Treaty #6 was signed in 1876. On August 23 it was signed
at Fort Carlton, and then shortly after at Fort Pitt.
The natives expressed a wide variety of reactions to the
treaty. Few thought that the white man could be held back, and so they
attempted to get what they could in order to make a transition into a
new way of life.
Poundmaker and Badger insisted that a promise of help in
times of famine be granted. Lieutenant Governor Morris at first objected
claiming that the natives would never work if they had a promise of food
behind them, but the natives insisted they were not looking for daily
rations, but only for help as they made that adjustment into farming,
and in times of dire need. The natives insisted, and the promise was
included.
Another addition to this treaty, that was not in the
previous ones or in the two treaties to follow, was the reference to a
"medical chest".
The treaty was to include reservations of land, but the
natives were not to be forced into moving onto the land immediately.
Once they did move on, they were promised farm equipment and help in
switching to a sedentary way of life. However, the government
delayed the surveying of the reserves, and by doing so, delay the giving
of the promised equipment.