Read the following passage.
A. In the years before 1876, the buffalo that the Cree relied on were passing away, and measles, scarlet fever and smallpox had already caused great suffering. Many people were anxious about how they would support themselves in the future. In August 1876, Indigenous communities of central Saskatchewan gathered at Fort Carlton for treaty talks with the Canadian government. The Queen's chief representative was Alexander Morris, the lieutenant governor of Manitoba. The Cree were led by two head chiefs, Mistawasis and Ahtahkakoop, and they hired their own interpreter, Peter Erasmus.
B. The talks opened on August 18 with a pipe stem ceremony, through which, by Cree custom, the commissioners accepted the friendship of the Cree nation. Morris then set out his offer: reserves of land, help to begin farming, and no interference with the people's present way of living. On August 22, speakers including Poundmaker asked for help when they settled on the land. Morris replied that the government could not feed them every day. The chiefs answered that they wanted help when they began to farm and in case of famine. Morris later called this discussion about food the turning point of the treaty.
C. On August 23, Erasmus read out the changes the Cree wanted, including an ox and a cow for each family, more farm tools, free medicines and provisions for the poor. The commissioners agreed to more cattle and tools, and to provisions worth one thousand dollars a year for three years once bands settled. The final text also promised a reserve of one square mile for each family of five, a yearly payment of five dollars a person, a medicine chest for each band, and relief in case of pestilence or general famine. Chiefs signed near Carlton on August 23 and 28, and others signed near Fort Pitt on September 9.
D. The written treaty uses the legal words 'cede, release, surrender and yield up' for the land. Historians doubt that the chiefs understood those terms, even with a skilled interpreter, and Morris's own record gives no sign that a land surrender was discussed. The boundaries may also have been added to the document after the signing at Carlton. When the last great buffalo herds vanished in 1879, the government treated rations as a favour rather than a duty under the famine clause. Today the chiefs of the Confederacy of Treaty 6 say their ancestors agreed to share the land only to the depth of a plough and never gave it up, while the government's written text describes a surrender.
E. Not given in any of the above paragraphs.
Decide which paragraph, A to D, has the information given in each statement below. Select E if the information is not given in any of the paragraphs.
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Correct Answer: A
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph A: in the years before 1876, measles, scarlet fever and smallpox had already caused great suffering. Those are illnesses, and the word 'already' places them before the talks.
Passage Reference: In the years before 1876, the buffalo that the Cree relied on were passing away, and measles, scarlet fever and smallpox had already caused great suffering.
Tips: Paragraph C looks at health in the future. The statement is about sickness in the past.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: The second paragraph covers the ceremony and the argument about food. No illness is named there.
- C: Medicines, a medicine chest and pestilence do appear in paragraph C. But these are promises for the future, not sickness that had struck before.
- D: In paragraph D, the topics are the land wording and the loss of the buffalo in 1879. Earlier disease is not part of it.
- E: Measles, scarlet fever and smallpox, and the suffering they caused before the talks, are named in paragraph A.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: In August 1876, Indigenous communities of central Saskatchewan gathered at Fort Carlton for treaty talks with the Canadian government.
Why this is correct: In paragraph A, communities of central Saskatchewan gathered at Fort Carlton. No number of tents or people is given. So this count is not in the passage.
Tips: Look for a number of tents. The passage has many numbers, but check what each one counts.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A places the gathering at Fort Carlton, which makes it tempting. Yet the size of the camp is never measured.
- B: The second paragraph describes the pipe ceremony and the speeches, but not how large the camp was.
- C: Paragraph C is full of numbers, such as one square mile and five dollars, but none counts the tents.
- D: The year 1879 and the land wording are in paragraph D. No figure for the camp appears.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: The talks opened on August 18 with a pipe stem ceremony, through which, by Cree custom, the commissioners accepted the friendship of the Cree nation.
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph B: the talks opened with a pipe ceremony. By Cree custom, through this ceremony the commissioners accepted the friendship of the Cree nation. Only after that did Morris set out his offer.
Tips: Find the event that happened before Morris set out his offer.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph brings the people and leaders to Fort Carlton, but the opening ritual comes later.
- C: Paragraph C covers requests read out on August 23 and the signings, not the ceremony that began the meetings.
- D: In paragraph D, sharing the land is about trust too, but no ceremony is described.
