AGENCY INDIAN RESERVE 1
SELECTION, USE AND ADMINISTRATION
A CONFIDENTIAL DRAFT REPORT
PREPARED FOR
GRAND COUNCIL TREATY #3
by
Tim Holzkamm
Tim Holzkamm Consulting
39414 Pinewood Road
Ponsford, MN 56575
Leo Waisberg
Seven Oaks Consulting Inc.
42 Hillhouse Road
Winnipeg, MB R2V 2V9
19 September 2000
GRAND COUNCIL TREATY #3
AGENCY I R 1
SELECTION, USE AND ADMINISTRATION
CONFIDENTIAL - FOR DISCUSSION ONLY
AGENCY INDIAN RESERVE 1: SELECTION, USE AND ADMINISTRATION
A Draft Confidential Report Prepared for Grand Council Treaty #3
19 September 2000
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
•
Before 1873, the residence of the hereditary Grand Chief and the traditional camping grounds
of the Anishinaabe were located on the Rainy River at the site adjacent to the Hudson’s Bay
Company post at Fort Frances.
•
These traditional camping grounds, which were regarded by the Grand Council as including
their post, were the site of national deliberations by large gatherings at which the Council
exercised “not only territorial but sovereign rights.”
•
Couchiching (Pither’s) Point was also utilized as a camping and burial site by Anishinaabeg.
•
Canada acquired the lands covered by the Hudson’s Bay Company grant under the Rupert’s
Land Act, 1868. Under this act the Company retained land around its Fort Frances post. The
same land was considered by the Anishinaabe as their own camping grounds and national
centre.
•
During negotiations for Treaty #3 in 1872, the traditional Anishinaabe camping grounds were
identified as one of the locations to be reserved under the treaty. The “Chief of Fort Frances”
threatened to pull up Hudson’s Bay Company survey stakes at that location during treaty
negotiations in 1873 asserting that it had already been reserved.
•
Arrangements were made by Robert Pither, before the completion of Treaty #3 in 1873, to
begin construction of agency headquarters.
•
Following the finalization of treaty negotiations, Simon James Dawson, one of the treaty
commissioners, was directed to undertake preliminary consultations with Anishinaabe leaders
to establish the location of reserves. In March of 1874 Dawson submitted a sketch map
showing the area claimed by the Hudson’s Bay Company which was also identified as “Indian
Camping Ground.” A large area to the east, which included Couchiching Point, was identified
as “Proposed Indian Reserve.”
•
Construction of Agency buildings at Couchiching Point was begun by Pither in 1874.
•
In February of 1875, following consultation with Anishinaabe, Dawson submitted a report which
described Agency Indian Reserve [IR] 1 “At the foot of Rainy Lake ... not to be for any
particular chief or band, but for the Saulteux Tribe, generally, and for the purpose of
maintaining thereon an Indian agency with the necessary grounds and buildings.”
•
Agency IR 1 was approved by an Order-in-Council of Canada on 27 February 1875.
GRAND COUNCIL TREATY #3
AGENCY I R 1
SELECTION, USE AND ADMINISTRATION
CONFIDENTIAL - FOR DISCUSSION ONLY
•
In 1875 E.C. Caddy, D.L.S., was directed to survey several reserves in the area, including
Agency IR 1. He submitted a plan on 14 July 1876 which included “Reserve No.1, 170 acres.”
Indian Agency buildings, including Pither’s residence, were shown on the plan.
•
In November 1875, following meetings with other Treaty #3 First Nations, the Surveyor
General proposed the establishment of three more agency reserves for instruction and annuity
payments. Only the agency reserve at Assabaskashing was set aside.
•
Until 1882, the Couchiching (Fort Frances) Agency First Nations received their treaty annuity
payments together at Agency IR 1 or at Fort Frances. Thereafter, Indian Affairs policy to
restrict large gatherings, at which traditional governmental and religious activities might be
carried out, resulted in annuities being paid at individual First Nation Reserves.
•
Lac la Croix and Seine River First Nations were transferred to Couchiching Agency from the
Savanne Agency in 1884.
•
In 1879 Indian Agent Pither had applied for land at Agency IR 1 as a homestead. The
Department of Indian Affairs protested the application. The issue came to a head in 1888.
Documents submitted in this controversy demonstrated that the land had been set aside as a
general reserve and Pither eventually abandoned his claim.
•
Application for land on Agency IR 1 was made in 1901 by owners of the Canadian Northern
Railway. A right of way across the Reserve was granted in 1907 and valuation of $750 per
acre was eventually accepted.
•
Beginning in 1904 the town of Fort Frances applied to Indian Affairs for Couchiching Point to
use for park purposes. In 1908 the Department was advised that all of the First Nations in the
agency had an interest in Agency IR 1. The current Indian Agent, J.P. Wright was authorized
to submit the question of surrender to all of the Treaty #3 First Nations for whom the reserve
was set aside. Wright accepted a surrender from the Chiefs and Councillors of the
Couchiching, Stanjikoming, Naicatchewenin, and Nicickousemenecaning First Nations. He did
so on the understanding that Agency IR 1 had been set aside for the Rainy Lake Indians only.
•
The lease for the Agency IR land that was offered by the Department to the town of Fort
Frances drastically undervalued the land at $1/acre. The lease provided a continuing right for
“the various Bands of Indians now or hereafter entitled to hold meetings and camp on Pither’s
Point ... to camp and sell wares free of charge within the limits of the land hereby leased.”
