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{{Short description|Treaty between First Nations and Canadian Crown}}
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{{Use Canadian English|date=June 2021}}
{{Indigenous Peoples of Canada}}

'''''Treaty 3''''' is an agreement entered into on October 3, 1873, by Chief Mikiseesis (Little Eagle)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/document/60923918/Treaty-3-Metis|title = Treaty #3 Metis &#124; PDF &#124; Indigenous Peoples of North America &#124; Canadian Folklore}}</ref> on behalf of the [[Ojibwe]] [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] and  [[Queen Victoria]]. The treaty ceded a vast tract of Ojibwe territory, including large parts of what is now northwestern [[Ontario]] and a small part of eastern [[Manitoba]], to the Government of Canada.<ref name="CE">{{cite web |last1=Filice |first1=Michelle |title=Treaty 3 |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/treaty-3 |website=The Canadian Encyclopedia |publisher=Historica Canada |access-date=30 August 2024 |date=June 22, 2020}}</ref> ''Treaty 3'' also provides for rights for the Waasaakode Anishinaabe ("light skinned Anishinaabe") and other Ojibwe, through a series of agreements signed over the next year.<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/425997/publication.html |title=Treaty research report - Treaty three (1873) |last=Daugherty |first=Wayne |date=1986 |publisher=Indian and Northern Affairs}}</ref> The treaty was modified in 1875 when Nicolas Chatelain negotiated an adhesion that created a reserve, surveyed as reserve 16A, for Métis families connected to Mikiseesis' Rainy Lake Band. Reserve 16A and the Rainy Lake Band reserve were unified in 1967.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=McNab|first=David|title=Nicolas Chatelain|encyclopedia=[[Dictionary of Canadian Biography]]|publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]]|date=1990|pages=187–88}}</ref>

It is the third in a series of eleven [[numbered treaties]] between [[Monarchy in Canada|the Crown]] and First Nation [[band government]]s. Despite being the third of these treaties it is more historically significant in that its text and terms served as the model for the remainder of the numbered treaties. Treaties 1 and 2 cover an area about the same size and had to be amended to reflect some of the developments arising out of the negotiation of ''Treaty 3''. At the time that it was negotiated it was anticipated that the terms of ''Treaty 3'' would serve as a model for future treaties and would require the amendment of Treaties 1 and 2.<ref>Letter from Minister of the Interior Campbell to Lieutenant-Governor Morris, 5 August 1873, Public Archives of Canada ("PAC"), RG10, Vol. 1904</ref>

''Treaty 3'' has particular historical significance because of the litigation that ensued between the [[Monarchy in Ontario|Crown in Right of Ontario]] and the [[The Crown|Crown in Right of Canada]] over the significance of the treaty and the respective roles of Canada and the provinces in relation to aboriginal peoples. The first of these cases is ''[[St. Catherines Milling v. The Queen]]''<ref>{{cite BAILII|litigants=St. Catherine's Milling and Lumber Company v The Queen|link=|court=UKPC|year=1888|num=70|para=|format=1|parallelcite=[1888] 14 AC 46|date=12 December 1888|courtname=(P.C.)|juris=Ontario}}</ref> which dealt with the question of the ownership of lands subject to a treaty (a question that was decided in favour of the Province). The second, ''The Dominion of Canada v The Province of Ontario'',<ref>{{cite BAILII|litigants=The Dominion of Canada v The Province of Ontario|link=|court=UKPC|year=1910|num=40|para=|format=1|parallelcite=[1910] AC 637|date=29 July 1910|courtname=(P.C.)|juris=Canada}}</ref> dealt with the question of whether or not Ontario had to indemnify Canada for the expenses incurred in negotiating the treaty and the ongoing costs of fulfilling the treaty obligations. Canada lost this case as well with the Supreme Court of Canada and the Privy Council holding that Canada was responsible for Indian affairs and the welfare of Indians and that the treaty had been negotiated to achieve broad national purposes (such as the building of the transcontinental railway) rather than to benefit Ontario. The significance of these decisions is still a matter of discussion in the Canadian courts.

''Treaty 3'' is also significant as there exists a written record of the native peoples' understanding of the treaty. This is known as the Paypom document. It is a series of notes that were written for Chief Powassin during the treaty negotiations, and documents the promises that were made to the First Nations people. The promises in the Paypom document differ in a number of ways from the printed version available from the Canadian government.

== Signatory First Nations (sorted by present day tribal affiliations)==
**[[Big Grassy First Nation]]
**[[Anishnaabeg of Naongashiing]] (Big Island First Nation)
**[[Northwest Angle 33 First Nation]]
**[[Northwest Angle 37 First Nation]]
**[[Ojibways of Onigaming First Nation]]
**[[Anishinabe of Wauzhushk Onigum]] (Wauzhusk Onigum First Nation)
*[[Bimose Tribal Council]]
**[[Asubpeeschoseewagong First Nation]] (Grassy Narrows First Nation)
**[[Eagle Lake First Nation]]
**[[Iskatewizaagegan 39 Independent First Nation]]
**[[Lac des Mille Lacs First Nation]]
**[[Naotkamegwanning First Nation]]
**[[Obashkaandagaang Bay First Nation]]
**[[Niisaachewan Anishinaabe Nation]]
**[[Shoal Lake 40 First Nation]]
**[[Wabaseemoong Independent Nations]]
**[[Wabauskang First Nation]]
**[[Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation]]
*[[Pwi-Di-Goo-Zing Ne-Yaa-Zhing Advisory Services]]
**[[Couchiching First Nation]]
**[[Lac La Croix First Nation]]
**[[Mitaanjigamiing First Nation]]
**[[Naicatchewenin First Nation]]
**[[Nigigoonsiminikaaning First Nation]]
**[[Rainy River First Nation]]
**[[Seine River First Nation]]
**[[Stanjikoming First Nation]]
*[[Independent First Nations Alliance]]
**[[Lac Seul First Nation]]
*Unaffiliated
**[[Ojibway Nation of Saugeen First Nation]]

==See also==
* [[Numbered Treaties]]
* [[The Canadian Crown and Aboriginal peoples]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.gct3.ca/about/history/paypom-treaty/ Paypom document]- Original set of notes made for Chief Powasson at the signing of the treaty.

*[https://freegrassy.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Treaty__3_Map.bmp  Map showing Treaty No. 3] from the Government of Canada

*[https://www.cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1100100028675/1581294028469 Treaty Texts - Treaty No 3] from the Government of Canada
{{Numbertreaty|treaty=3}}
{{Grand Council of Treaty 3}}


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[[Category:Numbered Treaties]]
[[Category:First Nations history in Ontario]]
[[Category:1873 treaties]]