Best left as indians: the federal government and the indians of the yukon, 1894- 1950
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BEST LEFT AS INDIANS 199
16. Notes of interview with Mr. Pedley and Mr. Oliver, 26 February 1909, AC, New Series, file 2. 17. See Fumoleau, As Long As This Land Shall Last, 150-215. For a brief statement on the treaty issue in the Yukon, see "Land Entitlement of Indians of the Yukon and N.W.T." by Col. H.M. Jones, Director, Indian Affairs Branch, Active Files, Indian Affairs Branch (IAB), Hull, Quebec, file 801/30-0-1. 18. On Anglican activities, see Roberts to Stringer, 7 January 1910, AC, New Series, file 2. That interest has been maintained to the present: H. McCul- lum and K. McCullum, This Land is Not For Sale: Canada's Original People and Their Land (Toronto: Anglican Book Centre, 1975). Native interest in land entitlement in the Yukon, as it did in much of Canada, took on new life in the 1960's, culminating in the 1973 release of a comprehensive land claim by the Yukon Indians. See Yukon Native Brotherhood, Together Today for Our Children Tomorrow (Whitehorse: YNB, 1973). 19. Congden to Pedley, 28 May 1903, DIA, Vol. 4001, file 207,418. 20. Miller to Ogilvie, 10 April 1900, RG91, Vol. 7, file 1531, PAC; Com- missioner to Deputy Minister of the Interior, 1 May 1900, ibid. Boss's request originated in a personal desire for access to the land in question. By 1917, he was the only native even vaguely connected with the property. When a shipping company cut wood on the land for its vessels, Boss demanded - and received - personal compensation. Miller to Comptroller, Mines, Lands and Yukon Branch, 14 May 1917, Yukon Government Records (YRG) 1, Series 5, Vol. 1, file 1298; McLean to Rowatt, 10 March 1917, ibid.; Miller to Comptroller, 6 February 1917, ibid. 21. Squam to Indian Department, 22 August 1922, DIA, Vol. 6761, file 420-21. Like Boss, Squam's claim to "chief" status was highly debatable. The request was given only cursory attention by the Department of Indian Affairs. Hawksley to Mackenzie, 1 October 1931, RG91, Vol. 9, file 1490, pt. J; Jeckell to Hume, 21 November 1932, YRG1, Series S, Vol. 6, file 12-115. 22. When trapline registration was introduced in 1950, for example, the main native protest was over the annual $10 fee. Meek to Gibson, 27 September 1950. YRG1, Series S. Vol. 11, file 12-2SB; Moses, Tizya and Netro to Meek, 24 July 1950, ibid.; Petition from Chief William Johnson et al, 7 July 1950, ibid. 25. Constantine to Deputy Minister of the Interior, 19 November 1896, IAB, file 801/30-0-1; Extract from William Ogilvie's letter, 8 November 1896, ibid., Constantine to Dear Sir, 13 November 1896, Constantine Letterbook,
200 KEN COATES Charles Constantine Papers, MG30, E55, PAC; Smart to Bompas, 12 August 1897, AC, New Series, file 4; McLean Memorandum 26 April 1897, IAB, file 801/30-0-1; McGee to Minister of the Interior, 27 March 1900, RG91, Vol. 7, file 1187, PAC. 24. Ogilvie to Secretary, Department of the Interior, 11 December 1900, RG91, Vol. 7, file 1187, PAC; Commissioner to Bompas, 27 September 1900, ibid. 25. Hawksley to McLean, 7 April 1915, DIA, Vol. 4081, file 478,700; Moodie to Sir, 1 April 1915, ibid.; Brownlee to McLean, 19 October 1915, RG91, Vol. 46, file 29,967. 26. Hawksley to McLean, 25 November 1915, lAB, 801/50-0-1; Hawksley to McLean, 19 October 1917, IAB, 801/30-18-8; Bethune to Superintendent of Trusts and Reserves, 14 May 1958, IAB, 801/30-0-1; Meek to Indian Affairs Branch, 17 February 1948, IAB, 801/50-18-8. The relocations were all due to white demands that the land grant be altered. By 1950, those Indians living near Whitehorse no longer inhabited the reserve. 