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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmds d des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, il e«t film6 d partir de I'angle sup6riour gauche, de gauche ^ droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 ^jti^c^c^ 6<>i''^^ SKETCHES OK THl^: TAST AND PRESKNT (^ONl)ITlON OK THE INDIANS OF CANADA. Hv (;kx)R(;e m. dawson, d.s., Assoc. K..S.M.. !•■.(;. S. Assistant I Jirector < leol. .Survey of I'rmacla. R ■y \ , A ■SJ ■ Ijpill, Jil(-^'»JI»|,«»1;-. .^ill.l|l^!|pijll.*ijt l-.i If^JkiA-t^oMy ( Reprinted from Canadian Naturalist, Vol. IX. N'o, j. ) SKETCHES OF THE PAST AND PRESENT CONDITION OP THE INDIANS OF CANADA. By Gkorge M. Dawson, D.S., Assoc. R.8.M., F.G.S. It is computed thnt the Indi.in population of the Dominion at the present day numbers nearly 100,00(1, distributed as follows— the figures beinu; those of the last report of tjie Department of the Interior :— Ontario, 15.GGG; Quebec, 10,917; Nova Scotia, 2,11G; New Brunswick. 1,-425; Manitoba and N. W. Territories 27.308 Athabasca District, 2,398; Rupert's Land, 4,370; British volumbia, 35,15-1; Prince Edward Island, 29(j. Constituting- thus nearly a fortieth ;.>art of the entire popula- tion of Canada, the Indians:* v.ould even numerically be a not unimportant factor in questions of interior policy. As the original possessors of the land, however, though possessing it in a manner incompatible with the requirements of mode;n civiliza- tion, and as having been at times ready to assert that ownership, even in a forcible manner, they acquire quite a special interest; even without that afterglow of romance which follows the uiemory of the red man in those regions from which he has already passed away. Though in the ante-Columbian period of American history nearly all the Indian tribes and nations appear to have been either drifting or gradually extending, by force of arms, in one direction or another, as indicated by their history or traditions, their movements were neither so rapid nor erratic as those which have occurred since the old organization and balance of power began to crumble before the auvance of irresistible force from without. We niiiy thcriifore tnice, with some degrco of dofinite- ness, the extension of the greater Indian i'aniilies as they existed when first discovered, grou{)ing togetlier, for this purpose, many tribes which, thougii speaking the same or cognate hinguages, and with a general siniihirity in habits and modes of life, were not infrequently at bitter enmity among theujselves, and in some cases had almost forgotten their original organic cr nnectio" In North-eastern America, the great Algonkin family was numerically the most important, occupying a vast extent ol' coun- try, from beyond the western end of Lake Superior, along its northern shores, to the region of the Ottawa — which appears to have been the original focus of this group of Indians — filling the great wilderness between the St. Lawrence Kivcr and Gulf and the southern part of Hudson's Bay, occupying New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and the present New I^ngland States, and stretching even further southward, to the confines of Florida. There apjjear to have been first seven tribal divisions, which are said to have numbered each from o.OOO to (5,000 warriors, ;md are those referred to collectively by the Jesuits, who had comparatively little knowledge of the tiibal intricacies of this part of the continent, as ccs gnnids honrgs dcs jVarognisrs. iMany of the names of these tribes and of their smaller subdivisions are still perpetuated in a more or less travestied form in the names of places; and in the history of the early days of the English colonies some of them appear continually. In addition to these, inhabiting Maine and New Hampshire, was the great Abenakis tribe, afterwards of some importance in Canadian history, when pressed northward by the disturbances incident to the establish- ment of the P]nglish Colonies. Closely allied to these, were the Malecetes and Micmacs of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. To the r)orth of the Gulf and lower pan o!' the River St. j^awrence were a number of roving tribes, afterwards known collectively as the Montagnards ; in the Ottawa region, the Algonkins proper, and further to the north-west the Chi})pewas or Ojibways centred, Avhen first discovered, near the Sault Ste. Marie, whence the name tSaufciix applied to them by the French. These last were pressing westward, waging incessant warfare with the Sioux, and gradually dispossessing them of tlieir hunting grounds about the sources of the Mississippi. South of the Algonkin territory was the great Iroquois nation, extending from the southern part of Lake Champlaiu to Lake Erie, and including the Senecaa, Cayusas, Onondaj^as. Oncidas and iMohawks, a fierce, intellij^cnt, unscrupulous con- federacy or leajrue of tribes, estimated al'terwards by La Ilontan at 70,000 in number, warrin<>; with nei^■hbours and extcndin"- their boundaries in every direction, their very name a terror over half tiie northern part of the American continent. Allied to these by blood and lanuuaj>e, although at tjie dawn of history at bitter enmity with them, were the Hurons, estimated at 30,000 to 40,000 in number, inhabiting the eastern border of the great lake which now bear.« th(>ir name. The Neutral Nation also inhabiting the peninsula of Upper Canada, and of the Iro- quois stock, were, with the Erics, destroyed by the confederated Iroquois almost before their contact with the wiiites, and scarcely figure in history. Following the more fertile country of the valley of the St. Law- rence, there appears to have been an outlying member of the great Iroquol-IIuron family, holding the banks of the River and present sites of iMontreal and Quebec, while the Algonkins, as we have already seen, peopled all the neighbouring regions. Such were the main features in the distribution of the Indian nations of the north-east portion of the Continent at the time when they were about to be brought into contact witli a stronger external power. In regard te their internal condition and progress in the arts, notwithstanding the gloss with which time may to some extent cover these aborigines, we cannot dis-uise from ourselves that they wer(; for the mo-t jjart the veriest savages. The northern Algonkins were foun(i rarely, if ever, cultivating the soil, even on the most limited scale ; hunters,' fishermen, adding to their dietary such wild roots and berries as the country luippened to afford ; living J'rom hand to mouth, with little providence even for the annually recurring season of cold ; probably then, as now among the more remote tribes, not infrequently forced even to cannibalism during seasonsof scarcity; wanderers, not as some of them afterwards became in the service of the great fur companies, over inunensc areas of the Continent, but each little tribe migrating, with the seasons, in its accus- tomed district, from the hike abounding in trout or white fish, to the region frequented by deer, or the rocky hills and islands where berries ripened most abundantly ; battling, with scanty means, against the heat of summer and the winter's cold, and not usually living with any sense either of security in life or in the possospion of tliclr nicajrro b{!lon^in against the Mohawks, to the south of Jjake Cii;inj])lain, and in Cartier's (juaint and simple narrative of his first