The Cree moccasin represents Cree Peoples and the broader Indigenous presence across Treaty 6 territory, including Cree, Saulteaux, Nakoda Sioux, Blackfoot, Ojibwe, Denesuline, and Métis communities whose relationships to the Prairies are carried through movement, kinship, ceremony, trade, governance, and responsibility to land. In the Moccasin Identifier collection, this moccasin is connected to Edmonton, Alberta, and Treaty 6, signed in 1876.
This moccasin reflects Plains design knowledge shaped by landscape, movement, and material relationships. It is described as a two-piece, ankle-height moccasin with a fully beaded vamp and standing cuff, made from smoked moose hide. Plains-style moccasins include both hard-soled and soft-soled examples, each adapted to different terrain and uses. This design is soft-soled, with the leather gathered around the toe into a subtle pucker-toe style.
Materially and artistically, this Cree moccasin carries both function and beauty. The cuff and vamp are decorated with Wild Rose florals and vines, including a motif of five petals, four leaves, and two buds. Floral beadwork reflects relationships to plants, place, and prairie homelands, while the structure of the moccasin speaks to mobility across land and the practical knowledge embedded in footwear design.
This moccasin also teaches about Treaty 6, one of the Numbered Treaties. Treaty 6 was signed in 1876 at Fort Carlton and Fort Pitt, and its boundaries extend across central portions of present-day Alberta and Saskatchewan. The Treaty Summary explains that the Numbered Treaties were made during a time of major change, as Canada expanded westward, newcomers moved onto First Nations lands, diseases affected many communities, and the buffalo — central to Plains food, clothing, culture, and life — were disappearing.
From a First Nations perspective, the Numbered Treaties were understood as sacred agreements to share the land and live peacefully together, not as the sale or surrender of land. Treaty discussions included ceremony and spoken promises, which carried deep meaning and responsibility. First Nations leaders were promised support such as food, medicine, schools, farming tools, and the continued ability to hunt, fish, and trap. Treaty 6 is especially remembered for the medicine chest clause and the famine and pestilence clause, which reflected leaders’ concerns for the health, safety, and survival of future generations.
Many of these spoken promises were not fully reflected in written documents or were later broken, creating lasting harm and different understandings of what had been agreed to. For many First Nations communities, Treaties remain living promises that continue to carry responsibilities today. Honouring Treaty 6 means understanding those promises through relationship, respect, land, ceremony, and accountability.
For visitors today, this moccasin reminds us that Cree presence in Treaty 6 territory is ancient and ongoing. Through its smoked moose hide, Wild Rose beadwork, standing cuff, and soft-soled construction, the Cree moccasin reflects resilience, movement, beauty, and prairie knowledge. In the context of the Moccasin Identifier, it invites learners to understand Treaty 6 not only as a historical agreement, but as a living relationship rooted in land, ceremony, responsibility, respect, and the importance of keeping promises.
This project has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada.
Ce projet a été rendu possible en partie grâce au gouvernement du Canada.