•
The four First Nations that surrendered Agency IR 1 have been involved in the administration
of the reserve since 1957. This period of administration is much longer than the brief period
that all Treaty #3 First Nations were paid treaty annuities at the Reserve.
GRAND COUNCIL TREATY #3
AGENCY I R 1
1.
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Overall Study Objectives
SELECTION, USE AND ADMINISTRATION
CONFIDENTIAL - FOR DISCUSSION ONLY
This study provides an overview of the historical documents which pertain to:
a)
the establishment or origin of the Agency Indian Reserve [IR] 1 and its
administration by Canada;
b)
the use of Agency I.R. 1 lands by particular Anishinaabe First Nations for
traditional or other activities; and
c)
all available information relevant to First Nation title to or interest in the
land.
1.2
Approach and Methodology
The historical description contained in this study has been based upon factual
information. A wide range of historical data have been utilized and carefully referenced,
including non-Aboriginal data relevant to the fur trade activities at Fort Frances.
Because of time and budget constraints the Consultants have not personally
visited the National Archives Canada or the Provincial Archives but have relied upon
the existing collections of documents from those institutions held by the Grand Council
Treaty #3. Grand Council Treaty #3 has made available to the Consultants copies of its
collection of historical documents, which are in its possession at its offices in Kenora.
1.3
Restrictions and Limitations
This report is prepared for the purpose of an internal review by the Grand
Council Treaty #3. This study provides the information available on Anishinaabe use of
Agency Indian Reserve #1. This study is prepared with the understanding that no other
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GRAND COUNCIL TREATY #3
AGENCY I R 1
SELECTION, USE AND ADMINISTRATION
CONFIDENTIAL - FOR DISCUSSION ONLY
person will rely upon it for any other purpose. Any and all liability to such third parties is
expressly denied by the authors of this study.
Neither possession of this study nor a copy of it carries with it any right of
publication. All copyright is reserved to Grand Council Treaty #3 and this report is
considered confidential. All research conducted for this study is considered to be
confidential. Neither the study, nor research, shall be disclosed, quoted from or referred
to, in whole or in part, nor published in any manner, without the express written consent
of Grand Council Treaty #3.
The authors will not assume or accept any liability or responsibility for losses
occasioned by any party as a result of the publication, circulation, reproduction or other
use of this study.
Our opinions are based on our own research and literature review. Due to the
extensive volume of data, some of it conflicting, we reserve the right to review all
information, data and remarks included or referred to in this study and, if we consider it
necessary, to revise our conclusions in the light of any new facts or conditions which,
unknown to us, existed at any time prior to or at the date(s) referred to in this report, but
which become known to us subsequent to the production of this report.
While the authors of this study have experience in the area of historical analysis,
we are not qualified, and do not represent ourselves as qualified, to give legal advice.
1.4
Data Sources Consulted
Canada.
Annual Reports of the Department of Indian Affairs.
Annual Reports of the Department of Public Works.
Annual Reports of the Indian Branch of the Department of the Secretary of State
for the Provinces.
Annual Reports of the Department of the Interior.
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Treaty No. 3 Between Her Majesty The Queen And the Saulteaux Tribe Of
Ojibbeway Indians At The Northwest Angle On The Lake Of The Woods With
Adhesions (Ottawa: Queen's Printer 1966 [1871-4])
Indian Treaties and Surrenders from 1680 to 1890 (Saskatoon: Fifth House)
1992 [1891] 3 vols.
Coues, Elliot. 1965. The Expeditions of Zebulon Montgomery Pike, to Headwaters of
the Mississippi River, Through Louisiana Territory, and in New Spain, During the
Years1805-6-7 (Minneapolis: Ross & Haines) 2 Vols.
... . 1965. The Manuscript Journals of Alexander Henry and of David Thompson
(Minneapolis: Ross & Haines) [1897].
Dawson, Simon James. 1859. Report on the exploration of the country between Lake
Superior and the Red River settlement (Toronto: J. Lovell).
... 1868. Report on the line of route between Lake Superior and the Red River
settlement, 1868. Ontario Archives Pamphlet 1868 #14.
... 1870. Memorandum in reference to the Indians on the line of route between Lake
Superior and the Red River settlement. 19 December 1870, NAC MG11 C.O.42,
Vol.698.
Fort Frances Museum.
Gates, Charles M. (ed.) 1965. Five Fur Traders of the Northwest (St. Paul: Minnesota
Historical Society).
Grand Council Treaty #3, Kenora, Ontario. C.G. Linde Photographic Collection. Treaty
and Aboriginal Rights Research.
Grant, Peter. 1890. The Sauteux Indians about 1804. Les bourgeois de la Compagnie
du Nord-Ouest: recit des voyages, inedits relatifs au Nord-Ouest canadien Vol. 2, ed. by
Louis Rodrique François Masson (Quebec: A. Cote et Cie), 303-366.
Hudson's Bay Company Archives [HBCA] Provincial Archives of Manitoba
Section B: Post Records
B.105/a/ Lac la Pluie Post Journals;
B.105/e/ Lac La Pluie District Reports;
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Section D: Governor's Papers
D.3/ Governor Simpson, Journal;
D.4/ Governor Simpson, Correspondence Outward.
D.5/ Governor Simpson, Correspondence Outward.