visit to Hoeiie- laga (now the city of Montreal), which he says was surrounded with "goodly and large cultivated fields, full of such corn as tlie country yieldeth. It is even as the millet of Brazil, as great and somewhat bigger than small peason, wherewith they live even as we do with our wheat." Tiie Iroquois, though thus more advanced, were in customs and modes of thought e^sentially one with the other Indians, and used their greater resources as u means of waging more savage and effectual war. They were a scourge to the surrounding nations, and more especially hostile to their relatives the llurons, the Iroqucts — as the Indians found by Cartier inhabiting the banks of the St. l>awrence were afterwards called — and the whole race of the Algonkins. These peoples found themselves, at the time of the arrival of the Euro- peans, cruelly oppressed by the wars of the Iroquois, scarcely able to hold their own, iin'^ would, in the natural course of events, have beeii absorbed or destroyed by them, or gradually forced to retreat into the hyperborean region. The French, with whom wo have more particularly to deal, like the Spaniards, constantly used the christianizatiou and civilization of the natives as a powerful argument in favour of their exploring enterprises, and I ro;illy attoniptcd to carry out tlieir professions. In the early liistory of Canada wo continually find the priest in advance of the explorer and the trader ; and, thou<;h it is iiintod that in some c.ises the traffic in peltries occupied part of the attention of the missionary, wc seldom find them lending the Divine sanctioa to unprovoked violence or robbery. The intercourse of the Europeans and Indians of the north- eastern portion of America can scarcely be said to h^ o been beiiun by Cabot in his voya<:es of 141)7-98-99, when he first discovered this part of the coast. With Cartier, in 1534 and 1')')'), in his memorable voyages up the St. Lawrence, the first real cdntaet occurred. The natives app(;ar to have reci-ived him often timidly, but vvin'e found ready enouiih to trade when friund- 8hi|) had been cautiously established. At the villages of Stada- coriii (Quebec) and II ochelaga ho was received even with rejoicing, the natives bringing gifts of fish, corn and " great gourds," wiiich they threw into his boat in token of welcome. It is evident, however, that they well understood and wished to maintain their territorial rights, for we find that when Cartier, in his first voyage, set up in the vicinity of the Bale des Chaleurs his ''cross thirty feet high," the aged chief of the region objected to the proceeding, telling the French — as well as his language could bo ui;derstood — that the country all bi'longed to him, and that only with his permission could they rightly erect the cross there. It was too, when, in 1541, Cartier attem})ted his abortive colony at Quebec, that the Uiitives first manifested jealousy and a hostile spirit. Much later, in l(i07, when the permanent occupation of the country was begun by CMiamplaiu at Quebec, the erection of a fort suflliciently strong first received the attt'ution of the colonists : showing that they did not pl.ice a too implicit confidence in the continued friendliness of the Indians tow.ird their enterprise. The French would indeed have found the foundation of their colony a difficult matter, but for the state of the Indian tribes at the time of their arrival. The Iroquets of the St. Lawrence valley had, since the date of Cartier's second voyage, been exter- minated, probably by the Hurons, and tlie Algonkin nations were in a state of chronic war with the too powerful Iroquois. Champlain, adopting the only policy open to him, the traditional one of intruders, allied himself, offensively and defensively, with his neighbours the Algonkins, thereby perpetuating the warfare 6 1 1 ill between tlicsc peoples, and initial inj;- the lonu; series of conflicts detailed in the early history of the colony, which were only stopped for a time by tiie peace of Montreal, in 1701, when representatives of tribes, from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Mississippi, to the number of 1,800 chiefs and deputies arc said to havf h"en present. Time will not permit us, bowever, to trace the fortunes of the aboriiiines throuuh the Ion;; period of colonial history, during which the Iroquois, allied to the Entilish, and the Aluonkins, supported and encouratred in war by the French, occupied a j)()sition, as, they said, between the blades of the scissors, in which their number and importance were continually diminish- ing. The history of tho Indians in this period, is besides., so much that of Canada and New England that, though capable of treatment from our standpoint, it is too well known to need recapitulation hero. It has at times been affirmed that the English government did not extinguish the Indian title in Canada proper, when it took po!*session of the country. Tiiis is not however, strictly speaking, the case; for in the proclamation of George III, in 17G3, con.sc- quent on the treaty of that date, by which Canada became finally British, the following passage, relating to the Indians, occurs: " And we do further declare it to be our royal will and pleasure, for the present, as aforesaid, to reserve under our sovereignty, protection and dominion, for the use of the said Indians, all th lands and territories not included within the limits granted to the Hudson's Bay Company ; as also the lands and territories lying Westward ot the sources of the rivers which fall i-.ito the sea, from the west and north-west, us afore said. Aid we do hereby strictly forbid, on pain of our displeasure, all oui* loving subjects from making any purchases or settlements whatever, or taking possession of the lauds above reserved, without our special leave and licence, for that purpose." Different commissions of enquiry into the condition of the Canadian Indians have since been issued from time to time, and of vihich those of 1847 and 1856 were probably the most im- portant. In reference to the Indian title, the commissioners of 1847 thus state their views : * " Although the Crown claims the territorial estate and eminent dominion in Canada, as in Other of the older colonies, it has. ever since its possession of the * Quoted by Hind, Canadian Exploring Expedition. 1' I 7 Province, coiicodcd to the TiiJians the right of occupyint; their old hunting (jroiindu, and their claini to cnin[)ensation for its sur. render, reservinu' to itself the exclusive privilege of treating with them for the sunvnder or purchase of any portions of the land. This is distinctly laid down in the pmclaniation of 17(i.'