# How are Numbered Treaty payments handled these days? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 21, 2017, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-numbered-treaty-payments-handled-these-days/784909 "2017-04-21T10:12:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-numbered-treaty-payments-handled-these-days/784909/1 "2017-04-21T10:12:18Z")
Back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the colonial authorities in Canada contracted treaties with the native tribes, known today as the [Numbered Treaties](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbered_Treaties). The treaties secured land for the government of Canada in exchange for certain payments, rights, and other benefits for the tribes. For example, [Treaty 4](https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100028689/1100100028690) from 1874 promises the following to the tribal signatories: > [@](#): > > [ul] > [li] 1st A Money present to each Chief of $25; to each Headman not exceeding four in each Band $15 and to every other Indian, man, woman and Child in the Band $12.[/li][li] 2nd An Annual payment in perpetuity, of the same sums to the Chiefs and Headmen (not exceeding four in each Band) and $5 to every other man, woman and Child in the Band.[/li][li] 3rd Certain trifling presents of clothing every third year, to the Chiefs and Headmen.[/li][li] 4th A supply of Ammunition and twine every year to the value of $750.[/li][li] 5th Presents of Agricultural implements, Cattle, grain, Carpenter’s tools, etc., proportioned to the number of families in the Band actually engaged in farming.[/li][li] 6th Reserves to be selected of the same extent in proportion to the numbers of the Bands, and on the same conditions as in the previous Treaty.[/li][li] 7th Schools to be established on each Reserve as soon as the Indians settle thereon.[/li][li] 8th Intoxicating liquors to be excluded from the Reserve.[/li][/ul] The Numbered Treaties are still in force today. I’m wondering how the monetary payments are handled, particularly in light of inflation. Back when the treaties were signed, the Canadian dollar was worth a lot more; it was also on the gold standard and so inflation was not a concern. Using the [Bank of Canada’s inflation calculator](http://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/related/inflation-calculator/), we find that $1 in 1914 (the earliest date the system supports) is worth $21.62 today. So a chief’s annual payment of $25 in 1874 should have been worth at least $540 in today’s money. Certainly not enough to make one rich, but an extra $540 a year is nothing to sneeze at. So what do those covered by Treaty 4 actually receive these days in annual payments? Is it just $25, $15, and $5 in today’s money, or have subsequent agreements/litigation indexed the original value to inflation? Do chiefs and headsmen still get a suit of clothing, and if so, who decides the style and quality of the clothes? (Can the chief walk into a department store and demand the most expensive imported business suit? Can the government instead provide a suit from the meanest sackcloth?) ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-numbered-treaty-payments-handled-these-days/784909/2 "2017-04-21T10:40:27Z")
[This article from 2012](http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/its-a-small-amount-but-a-big-symbol-158840235.html) only talks about the cash, but it does appear that the amounts are not indexed. Edit: [This](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/treaty-money-a-joke-but-no-laughing-matter/article1105793/) says that the shipments of twine and ammunition were replaced with money in the 1990s.