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Fort Calgary has been granted permission to display Treaty 7, which is currently stored in Ottawa by Library and Archives Canada.
"This will create an opportunity to reflect on a treaty that guarantees our sovereign status, and gives us control over the air, water and land that has deep meaning for us," said Tsuut'ina Nation Chief Lee Crowchild in a statement. Tsuut'ina was the first Indigenous nation that signed the treaty.
"We hope that as Calgarians reflect on the 150th anniversary of Canada's founding, this document will allow them to call to mind the sacrifices that were made, and are still being made by First Nations people across Canada," said Crowchild.
Treaty 7 was signed in 1877 by representatives of the Crown and the Indigenous people of what is now southern Alberta in a ceremony at Blackfoot Crossing, just east of Calgary.
Fort Calgary CEO Sara Gruetzner told Calgary city council on April 27 that Fort Calgary has been consulting with representatives of the Treaty 7 Nations about the plan.
She had requested the document be sent to the fort for display as part of its special programming for Canada's 150th anniversary. She just received word that the request had been approved.
Gruetzner said the document represents part of Alberta's and Canada's story.
"Canada's history is a lot about the colonization story. It's a story of opportunity but it's also a story of loss and the actual document really sets the stage for those conversations."
To arrange the loan of the treaty, Fort Calgary had to guarantee the document would be displayed in a secure and controlled environment.
The archives requires proper lighting and humidity control to prevent the treaty from being damaged.