Henry, Alexander. 1969. Travels and Adventures in Canada and the Indian Territories
Between the Years 1760 and 1776 (Rutland: Charles E. Tuttle.).
Hind, Henry Y. 1971. Narrative of the Canadian Red Rive Exploring Expedition od 1857
and of the Assiniboine and Saskatchewan Exploring Expedition of 1858 (Edmonton:
Hurtig) [1860]
Indian Treaties and Surrenders from 1680 to 1890 2992 (Saskatoon: Fifth House)
[1891].
Jacobs, Rev. Peter. 1857. Journal of the Reverend Peter Jacobs, Indian Wesleyan
missionary, from Rice Lake to the Hudson's Bay territory, and returning (New York).
Kane, Lucile M., June D. Holmquist, & Carolyn Gilman (eds.). 1978. The Northern
Expeditions of Stephen H. Long, The Journals of 1817 and 1823 and Related
Documents (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society).
Keating, William H. 1959. Narrative of an Expedition to the Source of the St. Peter’s
River, Lake Winnepeek, Lake of the Woods, &c (Minneapolis: Ross & Haines).
Lovisek, Joan A. 1993. “The political evolution of the Boundary Waters Ojibwa” in
Papers of the Twenty-Fourth Algonquian Conference ed. by William Cowan (Ottawa:
Carleton University), 280-305.
McKenny, T.L. 1972. Sketches of a Tour to the Lakes (Barre: Imprint Society).
McKenny, T.L. & J. Hall. 1933. The Indian Tribes of North America (Edinburgh: John
Grant).
Mackenzie, Alexander. 1971. “A General History of the Fur Trade from Canada to the
North-West” in Voyages from Montreal on the River St. Laurence through the Continent
of North America to the Frozen Pacific Oceans in the Year 1789 and 1793 (Edmonton:
Hurtig) [1801]
Minnesota Historical Society [MHS]
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Ernest L. Brown Papers, 1889-1909, v. 5, Box 2.
Grace Lee Nute (comp.), Manuscripts Relating to Northwest Missions, 1810-96.
Manitoba. Provincial Archives of Manitoba [PAM]
MG 12, B1, LG#480.
Morris, Alexander. 1991. The Treaties of Canada with the Indians of Manitoba and the
North-West Territories including the Negotiations on which they are based (Saskatoon:
Fifth House) [1880].
National Archives Canada [NAC]
RG 2, Series 1, V.45 pt.1.
RG 2, Series 1. V.72.
RG 10, V.6 pp.157-160.
RG 10, V.1675.
RG 10, V.1864, f.375.
RG 10, V.1868, f.577.
RG 10, V.1884, f.1266-3.
RG10, V.1918, f.2790B.
RG 10, V.1918, f.2790C.
RG 10, V.1918, f.2790D.
RG 10, V.1922, f.2970.
RG 10, V.1927, f.3232, pt.1.
RG 10, V.1928, f.3277.
RG 10, V.1949, f.4354.
RG 10, V.1966, f.5069.
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RG 10, V.3602, f.1760.
RG 10, V.3604, f.2563.
RG 10, V.3604, f.2790.
RG 10, V.3609, f.3383.
RG 10, V.3622, f.5013.
RG 10, V.3627, f.5972.
RG 10, V.3635, f.6647 pt.1.
RG 10, V.3637, f.6961.
RG 10, V.3637, f.7130.
RG 10, V.3639, f.7355.
RG 10, V.3645, f.7935.
RG 10, V.3649, f.8248.
RG 10, V.3657, f.9297.
RG 10, V.3667, f.10331.
RG 10, V.3678, f.11801.
RG 10, V.3691, f.13943.
RG 10, V.3693, f.14335 pt.1.
RG 10, V.3703, f.17664.
RG 10, V.3712, f.20270.
RG 10, V.3725, F.24303-4.
RG 10, V.3729, f.26017.
RG 10, V.3777, f.38168.
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RG 10, V.3830, f.62509 pt.1.
RG 10, V.3882, f.95721.
RG 10, V.3977, f.156710-24.
RG 15, V.234, f.3597
Natural Resources Canada [NRC]
CLSR Fieldbook 42 ONT.
CLSR Plan 91 ONT.
CLSR Plan 163 ONT.
CLSR Plan T258 ONT.
CLSR Plan 1143 ONT.
Noble, William C. 1984. “Prehistory of the Rainy River Area and its People with a
record of European contact,” in Noble (ed.), An Historical Synthesis of the Manitou
Mounds Site on the Rainy River, Ontario, Volume 1: Archaeological and Ethnographic
Evidence (Canada: Parks Canada, Ontario Regional Office)
Nute, Grace Lee. 1950. Rainy River Country (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society).
Ontario. Archives of Ontario [AO]
Irving Papers 75/16.
Salt, Rev. A. “Journal of the Mission at Rainy Lake, Ontario, 1854-55" copy originally
from Mr. Merle Salt, Parry Sound, Ontario.
Spry, Irene (ed.). 1968. The Papers of the Palliser Expedition 1857-1860 (Toronto:
Champlain Society).
Waisberg, Leo G. and Tim E. Holzkamm. 1993. 'Their country is tolerably rich in furs':
the Ojibwa fur trade in the Boundary Waters region 1821-71. Actes du vingt-cinquieme
Congres des Algonquinistes ed. by William Cowan (Ottawa: Carleton University),
494-513.
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2.