- E: The pipe ceremony on August 18, and what it meant by Cree custom, opens paragraph B.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: On August 23, Erasmus read out the changes the Cree wanted, including an ox and a cow for each family, more farm tools, free medicines and provisions for the poor.
Why this is correct: Notice the list in paragraph C of the changes read out on August 23. It includes an ox and a cow for each family and free medicines. Livestock for every household and medical supplies at no cost match these two requests.
Tips: Two places show the Cree asking for help. Ask which one gives a list of what they asked for each household.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Erasmus is named as the interpreter in paragraph A, but no requests have been made yet at that point.
- B: Poundmaker asks for help in settling in paragraph B, yet animals and medicine are not mentioned there.
- D: The fourth paragraph refers to the famine clause and rations, but it gives no list of what the Cree asked for.
- E: Paragraph C reports the ox and cow for each family and the free medicines that Erasmus read out.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: The boundaries may also have been added to the document after the signing at Carlton.
Why this is correct: In paragraph D, the boundaries may have been added to the document after the signing at Carlton. The word 'may' shows doubt. So it is uncertain whether the limits were there at the first signing.
Tips: Paragraph C gives the signing dates. Look for the paragraph that questions what the page said at that moment.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph explains why people were worried before the talks. The written document does not exist yet.
- B: The second paragraph mentions reserves of land in Morris's offer, but not the outer limits of the treaty area.
- C: In paragraph C, we see who signed and on which dates, but no question is raised about what the page contained.
- E: Doubt about when the boundaries were written into the document is raised in paragraph D.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: The commissioners agreed to more cattle and tools, and to provisions worth one thousand dollars a year for three years once bands settled.
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph C: the commissioners agreed to provisions worth one thousand dollars a year for three years once bands settled. Three years is a limited period, and provisions are food.
Tips: Focus on food 'for a limited period'. Check how long the support lasts, and that it begins after bands 'made homes on the land'.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A shows people worried about how they would live, but nobody has promised them anything yet.
- B: The second paragraph is where Morris refuses to feed the Cree every day. The time-limited offer comes later.
- D: In paragraph D, rations were treated as a favour after 1879. That is about refusing a duty, not a promise for a set time.
- E: The offer of provisions for three years once bands settled is part of paragraph C.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: On August 22, speakers including Poundmaker asked for help when they settled on the land.
Why this is correct: In paragraph B, speakers including Poundmaker asked for help when they settled on the land. No personal reason is given for his request. So his motive is not stated.
Tips: Paragraph B reports what Poundmaker asked for. Check whether it also gives his reason.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph names the two head chiefs and the interpreter. Poundmaker does not appear there.
- B: Paragraph B names Poundmaker and his request, so it is the likely trap. But it never explains what lay behind it.
- C: Farm tools and cattle come up in paragraph C, yet they are not linked to Poundmaker or his skills.
- D: Paragraph D turns to the land wording and the Confederacy's view. Poundmaker is not mentioned.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: Morris replied that the government could not feed them every day.
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph B: Morris replied that the government could not feed them every day. Morris was the Queen's chief representative, as paragraph A explains. 'Daily meals' matches 'feed them every day'.
Tips: Watch the time: the statement says 'during the talks', which rules out what happened in 1879.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A only introduces Morris as the Queen's chief representative. He says nothing about food there.
- C: In paragraph C, the commissioners agree to provisions, which is a promise, not a refusal of daily food.
- D: The fourth paragraph shows rations treated as a favour after 1879, long after the talks had ended.
- E: Morris's reply that the government could not feed the Cree every day is reported in paragraph B.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: The commissioners agreed to more cattle and tools, and to provisions worth one thousand dollars a year for three years once bands settled.
Why this is correct: Notice that paragraph C lists more cattle, more tools and other promises. It never mentions other treaties. So the passage makes no comparison with earlier agreements.
Tips: The statement compares this agreement with earlier treaties. Check whether any earlier treaty is mentioned at all.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph explains the hardship before 1876 and names the leaders. There is no other treaty to compare with.
- B: In paragraph B, Morris offers help to begin farming, but that help is not measured against anything.
- C: The word 'more' about cattle and tools in paragraph C means more than first offered, not more than older treaties.
- D: Two understandings of the land are compared in paragraph D, not the farming help of different treaties.
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