{, and the principle lias since hecu gener ''•■ ackiiovvledged, and rarely in- fringed upon by tlu; Govcrnnu i These statements are interest- ing in connection with the difficulty — referred to further on — as to Indian title in British Columbia. In carrying out this policy, we find the Government paying sums of money to certain tribes, and providing them with annuities as their lands become desirable for settlement. The payments thus made, though often apparently large, were always small in propoi.ion to the extent of territory ecjrled. The country, for instance, norili of Lakes Superior and Huron remained in po.ssession of the Ojibways till 185(1, when the whole of this vast region, at least equal in extent to England, and inhabited by between 2,000 and ii,000 Indians was surrendered to the Canadian Government for $10,040 paid donn, and S1.400 in perpetual annuity. On this, the Commis- sioners remark : " If we considered that it canu; properly within our province, we should not hesitate to express our decided regret that a treaty, shackled by such stipulations, whereby a vast extent of country has been wrung from the Indians for a comparatively nominal sum, should have received the sanctioa of the Government." In a table prepared under the same com- mission is the following summary of areas of land given up, at different times, by the Indians of Canada, with the price paid to them per acre : Ojibways, 2^(1. per acre 7,373,000 y. " 6,737,750 Ott; ..'as, Pottawatamies, Cliippewas and HuroLs, yV^. per acre 2,001,078 Delaware!!, 2s. Saugcen Indians, 3|(?. per acre 1,500,000 Ojibways of Lake Superior, as already given. Acreage not known. Average rate per acre about l^d. In view of such facts, we may well ask upon w". at principle they have been remunerated for tiieir lands ; certainly not by any standard either of their absolute or relative value, rather 8 ^ii iri ■ li; ! ilH n Ilii p'i :l 1 Ilii by th;it of the relative iirnorance of tlic various tribes at the time they were treated ^Yith, and the urgency of tlieir then present wants. Looked at from this point of view, the transaction loses altogether tiie aspect of an equitable purchase. It must be evident tliat the Government, in such arrangements, does not fully acknowledge the Indian title, the "territorial estate and eminent dominion " being vested in the crown, and the claim of the Indians restricted practically — though not patently in the transactions as effected with the Indians — to right of compensa- tion for the occupancy of their hunting grounds. It is very difficult to arrive at any certain conclusion regarding the original number of the Indian population of this part of the Continent. The New England tiibes are, as we have seen, said by some authorities to have each possessed several thousand war- riors. The Iro(|uois were estimated by La llontan at 70,000, and the Ilurons, at an earlier date, at from 30 to 40,000. Gar- neau, on the contrary, gives, as tlie result of careful calculation, numbers very much smaller, and supports them by remarks on the exaggerated estimates of the notions formed by some travellers. He allows, for instance, to the whole Algonquin race 90,000 only, and to the Hurons and Iroquois together 17,000. Though the first estimates may be too great, these almost certainly err on the other side. In the four eastern provinces of tlie Dominion, Ontario, Que- bec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, there are at the present day about ;]0,000 Indians, the remnant of the former numerous population. A considerable number of Indians in Quebec, and north of the settled districts, in the northern and north-western part of Ontario, still remain in a con- dition little, if ;.t all, superior to that of their ante-Columbian ancestors. Their lands, unsuited for agriculture, are not coveted by the whites. They have only tlie advantage of a certain immu- nity from pillage and war, and oi being able to procure from the Hudson Bay Company and other traders such articles of Euro- pean manufacture as they may be able to aft'ord. Alter describ- ing the condition of these wild western tribes, Dr. Wilson, in the last edition of his " Prehistoric Man," writes of them : " It is not a little strange to find such pagan rites perpetuated among nom-ds still wandering around the outskirts of settlements occu- pied by descendants of colonists, who, upwards of three centuries ago, transplanted to the shores of the St. Lawrence the arts and i!! f \ 9 laws of the most civilized nation of Europe. The reuions thus occupied by savage tribes are annually coasted by richly laden merchant fleets of Britain ; and the ocean steamers have now brought within a few day's sail of Europe the outcast descen- dants of the aboriginal owners of the soil. But they experience no benefit from the chanLte. The Mistassins and Naskapees exhibit all tiic characteristics and some of the most forbidding traits of the Indian sava. The total number of acres under cultivation is 00,501 ; houses owned, 4,847, besides barns and stables ; horses, 2,741 ; cows, 2,800, besides other animals, ploughs, harrows, waggons, fanning mills ar;d many other agricultural implements. It is, however, un- 10 ill pleasant to note the complaints of the superintendent tliat the schools ;tre very generally poorly appreciated ; only a small pro- portion of tlic children atu^nding with any regularity. The remnants of some of the Indian tribes of this part of the Dominion have now drifted far from their original localities. Of the Iroquois, a portion converted by the French — who estab- lished missions among them in ll)57 — separated themselves from their native cantons to the south of Lake Ontario, and settled on lands provided for them on the banks of the St. Lawrence, at Caughiiawaga, St. Eegis, and the Lake of Two Mountains. Their number at the present time (including some Algonkins living with the Iroquois at the last named place) is 2,9G-1. The greater part of tlie Iroquois nation — allies, as we have seen, of the English against the French in early colonial days — were loyal to the Crown during the revolutionary war, and on the establishment of the United States many of them migrated to Ontario, under their great chief Joseph Brandt, 1785. They were accorded a reserve of about 1200 square uiiles, of which they now possess only a small part. Those refugees number, a'- the present day 4.495, aiid are living on the Grand River, Bay of Quint(5, and River Thames. Another considerable band of the Iroquois, chiefly composed of Indians of the Seneca tribe, still inhabit a portion of their original territory in the State of New York, possess a reserve of 6{),0()0 acres, and are good and prosperous farmers. Another party, early in this century settled in Ohio, but were afterward removed to the Indian Territory to the south, and are now stated to number 240. One more small detachment, travelling westward in the service of the fur com- panies, now frequent, or lately did so, the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains, near the head-waters of the Saskatcliewan. Tiie once powerful nation of Huroiis or VVyandots, are now reduced to a mere handful. In 1G48, the Iroquois recommenced their war against these people with unwonted fury, and during 1649 and '50, they were finally beaten and as a nation destroyed. After the attack of 1648 the remnants of the tribes found refuge for a time among tlie neighbouring nations, but were shortly afterwards again gathered togeilier, to perish, for the most part, some by renewed attacks of their enemies, othei's by famine, during the winter of 1649-50. The survivors, about 300 in number, under the guidance of the missionaries who had beea labouring among them, migrated eastward, but were apparently 11 pursued by misfortune. Many perished in attemptinu: to cross from their phice of refuge on Tsle Joseph to the mainland, others were cut off by prowling Iroquois. Tl'.e miserable remnant crept through the wilderness of the upper Ottawa to Montreal, and then to Quebec, vvliere for years they inhabited the Isle of Or- leans ; but still from time to time harassed by their enemies, moved into the city of Quebec itself, and on the conclusion of peace, removed to Ste. Foye, and afterwards to Lorette. where they now are, to the number of 