27, Strickland to Officer in Command, Upper Yukon, 16 August 1898, IAB, 801/30-3-5; Pereira to White, 14 September 1898, ibid. 28. C. Swanson to Commissioner, 1 September 1915, RG91, Vol. 46, file 29,995; Brownlee to Secretary, Department of Indian Affairs, 19 August 1916, IAB, file 801/30-4-10; Report of Survey of Little Salmon Indian Reserve, c. 1916, ibid. 29 W. Bompas to Commissioner, 29 November 1904, RG91, Vol. 29, file 13,013; J.J. Wright to Supt. General of Indian Affairs, 4 February 1902, IAB, file 801/30-0-1. 30. Brusar to Deputy Superintendent General, 17 June 1907, DIA, Vol. 6479, file 940-1, pt. 1; Congdon to F. Podley, 28 April 1903, DIA, Vol. 3962, file 147,654-1, pt. 1 ; Secretary Dawson Board of Trade to Rt. Hon. Frank Oliver, 19 August 1911, DIA, Vol. 4062, file 398,746-1. The latter docu- ments refers to a suggestion by the Dawson Board of Trade, seconded by Bishop Bompas, that the government import reindeer and hire the Indians to tend the herds. Like the other proposals, this one focused on keeping Indians and whites separate. 31. Commissioner of Y.T. to J.B. Harken, 16 March 1922, Y R I , Series 3, Vol. 2, file 12-14B; Report by A.W. Elling, 16 January 1923, ibid., file 12- 13C. As part of the establishment of preserves in the North West Terri- tories, part of the Peel River valley was incorporated into a game reserva- tion. This 1923 action was not designed to address the needs of the Yukon BEST LEFT AS INDIANS 201
Indians, but rather was to preserve the hunting grounds of the Peel River Kutchin and other Mackenzie River basin native groups. Fumoleau, As Long As This Land Shall Last, 245-250; O.S. Finnie to Inspector Wood, 6 June 1925, YRG1, Series 3, Vol. 2, file 12-4C. 32. Extract from a report by Harper Reed, 8 May 1935, YRGI, Series 3, Vol. 8, file 12-15A. 33. Camsell to Gibson, 14 September 1935, YRGI, Series 3, Vol. 8, file 12-15; Reed to Perry, 12 July 1935, ibid.; Binning to Jeckell, 18 October 1935, DIA, Vol. 6761, file 420-12; Jeckell to Director, Lands, N.W.T. and Yukon Branch, 18 October 1935, ibid.; Summary: Proposed Yukon Preserve For Sole Use of Indians, 1938, ibid. 34. Hawksley to McLean, 23 August 1929, lAB, file 801/30-10-10; Patsy Henderson et al to Mackenzie, 26 May 1952, RG91, Vol. 9, file 1490, pt. J; Hawksley to Jeckell, 11 July 1932, YRGI, Series 3, Vol. 6, file 12-11B; Jeckell to Chairman, Dominion Lands Board, 15 July 1932, YRGI, Series 3, Vol. 6, file 12-1lB. 35. Gibson to Gibben, 19 May 1947, YRGI, Series 3, Vol. 11, file 12-22; Meek to Indian Affairs Branch, 3 July 1947, DIA, Vol. 6761, file 420-12- 2-2; Extract from Indian Agent Meek's Quarterly Report, 1 July 1947 to 30 September 1947, 10 October 1947, YRG1, Series 3, Vol. 11, file 12-22. 36. Meek to Indian Affairs Branch, 27 November 1947, DIA, Vol. 6761, file 420-12-2-RT-1; Conn to Meek, 4 December 1947, ibid.; Gibson to Gibben, 17 December 1947, DIA, Vol. 6742, file 420-6-1-1; Meek to Indian Affairs Branch, Attention Hugh Conn, 17 January 1950, DIA, Vol. 6761, file 420: 12-2-RT-1. 37. Gibson to Hoffmaster, 23 January 1943, YRG1, Series 3, Vol. 10, file 12-20B. This program entailed significant costs. Increased hunting during World War II, largely by American servicemen and construction workers, seriously depleted game stocks in the Kluane Lake area. In December 1942, a sizeable tract of land in the district was set aside as a game preserve (it eventually became Kluane National Park). Importantly, natives were not permitted to hunt within the preserve. Ibid.; Robert McCandless, Yukon
Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 1985: 64-87. 38. Pedley to Oliver, 23 January 1908, General Synod Archives, Anglican Church of Canada (GSA), M74-3, file l-A-2. As late as 1903, Sifton believed there to be only 700 natives in the Yukon. Canada, Parliament, House of Commons Debates (1901 Session), Vol. 11, 5449-5450; ibid., (1903 Session), Vol. 3, 7270-7273. 39. J.D. McLean to John Hawksley, 4 March 1914, YRG1, Series 2, file 29,299; 202 KEN COATES Supt. General to Governor General in Council, 12 January 1914, DIA, Vol. 1129, Deputy Superintendent's Letterbook, 4 February 1911 - 29 May 1914; Stringer to Martin, GSA, M74-3, file 1-A-5-A; Hawksley to McLean, 17 April 1929, DIA, Vol. 7155, file 801/3-10, pt.1; Hawksley to McLean, 13 June 1919, ibid.; see also Hawksley's reports in Department of Indian Affairs, Annual Reports, especially 1915-1916, pp. 115-117 and 1917, p. 30. Hawksley's efforts were directed in particular toward improving native living conditions, especially in the areas of sanitation, and native-white interaction. His aims to this latter domain were accomplished through imposing curfews and restricting native access to the towns. 40. Report of John Hawksley, Department of Indian Affairs,
1915-1916, 117. 41. Jeckell to Chairman, Dominion Lands Branch, 17 November 1953, YRG1, Series 2, file 29,299; T.E.L. MacInnes to R.A. Gibson, 25 July 1938, RG91, Vol. 9, file 1490, pt. 7. That the R.C.M.P. would accept such a task is in keeping with their tradition of handling a variety of government duties in frontier settings. See Carl Betke, "Pioneers and Police on the Canadian Prairies, 1885-1914," Canadian Historical Association, Historical Papers (1980), 9-33. 42. Canada, Parliament,
Vol. 46 (1898), 824. 43. Bompas to Wood, 6 July 1900, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Records (RG18), Vol. 247, file 92; White to Wood, 20 July 1900, ibid.; Wood to Comptroller, 5 July 1900, ibid. 44. Smart to McLean, 30 April 1902, DIA, Vol. 4001, file 207,418; White to Smart, 1 January 1901, ibid.; Accountant to Secretary, 1 May 1902, ibid. 45. Hawksley to Wood, 24 June 1902, RG18, Vol. 147, file 92; Snyder to Asst. Commissioner, 19 November 1902, DIA, Vol. 4001, file 207,418; Report of Supt. Wood, 1 December 1901, North West Mounted Police, Annual Report 1902, pt. III, 10; Wood to Supt. General of Indian Affairs, 22 March 1903, DIA, Vol. 3962, file 147,654-1 pt. 2; Report of Asst. Commissioner Wood, 1 December 1904, NWMP,
1905,
19; Report of Asst. Commissioner Wood, 1 December 1903, NWMP, Annual Report 1904, 12; Cuthbert to Asst. Commissioner, 31 January 1905, RG18, Vol. 295, file 173; Supt. "H" Division to Asst. Commissioner, 3 March 1908, 1 May 1908, RG18, Vol. 352, file 128; Report of Asst. Com- missioner Wood, 1 October 1909, Royal North West Mounted Police,
46. Cuthbert to Asst. Commissioner, 30 September 1905, RG18, Vol. 195, file 273; RNWMP,
BEST LEFT AS INDIANS 203
47. Supt. "H" Division to Asst. Commissioner, 1 June 1908, RG18, Vol. 352, file 128. See also Report of Inspector Routledge, 1 December 1902, NWMP, Annual Report 1902, 89. Not all police officers shared this view. Several argued for greater government assistance. Supt. "B" Division to Asst. Commissioner, 31 January 1904, RG18, Vol. 272, file 267. 48.
