Mr. Laird then rose, and having unrolled his Commission, and
that of his colleagues, from the Queen, proceeded with his
proposals. He spoke as follows:

"Red Brothers! we have come here to-day, sent by the Great Mother
to treat with you, and this is the paper she has given to us, and
is her Commission to us signed with her Seal, to show we have
authority to treat with you. The other Commissioners, who are
associated with me, and who are sitting here, are Mr. McKenna
and Mr. Ross and the Rev. Father Lacombe, who is with us to
act as counsellor and adviser. I have to say, on behalf of the
Queen and the Government of Canada, that we have come to make
you an offer. We have made treaties in former years with
all the Indians of the prairie, and from there to Lake Superior.
As white people are coming into your country, we have thought
it well to tell you what is required of you. The Queen wants
all the whites, half-breeds and Indians to be at peace with
one another, and to shake hands when they meet. The Queen's
laws must be obeyed all over the country, both by the whites
and the Indians. It is not alone that we wish to prevent Indians
from molesting the whites, it is also to prevent the whites from
molesting or doing harm to the Indians. The Queen's soldiers
are just as much for the protection of the Indians as for the
white man. The Commissioners made an appointment to meet you
at a certain time, but on account of bad weather on river and
lake, we are late, which we are sorry for, but are glad to meet
so many of you here to-day.

"We understand stories have been told you, that if you made a