2!)5. A second small fraction of the Hurons. centering for a time about Detroit, were accorded a reserve at Anderdou in Ontario, but during the present century, have declined from 200 to 7G in number. Still another colony became possessed of lands in Ohio, ceded these lands to the United States, in 1832, and were removed to Kansas, where, in 1855, many became citizens, and the land being divided among these, the remainder were again removed to the Indian Territory, where they now uumber 258 souls. Such has been the fate of these cultivators of corn and tobacco, the natives, of all others of the northern part of the Continent, most nearly attaining a civi- lized stute. The vicissitudes to which the Algonkins have been subjected are not so great. Those who have come within the influence of civilisation occupy a great number of snuiU reserves and villages scattered through Ontario and Quebec. The Abenakis, the con- stant allies of the French, leaving the northern part of New England, now reside at St. Francis and Becancour, and have de- creased from 1000, the number remaining in 17G0, to 835. If we had any satisfactory means of estimating the real amount of Indian blood represented by the peoples classed as Indians, we would find the recognized remnant of the native race a much smaller fraction than it appears in the census. In many of the bands scarcely a pure-blooded Indian can be found, and in all great admixture has occurred. Of the Abenaquis Father Mar- quette writes : '' Our Indians are, with but very few exceptions, mdtis, or half-breeds. Here I do not know one Abenaquis of pure blood : they are nearly all Canadian, German, English, or Scotch half-breeds. The greater portion of them are us white as Canadians, and the dark complexions we see with many are owing in most cases to long voyages." Ti;e Ilurors of Lorette can scarcely be distinguished as Indians. They have almost en- tirely exchanged their native tongue for the French patois, and 12 , 1 1 would probiibly long since liave ceased to be distinct, but for tbiir claim to sluire in the distribution of certain tribal funds adnjinistered by the Government, which have now ceased to be of real bene fit, and act instead as a deterrent to the complete independence and self-reliance of tlie members of the community. Similar statements might be made with regard to other tribes, and many of the more advanced Indians begin to show a wish to emancipate themselves frons their state of pupilags. This they are now enabled to do on easy terms by the Act of 1876. The discovery of the great Northwest, and contact of its Indian tribes wit!) the wjiit did not occur till long after that of the older provinces of Canada ; and our knowledge of the west coast and British Columbia is almost an event of yesterday. The famous journey of Joliet and Marquette to the Mississ npi was made in 1672, followed, ten years later, by that of La Salle, in 1727, a Canadian I'ur company had advanced trading posts to Lake Pepin on the Mississippi; but we find Charlevoix writing from Montreal, in 1721, witli nothing more definite than the vague rumours of the existence of the " Lac des Assiniboils " and surrounding' region now forming part of Manitoba. Not till 1731 was this country and the valley of the lied River of the north, discovei 'd by Varennes de la Verandrye, acconipanled in his expedition I his sons, and a missionary' Jesuit. By 1748, the French, with the wonderful energy in discovery characteristic of them at this time, had pushed tlieir explorations far up the valley of the Saskatchewan ; and they had already crossed the water-shed separating this valley from the Arctic basin, when Sir Alexander Mackenzie, an officer of the North-west Fur Company of Canada, in 1789, begar) liis voyages of discovery in that region. Ttiis intrepid traveller, in that year,' traversed the en- tire length of the river now bearing his name, reaching the Frozen ocean, and, in 1798, only 85 years ago, was the first Eu- ropean to set foot in the great interior of British Columbia. The wide-stretching Algonkin family of Indians already des- cribed as filling so large a part of North America, extended far into the western country. The Sioux, touching, in the early his- torical years, the west end of Lake Superior, were then being dispossessed of these regions, and their hunting grounds about the sources of the Mississippi, by the Algonkin Chippeways, who before settlement began in the Red River valley, appear to have usurped a part of that region, and the Lake of the Woods coun- 1 ; 13 try, and m;ide of them their wepriiig of the Dalrotas, they were bitterly hostile to them, much as occurred further east with the Iroquois. South and west of these, but scarcely stretching far north of the forty-ninth parallel in early times, were the various bands of the Sioux, or Nadouessioux of the early travellers, the first name, by which they are now most commonly known, being an abbreviation of the .second, which is a Chippewa word, meaning enemies, and was sometimes also applied by these people to the Iroquois; the Sioux calling themselves Dikotus. Still farther west were the different tribes of the Blackfoot confederacy, roaming between the head-waters of tlic Missouri, the Rocky Mountains and upper Saskatchewan. The Indians thus classified according to race, were, however, naturally divided, trom the earliest times, by the character of th-ur eiivironment, into two great groups, — those of the plains and those of the forests. The former, typically exhibited in the Sioux. Assineboines, and BLickfeet, were and are physically and mentally better developed than the latter. Their lives were more active, and, with abundance of food in the innumerable herds of buffalo which then covered the plains from the lied River to the foot of the Rocky Mountains, while fierce, treacherous and 14 iiii turbulent, they had leisure to develop some of the better quali- ties often attributed to the American savatre, and to invent those curious mystic ceremonies appropriate to the seasons, wliich auion-sed away, that Canada wi'.l find her greatest Indian problem. In contrast- ing the Indian policy of the United States and Canada, it is unquestionable that the latter has generally shown consideration and friendliness toward these people ; while the former, with few exceptions, has practically pursued a method harsh and aggres- sive ; but it is often forgotten that the circumstances of the two countries ibr many years past have been very different. In the Western States the uncompromising edge of the pdvancing tide of immigration has been creeping across the plains — con- stant broils, outrages and n^prisals characterizing its spread. In Canada we are only about to enter on this phase, and in no way but by great forbearance and tact can similar — though probably not so groat — trouble be averted. In 1812 Lord Selkirk founded his colony on the Red River, having acquired from the Hudson Bay Company in the previous year a grant of land for colonization ; but, like the government of the Dominion at a later date, finding that he had aiterward to arrange with the Indians for their right of ownership. In 1817, several chiefs agreed to give to the King, for the use of the Earl of Selkirk, a tract of land borderinjj the Red and Assineboine Rivers, as far back on each side as a horse could be seen under (i. e. easily distinguished) ; b it we find that it was afterwards made a subject of complaint by the Indians, that they never