Margaret Peeters
February 13th Pine Tree Treaty
Discussion Questions

1. How much of an effect, if any, does language have on these negotiations and treaty?

2. Why is it said that the Indian memory about the treaty events are very “reliable” even after one hundred seventy years?

3. Was Governor Dodge attempting to trick the bands by adding such wording as “during the pleasure of the President” to the treaty? What was he trying to accomplish with these words?

4. Why did the Chippewa accept other forms of payment instead of cash payments, when cash-money was the deal? Why did the government start paying them in goods instead of money?

5. What did the U.S. gain by disrupting the Chippewa hunting-fishing-fur trading system with there lack of punctuality when distributing the payments?

6. Who benefited the most from this particular treaty? And in what ways?

7. If this Treaty were written today, what would be different from the Treaty of 1837 involving the Chippewa and their abundant pine timberlands?

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