Bev Asmann, Michel Calico Nation Society
Between August 20-23, thousands of people will gather at Fort Carlton Provincial Historic Park in Saskatchewan to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Treaty 6, the very place where First Nations leaders and the Crown first entered into one of Canada’s most significant treaties in 1876. The four-day gathering is expected to bring together Elders, Knowledge Keepers, youth, families and visitors to honour the Treaty relationship and reflect on its enduring significance.
For many Canadians, this will be an opportunity to learn more about an important chapter in our shared history. For Michel Callihoo descendants, it is something much more personal. It is a chance to return to a place where our ancestors helped shape history.
Chief Michel Callihoo was among the leaders whose family and descendants became part of the Treaty relationship.
Although the Michel Band was the first and only Indian band to be collectively enfranchised, resulting in the loss of its legal recognition as a band, our descendants never lost their connection to their history, their families or their identity. That connection has endured across generations.
Today, Michel descendants live throughout Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and beyond. Families have built lives in communities across this country, yet many continue to share a deep desire to reconnect with their history and contribute to rebuilding the Nation their ancestors entrusted to future generations.
The Treaty 6 commemoration provides an opportunity to do exactly that.
Returning to Fort Carlton is about more than marking an anniversary. It is about standing where history unfolded and remembering that our ancestors were not simply witnesses to Canada’s story, they helped write it.
For younger generations, the gathering offers something increasingly rare: the opportunity to experience history where it happened. Walking the same ground, hearing the stories from Elders and Knowledge Keepers, participating in ceremony and meeting relatives from across the Prairies and beyond helps transform history from words in a book into something living and deeply personal.
These experiences strengthen identity. They build pride. They remind descendants that they are part of a story far larger than themselves.
For the Michel Callihoo Nation Society, the anniversary arrives at an especially meaningful time.
In recent years, descendants have been working together to rebuild the Michel Nation and restore recognition after generations of displacement through the Michel Calihoo Nation Society. That work continues through ongoing engagement with descendants and constructive discussions with the Government of Canada regarding the future of the Nation.
While much work remains, anniversaries like this remind us why that work matters.
Nation rebuilding is not simply about governance. It is about reconnecting families. It is about preserving language, culture and history. It is about ensuring that future generations understand where they come from and why that history still matters today.
The 150th anniversary of Treaty 6 is therefore more than a commemoration of the past. It is a reminder that the promises made by our ancestors continue to shape our responsibilities to one another.
And for Michel descendants, it offers something equally important: an opportunity to come home – not simply to a place, but to a shared history, a shared identity and a shared future.
One hundred and fifty years after Treaty 6 was first signed, our ancestors’ voices still echo across the banks of the North Saskatchewan River.
The question for our generation is whether we will continue their work.
The answer begins by remembering.
The Michel Calihoo Nation Society is the organization advancing this process on behalf of Michel descendants.