INDIAN CAMPING GROUNDS IN THE VICINITY OF FORT FRANCES TO 1873
2.1
Traditional Anishinaabe Government, the Grand Chief and the Fort Frances
Area, 1760-1873
Since time immemorial Rainy Lake and River have been a heartland for
traditional culture. Evidence of these early cultures include earth mounds, such as
those that once existed at Couchiching (Pither’s) Point before they were flooded by the
dam at Fort Frances. The Fort
Frances area was the
governmental centre for
Anishinaabe leadership from an
early date. Of particular importance
was the area just below the old
Chaudiere or Kettle Falls, now
destroyed by the Fort Frances
Dam. In the last decade of the 18th
century, Alexander Mackenzie noted this significant fact while passing through the area
on his way west. According to Mackenzie:
This [the post below Chaudiere Falls] is also the residence of the first chief, or
Sachem, of all the Algonquian tribes, inhabiting the different parts of this country.
He is by distinction called Nectam, which implies personal pre-eminence. Here
also the elders meet in council to treat of peace or war.1
In 1787, “Nettam” was a signatory of a treaty of peace concluded between the
Sioux and Chippewa at Michilimackinac. He signed as “war chief” of the “Lac Winepick”
1
Alexander Mackenzie, “A General History of the Fur Trade from Canada to the
North-west” in Voyages from Montreal on the River St. Laurence through the
Continent of North America to the Frozen Pacific Oceans in the Year 1789 and
1793 (Edmonton: Hurtig) 1971 [1801], pp.lvi.
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Anishinaabeg.2 “Nettam” or “Nectam” was also known as the Premier, hereditary leader
of the Bear Clan, and the first of four Grand Chiefs bearing this name as their title,
“First.” In 1826 at the Fond du Lac Treaty, McKenney and Hall interviewed the "greatgrandson" of Nectam, Anacamegishca, and acquired some information on the family
line. According to Anacamegishca:
He is descended from a line of hyperborean chiefs who, like himself, have held
undisputed sway over a clan of the Chippewas inhabiting the borders of Rainy
Lake. His great grandfather, Nittum, was an Ottawa, who emigrated from Lake
Michigan to , the Grand Portage and Rainy Lake, at the time when the great
North-West Company, whose doings have been so admirably described by our
countryman Irving, began to prosecute their traffic in parts North-westward from
the Grand Portage.
Nittum was an uncommon man. So great was his sagacity and conduct,
that, although not a native of the region or tribe into which he had boldly
cast his lot, he soon came to be regarded as the head chief of the
Kenisteno nation. He attained a reputation for bravery, activity, and
prudence in council, as well as for the decision of character evinced in all
the vicissitudes of a busy and perilous career, which extended beyond the
region of Rainy Lake, and elevated him above the surrounding warriors
and politicians. So great was the veneration in which he was held by the
Indians, that the agents of the North-West Company took especial pains
to conciliate his favour while living, and to honour his remains after death.
The scaffold upon which, according to the custom of the Chippewas, his
body was deposited, was conspicuously elevated, near the trading house
at the Grand Portage, and the savages saw, with admiration, a British flag
floating in the breeze over the respected relics of their deceased chief.
When these politic traffickers in peltry removed their establishment from
Kamenistaquoia to Fort William, they carried with them the bones of
Nittum, which were again honoured with distinguished marks of respect:
and the living continued to be cajoled by a pretended reverence for the
memory of the dead. This is the same "Nitum" mentioned in the "History of
the Fur Trade" prefixed to Mackenzie's Voyages.3
2
NAC RG10, V.6, pp.157-160, Articles of peace concluded Between the Scioux
Chippewas Ottawas etc. July 12th 1787.
3
T.L. McKenny & J. Hall, The Indian Tribes of North America (Edinburgh: John
Grant) 1933, pp.334-5.
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The name “Nittum” or “Premier” was also applied to his successors.
Anacamegishca also noted that:
Nittum was succeeded in the chieftainship by his son Kagakummig, the
Everlasting, who was also much respected in the high latitude of Rainy Lake and
the Lake of the Woods. After his death, his son Kabeendushquameh, a person of
feeble mind and little repute, swayed the destinies of this remote tribe, until, in
the fullness of time, he also was gathered to his fathers.4
Peter Grant in 1804 noted that “Kakegameg” was the late chief of Lac la Pluie.5 The
Premier, evidently the son of Kagakummig, was described by Zebulon Pike about 1806
as the Head Chief of about 8,000 Anishinaabeg. Pike gives the Premier’s residence as
Rainy River.6
On 18 July 1817, the Selkirk Treaty was signed at
the forks of the Assiniboine and Red Rivers, present day
Winnipeg. The Premier was one of the five Indian
signatories of this treaty. The Premier signed with the sign
of his clan, the image of a bear.7
Anacamegishca represented the Rainy Lake
Indians at the Treaty of Fond du Lac in 1826. He was also
listed in the 1830 Hudson's Bay Company census as one
of the Indians "belonging to Lac la Pluie District who get
4
T.L. McKenny & J. Hall, The Indian Tribes of North America (Edinbugh: John
Grant) 1933, pp.334-5.
5
Peter Grant, “The Sauteux Indians About 1804" in L.R. Masson (ed.), Les
Bourgeois de la compagnie du Nord-Ouest (New York: Antiquarian Press) 1890,
p.320; see also HBCA, B105/a/2/f. 5; B105/a/3, September 24.