received for the land more than a first payment, which they con- sidered as preliminary to a final bargain. The quit-rent was understood to be 100 pounds of tobacco, paid annually to the chiefs. Selkirk's colonists, entering the covntry by way of Hudson Bay and the Nelson River, were chieflv men from the northern islandsof Scotland, and there mingling.with French-Canadians — old voyageurs of the fur Companies — soon, like these people, 17 took to thomsclve.s Ir)di:in wives, usually from among the Crees. Thus arose the Metis or half-breed population of the Red River, for a long time hunters rather than farmers, and as yet — especially the French half-bioods — in too many cases making but a half- hearted attempt at the cultivation of the soil. Yearly expeditions on a great t vale — of which ^7e have all read — were made by these people against the butfalo, iu early d.'iys abounding in the Red River valley itself. Gradually, howevor, under thu attacks of the people, the increasing demand for robv^s in all quarters, and the quantity of pemmican required by the Hudson Bay Com- pany for the supply of theii posts, the great no-thern herds of buffalo were thinned, and year by year the Red River hunters had to travel farther in search of their game. At last the con- nection between the Peace River herds and those to the i:outh was broken along the line of the Saskatchewan, and the former all but annihilated ; end at the present day a wide belt of coun- try near and south of the Missouri, separates the buffalo stil! rem.iininj; in the South- Western States from those of the north, which are congregated in a limited area near the foot of the Rocky Mountains in the British possessions, and surrounded by a cordon of hungry savages. With this change, a great altera- tion in the position of the various Indian tribes has occurred. The Assineboines and plain Crees have followed the retreating herds to the south and west, while the thick-wood Indians, for- merly confined to their forests by the pressure of these tribes, have issued on the plains ; and natives from the vicinity of the Red River and great lakes of Manitoba may now be found even, to the Coteau of the Missouri. The remaining buffalo at the' present time inhabit a portion of the territory of the Blackfeet;. but those Indians do not, now, in the absence of valuable game, try to maintain their former extensive boundaries, and are hemmed in by their hereditary enemies the Sioux and Assine- boines to the east, and Crees to the north. In 1874 I met a large camp of Cree Indians on the Milk River at the 49th parallel, a point farther south than I know them to have attained before. In this year, basing my estimate on the information obtainable in the country itself, I ventured to state that the northern herd of buffalo could scarcely maintain its existence as such for longer than twelve or fourteen years, and that at or before that date the trade in pemmican and robes would cease to be of importance. Unless the regulations adopted by the North- 18 1 : I 'il I r ii; ; I I I '■ west Council are very strictly enforced, and possibly even in spite of this clieck, the buftalo must become pratically extinct within a very few years. In view of these facts, measures cannot too soon be taken to render the plain tribes self supporting;, on some other basis than that all'orded by the chase of the buft'ilo. Their wanderiii as they have always been, hunters and fishers ; but in many places tiiey now also cultivate small garden patches, producing potatoes, turnips and such other vegetables as require little attention. For their winter supply of food they generally depend chiefly on fish, which is dried and cured during the summer. On all the tributaries of the Fraser, salmon is taken, in some years abundantly. Those tribes nearer the coast, have generally succeeded in maintaining against the coast Indians, the control of some part of the various shorter rivers on which salmon can be caught. Thither they make an annual migration, which they look upon as a sort of holiday-making, revelling during the season in abundance of fresh fish, and on their return carrying back with them supplies for the cold months. They still trade with the coast tribes to some extent, obt lining fish oil and Euro- pean goods for furs ; and this interchange, continuing since time immemorial, has resulted in the formation of well-beaten trails, of which the Bella Coola trail, and the so-called Grmsc Trail (over which, in the far north, oolican oil is packed up from the sea- board) are best known. In the last century, wheu direct Euro- pean trade was carried on only along the coast, these interior 22 ii! Indians were obliged to satisfy all their needs for manufactured articles through the intermediation of t^' coast tribes. This intercourse led to the general diffusion of the remarkable Chinook jargon, which can only be referred to here. In the more remote parts of this northern country, the natives have changed very little since its first discovery. In 1793, Sir Alexander Mackenzie accompanied a party of them, as they travelled toward their fishery on the Dean or Salmon River. In June, 187G, I jour- neyed for a couple of days with a similar party going to the same traditional locality for the same purpose, and, with scarcely a word of alteration, Mackenzie's description might have been ap plied. Every man, woman and child carried a " pack " of size in proportion to their strength, many of the women being, in addition, encumbered with infants, and even the dogs having strapped to their backs a proportion of the common burden of camp equipage or traps. The larger articles and provisions were usually packed in square boxes made of light wood, skil- fully bent round, and pegged together so neatly that, with the addition of grease and dirt rubbed into the corners, they are water-tight, and can be used for boiling fish, hot stones from the fire being thrown in till the water is heated. Smaller loads are carried in net-work bags made of raw hide, and slung, together with a blanket, over the shoulders. All were in good humour, and it was with the greatest difficulty I could persuade one to leave his companions to guide me to the southward, where I wished to go. They travelled at leisure, frequently resting for an hour or so, the women attcndinsi; to their children, the men sleeping in the shade, or gambling with marked sticks, as Mac- kenzie describes. In the southern part of the interior, the Indians have come much more freely in contact with the whites, and though many never saw a white face till the gold excitement of *359 occurred, they hrve already advanced very materially. In the early days of gold mining, labour was scarce and in great demand, and,, consequently, every Indian who could and would woik was em- ployed at high wages. From this, many of them became stock- raisers to a small extent, river boatmen, and packers ; while others cultivated the soil, sometimes producing more than they required for their own support. Such is their state at present, and on them most of the white settlers rely for aid in tilling, harvesting, and stock herding. While, however, the younger 23 men take readily to these pursuits, many of the older still prefer to live as they did formerly, chiefly on the products of the fishery and chase ; and in districts where settlement has not yet penetrated, whole bands still trust almost entirely to these, their primitive means of support. Along the const, the