan communities. The Speaker’s Bureau is comprised of more than 30 appointed knowledge keepers. They speak on topics key to Treaty Awareness, Protection, and Implementation. The OTC also organizes trainings in Treaty – two day workshops called the Treaty Learning Journey.
The Mary R. Musqua-Culbertson Treaty Library and Archives at the OTC is a collection of books, articles, Treaty oral history recordings, academic theses, and unpublished manuscripts, which have been collected since the creation of the office. People can browse and search the collection online through the Saskatchewan Archival Information Network. The archives team can support with research requests.
Since 2014 the OTC has been working to develop a common Vision for Truth and Reconciliation through Treaty Implementation. Through ongoing partnerships the OTC supports organizations and businesses with an action planning process, using the Truth and Reconciliation through Treaty Implementation (TRTI) framework, which include the voices of Survivors and Knowledge Keepers and to stay rooted in the Treaty relationship, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Calls for Justice, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, to plan their way forward.
Are there specific demographics of communities you primarily serve?
OTC works to make sure the people of Saskatchewan have a good understanding of Treaties, the Treaty relationship and reconciliation, through the education system, livelihood training, offering a speakers bureau, holding events and sharing the stories of people’s call to action.
How have you seen your organization’s work make a difference? Can you share any success stories or provide examples of positive outcomes directly impacted by your organization?
At the OTC we see incredible successes every year. For example in the 2022-23 year, we saw more people than ever before reaching out to our archives for information; our speakers bureau for educational sessions; our reconciliation team to start their action plan processes. We have also seen the creation of the Treaty Learning Journey: Lets Talk Truth, which took the popular Teaching Treaties in the Classroom and made it available to an audience beyond educators.
Do you collaborate with other non-profits, agencies, or businesses to provide programs or resources? How do these collaborations enhance the effectiveness of your programs?
We regularly work with others to further the work of Truth and Reconciliation through Treaty Implementation, to gather research of importance to Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, and to create education MOUs to ensure Treaty learning extends past a single session.
For example. The OTC worked with the Province of Saskatchewan to see the first ever Treaty boundary signs erected along Highway 11 at the Treaty boundary of Treaties 4 and 6.
Also, we co-hosted the official opening of the Stoney Knoll Interpretive Site in a public ceremony. The Stoney Knoll First Nation tells a story of Indigenous and non-Indigenous relations on the prairies and how two opposing groups found a path of reconciliation through the barriers set up by the past mistakes of the Canadian Government and offer a chance to right these wrongs.
Do you have a long-term vision or dream for your organization?
The team at the OTC works tirelessly towards ensuring the people of Saskatchewan have a good understanding of Treaties, the Treaty relationship and reconciliation, so we van work towards a better future for us all.
How can the community help your organization reach its goals?
The best way for people to help the work of the Office of the Treaty Commissioner is by taking action in their own lives. By learning about the true history of Canada, the history of Treaties, and about Truth and Reconciliation. By speaking out against racism and racial discrimination. But understanding the Spirit and Intent of Treaties and their role and responsibilities as Treaty people. By being part of Truth and Reconciliation through Treaty Implementation and working towards a better future for our children and grandchildren.