6
Elliot Coues, The Expeditions of Zebulon Montgomery Pike, to Headwaters of
the Mississippi River, Through Louisiana Territory, and in New Spain, During the
Years 1805-6-7 (Minneapolis: Ross & Haines) 1965 (1)pp.346-7.
7
Indian Treaties and Surrenders from 1680 to 1890 (Saskatoon: Fifth House)
1992 [1891], pp.285-6.
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their supplies from, and give their hunts to the Americans" and "Ain-ne-com-e gishKong, Young Premier, Bear Tribe. ... Young Premier was made a Chief by Governor
Cass, is a poor hunter. I refused him debt as also his father and brothers in 1824."
McKenny and Hall had noted that:
He [Kabeendushquameh] left several sons, of whom the subject of this notice
[Anacamegishca] is within one of the youngest, but is nevertheless the successor
to the hereditary authority of chief. He is a good hunter, and well qualified to
sustain the reputation of his family.8
Disputes over succession to the status of Grand Chief were noted in the
literature of the mid-Iate 19th century. Coup Crouche, or Crooked Neck, also aspired to
the position of Grand Chief in the late 1840s. According to William Sinclair in 1849:
...the general assemblyof the Indians has not yet taken place -Coup Crouch and
his Chieftainship is not yet settled, I find he is aiming at to be Chief over all the
other Chiefs, to have the same dominion over all the country from Fort William to
Fort Alexander and to have the same power as his deceased father the Premier
this is quite ridiculous. The times are not the same now as they were fifty years
ago, during the lifetime of the old Premier he was the only Chief and was
acknowledged as such by the British Government- there were no secondary
Chiefs in those days -besides, all the other Indians excepting the Coup Crouch's
own Band are quite independent of him, and will have nothing to do with him.
This being the case Coup Crouch will only be a Chief over his own Band, if his
nephew who is really heir to the Chiefdom gives over his claim to him, but not
otherwise, at any rate the medal required ought to be here in March to be
delivered at the time when I settle with them in the spring after the hunts are
over, and thus make one job of it.
Cou Croche or Kee-ta-kay-pi-nais, a Rainy River Indian, was described as the
“aged hereditary Chief” who was the first to “touch the pen” signifying his acceptance of
Treaty #3.9
8
T.L. McKenny & J. Hall, The Indian Tribes of North America (Edinbugh: John
Grant) 1933, pp.334-5; T.L. McKenny, Sketches of a Tour to the Lakes (Barre:
Imprint Society) 1972, p.400; HBCA, B105/e/9, f4d-12.
9
HBCA, D. 5/26, f.194-5; Alexander Morris, The Treaties of Canada with the
Indians of Manitoba and the North-West Territories including the Negotiations on
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2.2
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The Indian Camping Grounds in the Fort Frances Area
During the 19th century Anishinaabe gathered in large numbers for Grand
Councils at their meeting grounds on the Rainy River below Chaudiere Falls. These
national gatherings were supported by the sturgeon fishery at this and other Rainy
River sites. Such councils were the centre of tribal decision-making, where questions of
land allocation, foreign relations and trade were considered, as well as providing
opportunities for social and religious interactions among the First Nations of the region.
The Grand Council was also the body which determined the extent to which
non-Indian traders would have access to the country. Control over trader activities and
non-Indian movement was increasingly exercised as the 19th century progressed. For
example, in June 1841, H.B.C. Governor Simpson found an assembly of over 500
people participating in Midewiwin ceremonies and political discussions at Fort Frances.
During the Council held with Simpson, each Chief, in turn, sent a pipe bearer to display
his calumet, and a "handsome present of furs" was given to Simpson. In contrast to this
gift, "of considerable value," the Chiefs, each attended by soldiers, informed Simpson
that the company would receive no wild rice, "the staple article of provision" for Lac la
Pluie traders, unless the company ceased its attempt to end the liquor trade in the
district. Simpson surrendered: "seeing that there was no alternative I made a merit of
necessity ... mustering as they do in large bodies ... during the summer ... I consider it
good policy to avoid any difficulty or dispute with them."10
After a decade of discussion with Catholic and Methodist missionaries, the
Grand Council proscribed Christianity in 1849, forbidding a planned mission station and
school on the Rainy River; the missionaries were warned that an attempt to build would
be met by soldiers who would dismantle any structures. A further attempt to establish a
mission in 1854 also ended in failure; the missionary, a southeastern Ojibwa Metis
which they were based (Saskatoon: Fifth House) 1991 [1880] p.46.
10
HBCA B.105/e/6, fol. 2d-3; D.4/109, fol.10-10d; D.3/2, fol.30d-33d.
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convert from Upper Canada, had his movements politely restricted, as the Chief
phrased it, to "our fort" at Fort Frances post. Such action was not restricted to
individuals alone. An Imperial exploring party at Fort Frances was lectured by the
principal Chief on 1 July 1857. Present within the Hudson’s Bay Company fort were
more than 200 Indians, at least half of them armed. According to Palliser:
The chief commenced his harangue by assuring us that if we imagined that his
tribe had assembled on this occasion for the purpose of begging we were
mistaken; the reason of the present convocation was of a far greater moment
than that. “Perhaps,” said he “you wonder who I am that I should address you.