natives are, and always have been, almost exclusively fishermen. They hollow from the great cedar trees graceful and sea-worthy canoes, in which they frequently make long voyages, and formerly, in some cases, ventured far from land in pursuit of the whale. Their villages are along the mar- gin of the sea, on a coast generally rocky and rugged, with little arable land. Th'-^, engage in the chase to a very limited extent, and seldom even venture far into the dense forests, of which they appear often to entertain a superstitious dread, peopling them in imagination with monstrous and fearful inhabitants. Along many of the estuaries and harbours are long lines of sheli- heaps. evidencing the indefinite antiquity of their feasting and campinr;. At the present day, many of the coast Indians are moderately industrious, working on farms, in the coal mines at Nauaimo, or as sailors in small coasting schooners. In Mr. Dun- can's charge, at 3Ictlakatla, in the north, is an example of a self- supporting and comfortable community, the result of genuine missionary labour. Of all tl.e coast tribes, the Indians of the Queen Charlotte Islands are probably the most intelligent and competent. When the earlier navigators visited this region, they were the sea-dogs of the coast, and carried their piratical expeditions far and wide, often engaging in fierce conflicts with the Ucultas, and other tribes who attempted to bar their passage of the narrows at the north end of Vancouver Island. Though, like most of the sea- board tribes, in fea.'^res remarkably coarse, they are lighter in complexion than the others, often so much so that a rosy colour is discernible in their cheeks. Their superior attractions in this respect have been unfortunate for them, as many of their womfu resort to Victoria and other towns for the worst purposes, and, owing to disease, they ;-re rapidly diminishing. Their tribal name is ILtida, and they are remarkable above all the other Indians of the Coast for the size and excellence of their wooden houses, which arc ornamented with huge sculptured posts, risin"- like obelisks or n:inarets ; and also for their great skill and taste in carving in grotesque and complicated palierns all their imple- !il!ii:'i! 24 mcnts and utensils. The style of this carving, on the one hand, resembles that of China und Japan, and, on the other, that of Mexico and Central America. The Haidas are dexterous and successful fishermen. Such is a brief sketch of the Indians of British Columbia ; from which, however, it will be evident that, owing to the phy- sically diversifi ^ character of the country, and correspondingly diver.se habits of the natives, they required at the hands of the whites a quite special treatment. It was probably owing to want of information that the Dominion government at first pro- posed to apply, unmodified, to the whole area of the new province, the traditional Canadian policy of granting extensive reserves to the natives. This led to a Ions:, and in some instances asrimo- nious correspondence between the general and local governments; and also to accusations by philanthropic societies, imputing in- justice and indifiFerence toward the natives to the old colonial government. It may be interesting to go over, briefly, the chief points raised in this controversy, which will also in some dem ,a serve to explain the anomalous condition of the British Coir * Indians in respect to material progress. Many interesting facts bearing on the first contact of whites and natives on the West Coast are to be found in the volumes of Meares, Portlock and Dixon, Cook, Vancouvci and other early explorers ; and various arrangements and treaties were made in these early times, which have long since, however, lost all force, and must be omitted here. Among the official documents relating to more recent times, wo first find fourteen treaties concluded with the natives by Mr., afterwards Sir James, Douglas, acting for the Hudson Bay Company. These apply to Vancouver Island, chiefly to its southern and south-eastern part, and are dated in 1850 and 1852, several years before the gold excitement of 1858-59. A lump sum was paid on the conclusion of each treaty, which was looked upon as a sale, under the following conditions, to quote from one of them, viz : — " That our village sites and on- closed fields are to be kept for our own use, for the use of our children, and for those who may follow after us ; and the land shall be properly surveyed hereafter. It is understood, however, that the lar.d itself, with these small exceptions, becomes the en- tire property of the white people for ever; it is also understood that we are at liberty to hunt over the unoccupied lands, and to carry on our fisheries as formerly." . » - . / 25 In 1858 attention was pro^tiinently called to British Columbia, 'Owing to the discovery of gold, and the rush of miners from all quarters, and, accordingly, we find next among the papers (dated in July of that year) an extract from a despatch of Lord liytton, as Secretary of State for the Colonies, to Douglas, then appointed Governor of the region, recommending kind treatment of the natives, and ordering that in all cases of cession of land, subsis- tence, in some form, should be granted to them. In September of the same year, there is a second despatch from Lyttou, enclos- ing a memorial from the Aborigines Protection Society, which gives reasons for fearing that, the miners then flocking to the country, the Indians would be harshly treated, and advising, justly, that the native right to the soil should be recognized. In venturing to point out means of satisfying the natives, however, the Society makes various suggestions, some of which, to any one acquainted with the circumstances of the country, look sufficiently absurd. It is said, for instance : — " To accomplish the difficult but ne*jessary task of civilizing the Indians, and of making them our trusty friends and allies, it would seem to be indispensable to employ in the various departments of government a large pro- portion ot well selected men more or less of Indian blood (many of whom could be found at the lied River) ! who might not only exert a greater moral influence over their race than we could possibly do, but whose recognized position amoni>' the whites should be some guarantee that the promised equality of races should be realized." lied Iliver being in actual distance and in manners as remote from Victoria as is St. Petersburg from Lon- don, this part of the scheme is, to say the least of it, visionary. Next follows some additional corresp ndence between Governor ■Douglas and the Colonial Office in 1858-59, of a similar tenor, in which both parties agree in the advisability of endeavouring to locate the Indians in their villages, and render them self-sup- porting. Douglas, however, instanced as specially to be avoided, the method originally pursued by the Spanish Catholic mission- aries to California, where the Indians, though fed, clothed, and taught to labour, were kept in a state of dependence, not allowed to think, act, or acquire property for themselves, and when ireed from control were without self reliance, more helpless and degra- ded than at first. Also, that since pursued toward the same Indians by the American Congress, of supporting them at great cost by the State, the natives nevertheless rapidly degenerating. 