Report of
Inspector Horrigan, 30 September 1911,
RNWMP, Annual Report 1911, 212. 49. Report of Supt. Moodie, 30 September 1913, RNWMP, Annual Report 1914, 274; McLean to Hawksley, 4 March 1914, YRG1, Series 2, file 29,299; Stringer to Townsend, 9 February 1915, AC, Carcross File; Stringer to Martin, 13 November 1916, GSA, M74-3, file 1-A-5A; Report of Corporal Hocking, 6 March 1914, RNWMP, Annual Report 1915, 740; Stringer to Chambers, 17 May 1916, AC, Chambers file; Stringer to W.D. (Young), 25 April 1917, AC, Young file. Allowing fur traders to disburse relief supplies lead to occasional cries of conflict of interest. In those areas without police or missionary stations, however the government permitted the resident trader to determine need. 50. Auditor General of Canada, Annual Report, 1902-1903 J-78; ibid., 1904- 1905, J-62. The natives obviously patronized the service. Doctors were paid $2 per authorized consultation. In 1901-1902, the two busiest doctors, NWMP assistant surgeon G. Madore and medical doctor L.S. Sugden received $1516 and $1113 respectively from the government, thus account- ing for close to 1300 visits between them. 51. Alfred Crosby, "Virgin Soil Epidemics as a Factor in the Aboriginal De- population in America," William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd Series, Vol. 33 (April 1976). 52. Bompas to Wood, 6 July 1900, RG18, Vol. 247, file 91; Bell to C.O., "B" Division, 2 September 1916, RG18, Vol. 514, file 530. The major instance of government action in the face of an epidemic involved an out- break of smallpox near Rampart House in 1911-1912. See Ken Coates, The Northern Yukon: A History (Manuscript Report No. 403, Parks Canada, 1979), 80-81; L. Green, The Boundary Hunters (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1982); Wood to Comptroller, 1 August 1911, RG18, Vol. 532, file 206-17; Fyfe to C.O., "B" Division, 7 September 191 l, ibid. 53. John Hawksley to A.F. Mackenzie, 29 August 1933, RGgl, Vol. 9, file 149h 54. Memorandum on Indian Missions and Indian Schools, submitted on behalf of the Special Indian Committee of the M.S.C.C., 14 March 1906, GSA75- 204 KEN COATES 103, M.S.C.C. 55. Frank Oliver to A.C.C., 28 January 1908, GS75-103, Series 2-14, M.S.C.C.; Frank Pedley to Rev. Norman Tucker, 21 March 1908, ibid.; Notes of an Interview with Frank Oliver, 26 February 1909, YTA, AC, New Series, file 2. 56. For a broader view of the marginality of students from colonial schools, see A. Memmi, The Dominated Man (Boston: Beacon Press, 1968). An on-site study of the Carcross Residential School in the 1960% (by then a vastly different institution) offered a very critical appraisal of the facility and its educationl offerings: R. King, The School at Mopass (Toronto: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1967), 36-58. 57. Gibben to Keenleyside, 4 September 1947, RG91, Vol. 65, file 813; Quar- terly Report of R.J. Meek, 1 October to 31 December 1949, DIA, Vol. 8762, file 906/25-1-005, pt. 1; Public Accounts of the Government of the Yukon Territory, 1949-1950, 41; Amy Wilson, No Man Stands Alone (Sidney: Gray's Publishing, 1965) is the memoir of a nurse who served along the Alaska Highway in the late 1940's and early 1950%. Though somewhat exaggerated, the volume provides a good indication of the variety of health care programs available to the Indians. 58. Canada. Department of Mines and Resources, Indian Affairs Branch, Annual Report 1949, 200; Meek to Kjar, 15 March 1950, DIA, Vol. 6761, file 420-12-1-RT-l See the IAB, Annual Reports for 1949, 1950 and 1951 for details on the programs offered. Employment prospects included work on the federal experimental farm at Haines Junction, and on several native housing projects. Most of the Indians assisted by Meek found short-term work as dog-team drivers or wood-cutters. 59. IAB, Annual Report 1946, 211; Guest, The Emergence of Social Security
60. IAB, Annual Report 1946, 212; Annual Report 1948; Rowat to Jeckell. 4 June 1945, YRG1, Series 4, Vol. 33, file 689; R.J. Meek to Indian Affairs Branch, 8 February 1950, DIA, Vol. 8762, file 906/25-1-005, pt. 1. 61. This description of the post-World War II activities of the federal govern- ment in Indian matters is widely accepted by commentators and analyists. See Peter Usher, "The North: Metropolitan Frontier, Native Homeland?," E. Leacock and N. Lurie, eds., North American Indians in Historical Per- spective (New York: Random House, 1971); Alice Kehoe, North American Indians: A Comprehensive Account (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1981), pp. 487-504; David Riches, Northern Nomadic Hunter.Gatherers: A Humanistic Approach (Toronto:Academic Press, 1982). Yüklə 162,16 Kb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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