The acquittal by an all-white jury of the Saskatchewan farmer who shot and killed Colten Boushie, a young Cree man who drove onto his property with four of his friends, is just one more in a long list of injustices that has riven the relationship between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in rural areas of the west.

If there is to be real reconciliation, this is where it is most needed.

It’s telling that this particular injustice happened in the same region as the Northwest Rebellion of 1885, uprisings of starving Cree and militant Métis that were put down by Canadian militia and the Northwest Mounted Police.

About 100 people were killed – civilians, Métis, Cree, police and soldiers. After it was all over eight Indigenous men were executed by hanging, the largest mass hanging in Canada. After a short trial, the Métis leader, Louis Riel, was hanged in Regina.

The bitter memory of that confrontation with Canadian justice still haunts the Cree. But for settlers the defeat of the rebels at the hands of government troops meant they would always have the upper hand.

But it’s not just this region of the west that has such a tragic history.

All over the west farms, ranches, small towns and cities border First Nations reserves onto which Cree, Blackfoot and other tribes were herded after they gave up their rights to the land so that British and European settlers could farm, ranch and set up the businesses they hoped would give them the financial security they longed for.

As prosperous farms and ranches sprouted up on the plains and foothills where Indigenous people were once free to roam and hunt, Indigenous families became dependent on government for food and supplies. Hundreds died from infectious diseases such as tuberculosis introduced by the settlers. Residential schools became the norm for children often pulled away from their parents.

In Alberta, towns such as Cardston, Gleichen, Pincher Creek and St. Paul sit right on the borders of large reserves. Relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous residents are fraught with racism and resentment

In British Columbia it’s the same story.

Ernie Crey, B.C.’s Cheam First Nations Chief says proportionally small towns have a larger First Nations presence than cities, but they also have fewer resources for reconciliation.

“Bigger cities with smaller First Nations presence have comparatively more resources to support well-funded and well-prepared projects than smaller towns do,” Crey explained in a series of reports on reconciliation in small towns produced by Discourse Media and CBC Indigenous.

Some communities are making tentative steps towards reconciliation.

In Port Alberni on Vancouver Island, once site of residential school, a reconciliation committee was recently established. And school trustees are considering renaming a school that was named after an Indian agent who once managed the nearby Hupacasath and Tseshaht First Nations but was not exactly held in high esteem by them.

In Alberta small steps have also been taken.

I recently attended the annual Stockmen’s Dinner in High River, about 50 kilometres south of Calgary. The area is rich with ranching history. Prince Edward of Wales, the future king of England, purchased a ranch in the area in 1919 and held on to it until 1962.

The Stockmen’s Dinner is an annual event and one of the highlights (besides the fancy cowboy hats and elaborate western-style jackets worn by attendees) is the honouring of pioneering families in the area.

This year, for the first time, the nearby Stoney Nakoda First Nation was one of the honorees.

To see Chief Darcy Dixon thank 300 or so ranchers and farmers for the honour was indeed moving given that the ancestors of those same ranchers and farmers took up land that was once the territory of the Stoney Nakoda.

But Dixon did remind them that all is not forgotten.

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“In the year of reconciliation we still have outstanding treaty issues relating to water, land, fishing and hunting rights, self-governance, health and education,” he told the crowd.

It may be too much to ask right now, but hopefully Colten’s Boushie’s death will eventually lead to real reconciliation in a part of Canada that badly needs it.

Gillian Steward is a Calgary writer and former managing editor of the Calgary Herald. Her column appears every other week. gsteward@telus.net

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