Treaty land sharing: Farmers and Indigenous communities gather to discuss their common connections to land. Photo: Bill DeKay

Sharing the countryside

Finding a new way of living together is key to the future of rural Canada

The launch of the Treaty Land Sharing Network was about people who share the countryside, together setting a different course than the one scripted for them.




We’re so used to being told ‘well, this part ain’t for you.’ – Derrick Gould.

Frozen out: BSE-era relief programs a case study in how Indigenous farmers fall through the cracks

Officials told First Nations farmers they didn’t qualify for BSE relief cash; 20 years later, governments say that wasn’t true

It’s long ago enough that the fine details are fuzzy. The story begins in the early days of the BSE or “mad cow” crisis. Cattle prices are hemorrhaging, with U.S. border closure the market equivalent of a jugular slash. Interlake cattle ranchers meet at the Ashern auction mart and board a charter bus bound for

Farmer Derrick Gould (left) with his son Blaze (centre) and father Donald (right). Donald passed away this June.

BACK TO THE LAND: ‘We used to plant hay here.’

The past, present, and hopeful future of Indigenous agriculture in Manitoba

For decades, farming has declined in Derrick Gould’s community of Pinaymootang (Fairford) First Nation. In the late 1950s and early ‘60s, Gould estimates 35 to 40 families were raising cattle in pastures and hay lands along the Fairford River. Gould family history relates the beginning of the end for many of those farms: In 1961,


E.J. Fontaine, Ardell Cochrane, and Robert Maytwayashing in a screen shot from “Indigenous Voices – Sharing our Agricultural History and Journey.”

‘Indigenous Voices – Sharing our Agricultural History and Journey’

Film traces the journey of three Indigenous Diploma of Agriculture students

In 1975, a program called the Manitoba Indian Agriculture Program (MIAP), funded by the Department of Indian Affairs, was established to boost agricultural output in Manitoba First Nations communities. At the time, agriculture was an important way of life for many Indigenous Manitobans. However, because they didn’t have access to the resources and finances available