26 mil iiii i'i In March 1861, the House of Assembly of Vancouver Island prepared a memorial, recapitulating the means adopted by the Hudson Bay Company to extinguish the Indian title, stating that the Indians of the Island have a strong sense of property in land, and that regions then being settled still belonged to the natives. It was feared that bad feeling would arise between the races ; but the Colony, being unable to raise £3,000, which would be necessary to purchase the rights of the Indians, asked the Home Government to advance this sum, which was afterwards to be repaid by the sale of public lands. The Secretary of State for the Colonies, however, though ready enough to oflFer good advice, as we have seen, promptly answers this communication in a curt note, stating that the affair being purely a colonial matter. Her Majesty's Government could not undertake to supply any money. ' In a voluminous correspondence, from different sources, ex- tending from 1861 up tj the date of the Confederation, it would seem that the idea of recognizing the Indian title to the "-hole mainland country never appears to have occurred to the authori- ties ; but that the method adopted was to ask the Indians of any particuhir locality what plot of land they wished to possess, and to make this reserve for them. It generally appears that all the land asked for was given, and sometimes even more than requested, the Governor indeed expressly directing that when a larger area was requisite to the support of the Indians, it should at once be allotted to them. In most cases the natives seem to have been satisfied with this arrangement, though we discover that certain priests, missionaries among them, were already advising the In- dians to make larger claims for land. It is. evident, in fact, that at this time — to quote from a report by T. W. Trutch, as Chief Commissionner of Lands and Works in 1867, which, though referring specially to the lower part of the Frat.er, may be taken as representing the state of affairs over the whole interior : — '• The subject of reserving land for the Indians does not appear to have been dealt with on any established system during Sir James Douglas's administration. The rights of the Indians to hold lauds were tot;illy undefined, and the whole matter seems to have been kept in abeyance, although the land proclamations specially withheld from pre-emption all Indian reserves or settlements. No reserves of lands specially for Indian purposes were made by oflBcial notice in the Gazette, and those Indian reserves which. 2T were infonnally made, seem to have been so reserved in further- ance of verbal instructions only from the Governor," or even in some cases were made over to the Indians on the ground by him personally. About this time, it was found that many reserves made in this loose way, were seriously impeding settlement by blocking access to valuable lands, and otherwise ; and, moreover, that the land locked up in reserves was frequently far in excess of the requirements of the aborigines. The authority by which many of these reserves were made, was then disavowed by the govern- ment, and, in a letter i'rom the Colonial Secretary (Nov. 1867), the original intention of the Government is defined as having been in all cases to grant the Indians lands cultivated by them, and so much in addition as to bring the reserves up to about ten acres per adult male: it being further stated "that reserves that have been laid out of excessive extent should be reduced as soon as practicable. The Indians have no right to any land beyond what may be necessary for their actual requirements, and all beyond this should be excluded from the boundaries of their reserves. They can have no claim whatever to any of the land thus excluded, for they really never have possessed it, — although, perhaps, they may have been led to view such land as a portion of their reserve. "The Indians appear in almost all cases to have acquiesced quietly in the reduction, feeling compensated to some extent by the greater definitcness given to their claims by actual survey. They are reported in most instances to have been "well satisfied," "satisfied," or "submissively satisfied." The whole matter of Indian lauds was thus in a very unsatisfac- tory state to be handed over to the Dominion authorities at the date of the admission of this province (1871), for even where substantial justice had been done to the Indians, the records were indefinite, or altogether wanting. On the appointment by the Dominion of a Superintendent of Indian affair.*?, the misun- derstanding which of late attracted special attention began, :u.a soon resulted in the accumulation of a groat number of letters, if to no more substantial issue. In the terms of union it was provided that the General Government should assume control of the In- dians, and, to quote, that " a policy as liberal as that hitherto pursued by the British Columbia Government shall be continued by the Dominion Government after the Union ; " further, that tracts of lands, "such as it has hitherto been tiie practice of the I Irs: British Columbia GovernmcDt to appropriate for that purpose," shall be handed over to the Dominion in trust for reserves, etc. These provisions, while apjiarently guaranteeing justice to the Indians, really' proved a bar to the well meant policy of the Dominion. The land grants in Britisli Columbia were by no means on so liberal a scale as usual in the other provinces, and were, further, very unequnl, being in some cases only about five acres to a family, while over the whole province the average was not more than to 10 acres. The Dominion Government wished the size of reserves to bo fixed at 80 acres per family. The local government proposed 20 acres, which was accepted by the Dominion for the coast, but for the interior — where white settlers are allowed to pre-empt a doubl< mtity of land — it was wished to increase this to 40 acres. The local government would not accede to this, and it eventually appeared that they intended the 20 acre basis to apply only to new reservations, and not to lead to the enlargement of those formerly made. Dissatisfaction and agitation meanwhile arose among the Indians, who soon became aware, to a more or less complete extent, of the state of aflFairs. Certain missionaries get the credit of partly ibmonting and rather exaggerating the difficulty, with a view of bringing about an arrangement suited to their own interests ; but to what degree this may be true I do not know. In the end, after several propositions and counter-propositions, an agreement was arrived at between the two governments, of which the followini; is the substance : — A commission of three is appointed, one member by each of the governments, the third jointly. This body shall enquire into all matters connected with each band of Indians, and fix reserva- tions, for which no standard size is given, each nation being dealt with separately, on an equitable and liberal basis. It is also provided that, in accordance with the increase or decrease of the number of Indians, the reserves m ly from time to time be enlarged or diminished in size. This body has since been reduced to a single commissioner, who is superintending the allotment of permanent reserves on an equitable basis to the Indians of the province. While, on comparing the Indian policy of the British Columbia Government with the Canadian, v/here 8U acres may be taken as the minimum size of reserve, the provision made for the Western ludiaus appears slender, it will be seen from the sketch already 