Removal of Treaty 6 flag in Barrhead a 'step backwards' for reconciliation: Grand Chief

The Treaty 6 flag being raised at Edmonton city hall for Treaty 6 Recognition Day on Friday Aug. 23, 2024. (Matt Marshall/CTV News Edmonton)

Treaty No. 6 First Nations Grand Chief Cody Thomas says the removal of the Treaty 6 flag in municipalities is a “mistake” and a “step backwards” for reconciliation.

Earlier this week, Barrhead residents voted for a bylaw to ban all decorative flags and crosswalks from public property.

The town said council would pass the bylaw and begin removing existing crosswalks or flags that violate it, including a Pride crosswalk, a disability pride crosswalk, a Royal Canadian Legion flag and a Treaty 6 flag.

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The group Barrhead Neutrality organized the petition in June after seeing a similar bylaw in the town of Westlock.

Earlier this year, Westlock implemented a bylaw to prohibit rainbow crosswalks and restricting the town to only fly government flags.

"Removal of the Treaty 6 flag in municipalities that have decided to publicly acknowledge the Treaty relationship and their responsibilities as Treaty partners is a mistake, and a step backwards for reconciliation," Grand Chief Thomas said in a statement to CTV News Edmonton. "We honour our ancestors as we uphold and protect the Treaty they made on our behalf. The Treaty 6 flag is a symbol of First Nations governments on our traditional lands, which were never sold. These are a fourth form of government this bylaw fails to acknowledge. 'Neutrality' bans like this aren’t really neutral and have a negative impact on progress and public awareness."

Treaty 6 was signed on Aug. 23, 1876, in Fort Carlton, in Saskatchewan. It’s an agreement signed between the Crown and First Nations across western Canada.

The treaty covers the area from western Alberta through Saskatchewan and into Manitoba and includes 50 First Nations.

The Treaty 6 flag shows an Indigenous person shaking hands with a non-Indigenous person in a silver coin in front of the British flag. Johnson says the symbolism means commitment.

University of Alberta sociology associate professor Paulina Johnson says visual representation of the flag is important since people often overlook what it means.

“We descend from the individuals that negotiated (the) Treaty, understanding of what it meant to share this land and live together,” Johnson said.

She says removing the visual of the flag means losing the part of what it means to be on Treaty 6 land and stay connected to it.

Johnson says while she understands the issues behind what flags should or shouldn't be flown, especially when it comes to individual rights, removing the flag is removing history.

“Treaty precedes Canada, Treaty precedes the province and even Barrhead. I think there needs to be an acknowledgement and also importantly, a history lesson that goes hand in hand with what happens when you remove those flags.”

A representative from the town says since the campaign was initiated by Barrhead Neutrality and not by town council, “we are not in a position to comment on the campaign’s intent or its potential impact on reconciliation and the Treaty 6 Indigenous communities.”

"Under the Municipal Government Act (MGA), which governs our actions, Council had only two options," Barrhead Communications Coordinator Jennifer Pederson said. "These options were either to pass the bylaw immediately or to refer the matter to a public vote through a plebiscite. Council chose the latter, allowing all eligible voices to be heard on this matter. There is no option under the MGA for Council to oppose or provide input regarding the subsequent bylaw."

A total of 1,145 Barrhead residents out of the 3,400 eligible residents participated in the vote, with 653 people, or 57 per cent, voting in favour of the ban.

With files from The Canadian Press and CTV News Edmonton’s Steven Dyer