BY TREVOR GREYEYES
Netley Creek Reserve was an established First Nation before the signing of Treaty 1. Treaty 1 was signed on Aug. 3, 1871 at lower Fort Garry.
In fact, my ancestor KAYA-JIESKEBINOA, or L’homme Noir, as the French traders called him, was the leader of that community who participated in the negoti-ations and agreed to the Selkirk Treaty.
I am just giving the reader a quick update on information that I found while working as the Manitoba Museum Writer-in-residence for two years with the bulk of the research done by Manitoba Museum researcher Anne Lindsay. Anything I write about here is properly annotated and backed up. And will be included in a book that I am writing.
My ancestor led his followers from what is now the Red Lake Reserve in Minnesota to battle his traditional enemy the Dakota. And, yes, he and his followers were Chippewas. Chief L’homme Noir arrived at Netley Creek around 1816, settling his people into the dwellings of the Cree who had been decimated by the small pox epidemic which swept through the plains and forests of then Cree, Ojibway, and Dakota territory. His people were already established when the Selkirk Treaty was signed by 5 chiefs which included Chief Peguis, Chief L’homme-Noir, and Cree Chief Muche Wheseab in 1817. It was only after the signing of Treaty 1 that Indian Affairs decided that it didn’t need two Indian agents to oversee two reserves. So, Netley Creek was forced to amalgamate with St. Peters Reserve.
There is a letter I have in my ar-chives where the leadership of Net-ley Creek Reserve and concerned citizens wanted to be recognized as their own band again with their own chief from 1896. More on this later.
Later, in 1932, my relatives along with others were arrested for occupying what was left of the Netley Creek reserve, approximately a chunk of land over 3000 acres. They were given the option of going to jail or going to what is now Peguis First Nation.
My family bought private land in their traditional territory and never left.