large influx of European settlers and there was a smallpox outbreak. There was also a large-scale food crisis that was affecting First Nations people in the North of Manitoba. The treaty negotiations from the Canadian government came from an interest in the natural resources in the area. Groups of Cree people from the great plains had been having difficulties with the Canadian government for around fifteen years prior to signing Treaty Five. Many groups had approached the government in previous years regarding a treaty but the government of Canada did not begin negotiations until 1875. Negotiations Prior to 1871, Canada had no clear policy on how to deal with the Indigenous populations in the west. Initially, Indigenous groups in the Lake Winnipeg area were supposed to be included in either Treaties One or Two, but distance made this illogical. This did not mean that the Indigenous Peoples in this area were not interested in developing a treaty. The Canadian government, in conjunction with Lieutenant Governor Alexander Morris and the Minister of the Interior, David Laird agreed that a treaty should be signed with Indigenous peoples in this area on 2 July 1875. In 1875, the Canadian Government appointed Lieutenant Governor Alexander Morris and the Honourable James McKay to negotiate terms with the different Indigenous groups. The treaty negotiations happened very quickly, three different negotiation sessions took place, each lasting one day. The commissioners of Treaty Five negotiated individually with each Indigenous group involved. Although the Indigenous Peoples in Northern Manitoba are covered under the same treaty as those in the Southern areas, they signed much later than those in the south and for different reasons. The first negotiation and signing of Treaty Five had a lot of input from the Indigenous peoples involved in the treaty. Since there was input from the Indigenous peoples the conditions for the treaty and subsequent agreements were much more appealing to the Indigenous peoples than what the government had originally suggested. The Northern section of the treaty that is now included in Treaty Five was not part of the original agreement. This section was added in 1909-1910 and was not added in the original treaty because there was little interest from the government in utilizing land that was not suitable for agriculture. It was not until the priorities of the government changed at the turn of the century that the government developed an interest