29 given of the habits of life of the Tndinns, and nature of the country, that it was by no means without reason that the British Columbia Government objected to the crude application of the rule found to work well in the East, to the very different and variously situated native,? of the West Coast ; that, while reserves even on the 80 acre basis would be barely sufficient in some parts of the interior, where lariije areas are required for stock ranges, it would be useless and foolish to reserve great tracts of arable land for the coast tribes, who are by nature fishermen, and could under no circumstances be induced to cul- tivate the soil on any but a very limited scale. The policy obviously best for the natives of British Columbia, is to aid them in following those paths which they have taken already ; to assist the tribes of the interior to become successful stock-raisers and farmers, by granting them suitable reserves and grazing privi- leges; to encourage those of the coast In fishing and becoming seamen, instructing them in improved modes of preserving their fish, and of preparing it for sale to others. If the sites of their villages and fishing stations are secure to them, they will require little more in the way of rose- ves. To grant to each family 80 acres of good land, it would be necessary to move many tribes far froL. their traditional haunts, and to this they would only submit under compuls^ion. In reviewing the state of the natives of the West Coast, it would appear that, though in many instances the British Columbia government seems to have transgressed the limits of strict justice toward them, and has departed from the precedent elsewhere established, in refusinLj to acknowledge the right of the Indian to the soil ; that he, thrown more on his own resources, mingling among the whites with an equality of rights before the law, and exempt from the inter- ference which has elsewhere distinctly retarded the progress of the savage towards civilization and independence, has worked out in a measure his own temporal salvation, has passed the cri- tical stage of first contact with the whites, and in many cases bids fair, at no distant date, to form an important constituent ot the civilized population of the country, and this even before the native has been largely mingled with foreign blood. It is often said that the ultimate fate of the Red Man of North America is absorption and extinction : just as European animals introduced into Australia and other regions, frequently drive those native of the country from their haunts, and may even 30 II exterminate them, and as European wild plants accidentally im- ported, have become the most sturdy and strong in our North American pastures ; so the Indian races seem to diminish and melt away in contact with the civilization of Europe, developed during centuries of conflict in which they have had no part, but during which their history has moved in a smaller circle, ever returning into itself. Even the diseases engendered in the pro- cess of civilization, ind looked upon in the Eastern hemisphere with comparative indifference, become, when imparted to these primitive peoples, the most deadly plagues. Dr. J. C. Nott (as quoted by Prof, Wilson), writes : " Sixteen millions of aborigines in North America have dwindled down to two millions since the Mayflower discharged on Plymouth Rock ; and their congeners the Caribs have long been extinct in the West Indian Islands. The mortal destiny of the whole American group is already per- ceived to be running out, like the sand in Time's hour-glass," Dr. Wilson has, however, himself shown that though the Indian - as such can not very much longer survive, Indian blood in quan- tity quite inapprcciated by casual observers now courses through the veins of white persons of the continent. The ultimate object of all Indian legislation must bo, while af- fording all necessary protection and encouragement during the dangerous period of first contact with the whites, to raise the native eventually to the position of a citizen, inquiring neither special laws of restraint or favour. When it is found that the paternal care of the State begins to act as a drag on the progress of the Indian, and that after reaching a certa" ^ stage all further advance ceases, the state of dependence must be done away with. To render this change possible, and to eifect it in cases where it would already be advisable, the Dominion Act of 187G was framed. That this measure has not been adopted too soon appears from the concurrent testimony of many interested in the welfare of the Indian, and acquainted with the working of the present system. In concluding, a few of the opinions expressed on this subject may appropriately be given. The Rev, J. Ma- rault (as quoted by Dr, Wilson), writes: — "Many suppose that our Indians are intellectually weak and disqualified for business. This is a great mistake. Certainly as far as the Abcnakis are concerned, they are all keen, subtle, and very intelligent. Let them obtain complete freedom, and this impression will soon disappear. Intercourse with the whites will develop their talent 31 for commerce. No doubt some of them would make an improper use of their liberty, but they would be few in number. Every- where, and in all countries men may be found weak, purposeless, and unwilling to understand their own interests; but I can cer- tify that the Abenakis generally are superior in intelligence to the Canadians. I have remarked that nearly all those who have left their native village, to go to live cNcwhere free, have profited by the change." Dr. Wilson himself remarks (in another place) : — " The system of protection and pupilage under which, from the most generous motives, the Indian has hitherto been placed in the older provinces, has unquestionably been protracted until, in some cases at least, it has become prejudicial in its in- fluence. It has precluded him from acquiring property, marry- ing on equal terms with the intruding race, and so transferring his offspring tn the common ranks." The Honorable Mr. Laird, when Minister of the Interior, as the result of his enquiries in connection with the Indian bill above referred to, speaks in the following terms: — " Qi i' Indian legislation generally rests on the principle that the aborigines are to be kept in a condition of tutelage, and treated as wards or children of the State. The soundness of the principle I cannot admit. On the contrary, I am firmly persuaded that the true interests of the aborigines and of the State alike require that every effort should be made to aid the red man in lifting himself out of his condition of tutelage and dependence, and that it is clearly our wisdom and our duty, through education and every other means, to prepare him for a higher civilization by encouraging him to assume the duties and responsibilities of full citizenship." It is to be hoped that these enlightened views will be practi- tically carried out in the case of all the tribes throughout the Dominion ; and that the Indian, freed from tutelage and raised from dependence, may be induced to enter into such of the call- ings of civilized life as may be most congenial to him, and may thus become an element of strength and progress in the body politic. He undoubtedly possesses qualities which fit him not unequally to bear his part with the other races which enter into the composition of our people, in building up the future great- ness of the J)ominioa.