My arms extend far back into time; my father and his father were the chiefs of
this once mighty tribe. Their graves are in our lands, and not far from here. If you
further question my authority for addressing you, look around me! These are my
chiefs, - my soldiers, - my young men. It is by their wish and desire that I address
you.” Here many voices grunted approbation. “All around me,” continued he, “I
see the smoke of the pale faces to ascend; but my territories I will never part
with; they shall be for my poor children’s hunting fields when I am dead.”
On 24 August of that same year, a different party, the Canadian Red River
Exploring Expedition, was intercepted on Lake of the Woods by a chief and his soldiers
who had just returned from a raid against the Sioux. Upbraided for collecting samples
of Indian corn, the explorers were warned to keep to the existing transit route for white
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men, and not to explore other paths. A member of that group noted that the
Anishinaabe claimed "not only territorial but sovereign rights."11
2.3
The Indian Camping Ground and Burial Mounds at Couchiching [Pither’s] Point
There are several historic period references to the use of the lands, now Agency
IR 1, as a camping ground. These were much fewer in number than the references to
the main Indian camping ground below Chaudiere Falls, beside the Hudson Bay
Company post called Fort Frances. The Hudson’s Bay Company documents for Fort
Frances for 1817 contain one such reference to the use of Couchiching Point at the
outlet of Rainy Lake. On 9 December 1817, the post Daily Journal, kept by Donald
McPherson, reported that the company’s trading opponents had gone to “watch Indians
who may come here encamped two miles above at the entrance of the lake.” Several
affidavits from the year 1888 refer to the land as a camping ground in the early 1870s.
One such affidavit, by the former Chief of Fort William First Nation, noted that in 1871
and 72 the only improvements at the point were by “Indians of Old Time in clearing off
underwood ... for their wigwams.” Captain Louis of the same First Nation also stated
that the point contained “clearings made by the Indians for their wigwams.”12
The camping ground at Couchiching Point also contained the graves of many
11
HBCA, D.5/26, f.194-5, 660; D.5/28, f.217-18; A.12/5, f.156-56d; Rev. A. Salt,
“Journal of the Mission at Rainy Lake, Ontario, 1854-55," copy originally from
Mr. Merle Salt, Parry Sound, Ontario; Irene Spry (ed.), The Papers of the Palliser
Expedition 1857-1860, Toronto, Champlain Society, 1968, 76-7; Henry Y. Hind,
Narrative of the Canadian Red River Exploring Expedition of 1857 and of the
Assiniboine and Saskatchewan Exploring Expedition of 1858 (Edmonton, 1971
[1860]), 98-100; Canada, Sessional Papers, 1873, no.6, "Annual Report of the
Department of Public Works for 1872," Simon Dawson, "Appendix No. 19 - Red
River Route," 133-5.
12
Manitoba, Provincial Archives, Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, Fort Frances
records, B.105/a/5, Dec. 9, 1817, Donald McPherson. NAC, RG 10, v. 1927,
f.3232, pt.1: 26 Nov. 1888, Affidavit of John Pannesse; 25 Nov. 1888, Affidavit of
Captain Louis.
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Indians, including six Burial Mounds. These mounds, now destroyed and vanished from
the landscape, have been desecrated by looters and curio dealers. One such dealer,
Ernest Brown, specialized in Rainy River antiquities during the 1890s and early 1900s,
and enthusiastically dug into Indian burial mounds. His collection included numerous
Indian skulls which he offered for sale. In addition to such depredations by looters, the
graves were also disturbed by flooding, the construction of a railway line, and the
activities of the former Indian Agent, Robert Pither. Pither cleared the point for
cultivation around the Indian Agency office, and used the largest of the mounds as a
root cellar. The door to this cellar can be seen in the side of the mound in the
preceding photograph from the period just after Pither’s occupation and prior to the
flooding and the lease of the property to the Town of Fort Frances. Walter Kenyon, the
noted Canadian archaeologist, attempted to salvage a Blackduck mound on the point,
formerly Pither’s root cellar, during the 1950s. Kenyon found 9,000 pieces of Indian
pottery and many historic period remains of items dated to the mound’s use as a
vegetable storage cellar. Somewhat later, K. A. C. Dawson identified three of the nowdestroyed mounds as belonging to the Blackduck culture. This culture, which used
ceremonial burial mounds, native copper items, and distinctive ceramics, lasted from
circa 800 to 1700 A.D., the beginning of the historic period in the region.13
2.4
Treaty #3 Negotiations
From 1857 on, government exploring expeditions from the province of Canada
and Great Britain made contact with the Anishinaabe government at Fort Frances.
Negotiations were successfully concluded for a right-of-way across the country. After
13
Minnesota Historical Society [MHS], Ernest L. Brown Papers, 1889-1909, v. 5,
Box 2. William C. Noble, “Prehistory of the Rainy River Area and its People with
a record of European contact,” in Noble (ed.), An Historical Synthesis of the
Manitou Mounds Site on the Rainy River, Ontario, Volume 1: Archaeological and
Ethnographic Evidence (Canada: Parks Canada, Ontario Regional Office, 1984),
pp. 13-5,
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1868, the new federal government of Canada opened the Red River Road across the
territory as an all-Canadian route to the west. This route was a series of portages,
steam tugs, and road beginning at Fort William by which Canadian emigrants were
afforded passage to Red River and points west. In charge of the road was Simon
Dawson, a civil engineer who had been one of the leaders of the 1857 Canadian
expedition. Dawson made continued arrangements for a right-of-way agreement to
permit the operation of the Red River Road. In 1870 the Road facilitated passage of
Colonel Wolseley’s force against Riel, and the Chiefs were again paid for passage
across their territory.14
14
Canada Sessional Paper [CSP], 1868, #81, pp.27-30, 20 April 1868, Simon
James Dawson, Report On The Line Of Route Between Lake Superior And The
Red River Settlement; CSP, 1869, #42, 1 May 1869, Dawson, Report on the
Line of Route between Lake Superior and the Red River Settlement, pp. 2, 2021; Henry Youle Hind, Narrative of the Canadian Red River Exploring Expedition
of 1857 and of the Assiniboine and Saskatchewan Exploring Expedition of 1858
(Rutland: Charles E. Tuttle 1971 [1860]), pp. 91-106.
