Treaty No. 2 was negotiated and entered into in August 1871 at Manitoba House. The Manitoba House Trading Post was established in 1797 on the west shore of Lake Manitoba, about fifteen miles south of the Narrows. Its original name was Doubtful Post, likely because of a lack of confidence in the survival of the post at the time of its establishment. A number of notable individuals served at Manitoba House, including Isaac Cowie, as fur trader, and Archibald McDonald, as clerk. A few of the Canadian communities that share in obligations and benefits of Treaty No. 2 include: Brandon, Dauphin, Melita, Minnedosa, Roblin, Virden and many more.
The First Nation communities that entered into Treaty No. 2 are: Dauphin River, Ebb & Flow, Keeseekoowenin, Lake St. Martin, Lake Manitoba, Little Saskatchewan, O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi, Pinaymootang, and Skownan. Riding Mountain National Park and Duck Mountain Provincial Park are within the Treaty No. 2 area.
This was the second treaty signed since the 1867 formation of the modern Canadian government, and one year after the province Manitoba joined the Canadian Confederation.
Treaty 1 and Treaty 2 were amended by an Order in Council on April 30, 1875, to add provisions which were originally promised verbally by the government. Similar "outside promises" were included in the text of 1873's Treaty 3, adding further pressure on the government to include such provisions in the earlier treaties.
Photo: The Archives of Manitoba