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When Canada acquired the lands covered by the Hudson’s Bay Company grant,
it assumed responsibility for Indians and Indian lands on the newly-acquired territory,
including the Anishinaabe lands west of Lake Superior. Under the Rupert’s Land Act,
1868, the Hudson’s Bay Company retained land around its posts. At Fort Frances the
Hudson’s Bay Company planned to retain 640 acres, eventually surveyed by C.F. Miles
in 1874.15
Discussions with the Anishinaabe people regarding a treaty with Canada were
initiated in 1869. Federal agents, employed in the Anishinaabe territory during the
passage of Colonel Wolseley’s expedition to restore order in Red River in 1870,
commenced preliminary discussions for securing Anishinaabe land “which they might
be willing to part with.” According to a report to Governor-General Lord Lisgar by
Joseph Howe, Secretary of State for the Provinces and the Minister responsible for
Indian Affairs:
In anticipation of the movement of troops across the country lying
between Thunder Bay and Manitoba, in 1870, agents were employed to visit the
Indian Tribes along the route, to conciliate them with presents, and to assure
them that while a peaceful way for troops and emigrants only was required, the
Government would be prepared, at a convenient season, to compensate them
for their friendly co-operation, and to cover by a Treaty any lands which they
might be willing to part with and the Government deemed it politic to acquire.
These conciliatory measures were eminently successful, and the troops and
employees of the Government passed to and fro without obstruction.16
15
NRC, CLSR Plan 620 ONT., C.F. Miles, 7 January 1874, “Plan of the H.B.Co’s
Reserve at Fort Francis in the Lac la Pluie District.
16
NAC, RG 10, v.1918, f.2790B, 22 Jan. 1869, “Demands Made by the Indians as
to their terms for a Treaty - October 2nd. 1873," prepared during 1873
negotiations and attached as an appendix to the report of Alexander Morris,
Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba and the North-west Territories, 14 October
1873; typed copy. Canada, Report of the Indian Branch of the Department of the
Secretary of State for the Provinces [Annual Report SOS] (Ottawa: I. B. Taylor,
1872) , pp. 3-4, Copy of a Report from Joseph Howe Secretary of State for the
Provinces to Lord Lisgar Governor General; Rupert’s Land Act, 1868, 31 & 32
Vict., c.105 (Imp.).
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Formal treaty negotiations commenced in 1871. Joseph Howe, Secretary of
State for the Provinces, noted that the policy of Canada regarding Indian lands was to
secure a cession, with the residue retained by the Anishinaabe. Howe had reported to
Cabinet on 18 April 1871 that the object of the Treaty negotiations then contemplated
was a “cession (subject to certain reserves such as they should select) of the lands
occupied by them.” Canada passed on 25 April 1871 an Order in Council, setting up a
commission for negotiating the treaty, which referred to the Anishinaabe First Nations
"retaining what they desire in reserves at certain localities where they fish for
sturgeon."17
During the 1871 negotiations, the commissioners were Simon Dawson, already
noted as the manager of the Red River Road, Wemyss Simpson, the Indian
Commissioner for Manitoba and the Northwest Territories, and Robert Pither, the Fort
Frances Indian Agent appointed in 1870, a Hudson’s Bay Company trader with long
experience in the country, married to an Anishinaabe woman. These commissioners in
1871, representing Her Majesty the Queen, asked the Anishinaabe negotiators to
ensure that they "are to be prepared when we meet again to point out the land which
they desire as reserves, and explain the various matters which they wish to be provided
for."18 They failed however to conclude a treaty for a variety of reasons. The same
17
Annual Report SOS, 1872, p. 4-11: 25 Apr. 1871 Copy of a Report of a
Committee of the Privy Council, W. H. Lee Clerk Privy Council, with attached
memorandum dated 17 April 1871 from Joseph Howe Secretary of State for the
Provinces; 28 Apr. 1871, Howe/A. G. Archibald Lieutenant-Governor Manitoba
and the Northwest Territories; 5 May 1871, Howe/W. M. Simpson MP; 6 May
1871, Howe/Simpson, Dawson, Robert Pither Indian Agent Fort Frances ; 9 May
1871, Howe/Archibald; 28 May 1871, Archibald/Howe; 19 July 1871,
Archibald/Howe. Canada, Treaty No. 3 Between Her Majesty The Queen And
the Saulteaux Tribe Of Ojibbeway Indians At The Northwest Angle On The Lake
Of The Woods With Adhesions (Ottawa: Queen's Printer 1966 [1871-4]), 25
April 1871, Privy Council Order-in-Council [pcoc] 873 (original:, NAC RG 2
Series 1, v.45 pt.1, 25 April 1871).
18
National Archives Canada [NAC], RG 10, v.1864, f.375, 11 July 1871, Wemyss
Simpson, Simon Dawson and Robert Pither Treaty Commissioners/Hon. Joseph
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commission met again in 1872, but again failed to conclude the treaty. Although they
failed to finalize an agreement, the negotiators parted with the understanding that
discussions would continue the following year.19
Canada appointed a new treaty negotiation commission on 16 June 1873,
composed of Alexander Morris, the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, Lindsay Russell,
Assistant Surveyor-General, and Joseph A. N. Provencher, Indian Commissioner of
Manitoba. Russell was replaced by Simon Dawson on 3 September 1873. The
commissioners were provided with a military escort and granted authority to increase
payments.20
Treaty negotiations commenced on 30 September at North-West Angle, and
Treaty #3 was concluded that year.21 According to the document published by Canada
Howe Secretary of State for the Provinces. NAC, RG10, v.3777, f.38168, 16
March 1871, pcoc 407.
19
NAC, RG 10, v.1868, f.577, Simpson, Dawson and Pither/ Howe,17 July 1872.
20
Archives of Ontario [AO], Irving Papers 75/16, Record of Proceedings, prepared
for Supreme Court of Canada in the Treaty 3 Annuities case, Doc. 115, 16 June
1873, Commission to Messrs. Morris, Russell and Provencher as Indian
Commissioners; AO, ibid., Doc. 118, 1 Aug. 1873, Alexander Campbell Minister
of the Interior/Alexander Morris, Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories; AO, ibid., Doc. 119, 2 Aug. 1873, William Spragge Deputy
Superintendent/J. A. N. Provencher Indian Commissioner; AO, ibid., Doc. 120, 2
Aug. 1873, Spragge/Commissioner Dawson; AO, ibid., Doc. 122, 5 Aug. 1873,
Campbell/Morris; AO, ibid., Doc. 123, 6 Aug. 1873, Federal Order-in-Council
(original on NAC, RG 2 Series 1 v.60, pcoc 962, 6 August 1873); AO, ibid., Doc.
125, 13 Aug. 1873, Campbell/Morris; AO, ibid., Doc. 128, 20 Aug. 1873, E. J.
Langevin Under-Secretary of State/Campbell; AO, ibid., Doc. 131, 3 Sept. 1873,
Campbell/Dawson; Provincial Archives of Manitoba [PAM], MG 12, B1, LG #480,
14 Sept. 1873, Robert Pither Indian Agent/Morris; AO, op.cit., Doc. 132, 19 Sept.
1873, Morris/Campbell, with attached response; AO, ibid., Doc. 133, 20 Sept.
1873, J. S. Dennis Surveyor-General/Morris.
21
Alexander Morris, The Treaties Of Canada With The Indians Of Manitoba And
The North-West Territories, Including The Negotiations On Which They Were
Based, And Other Information Relating Thereto (Saskatoon 1991 [facsimile
reprint from 1880 Belfords, Clarke edition]), pp. 44-76.
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as Treaty #3, Her Majesty the Queen undertook to lay aside out of the Anishinaabe
territory reserves for the Indians comprising one mile for every family of five. The
reserves to be laid aside were of two kinds: "reserves for farming lands, due respect
being had to lands at present cultivated by the said Indians," and "other reserves of
land ... which said reserves shall be selected and set aside where it shall be deemed
most convenient and advantageous for each band or bands of Indians, by the officers
of the said Government appointed for that purpose, and such selection shall be so
made after conference with the Indians." Disposition of reserves or any interest in them
by the Government of Canada required "the consent of the Indians entitled thereto first
had and obtained."
A dispute which was discussed in the 1873 negotiations concerned the status of
the Indian camping ground at Fort Frances. As noted in the previous section, this
camping ground was the central site for the traditional Government’s annual meeting.
Located just outside the Hudson’s Bay Company post, it was an area identified as one
of the locations to be reserved under the treaty. However, it was also identified by the
Hudson’s Bay Company as one of its “reserves” under the deed of surrender of 1868.
According to Commissioner Dawson, a reserve at Fort Frances was promised to the
Chiefs in 1872 during the negotiations that year.22 The issue was raised again in 1873,
on the final day of negotiations, when the “Chief of Fort Frances” threatened to pull up
the survey stakes of the company, as “where I have chosen for my Reserve I see signs
that the H.B.C. Co. has surveyed. I do not hate them. I only wish they should take their
reserves on one side. Where their shop stands now is my property.” He was informed
that The Queen would do justice between the Company and the Indians, both of whom
the Governor asserted had rights to land in the territory.23
22
NAC, RG 10, v. 1927, f. 3232, pt. 1, 18 June 1888, Dawson to Vankoughnet.
23
Alexander Morris, The Treaties of Canada with the Indians of Manitoba and the
Northwest Territories, including the Negotiations on which they were based
(Saskatoon: Fifth House, 1991 [1880], p.73.
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Agency Buildings
Just before negotiations commenced in 1873, Robert Pither, Indian Agent at Fort
Frances, wrote to Commissioner Provencher on 3 September 1873 to inform him that
he had obtained an estimate for building houses for the agent and interpreter, and a
storehouse for government supplies. He had been obliged to proceed with this because
the quarters he had occupied in the Hudson’s Bay Fort Frances post were now needed
by the company. Pither secured a quote from S. Fowler, who owned a sawmill and was
able to undertake construction.24
3.
RESERVE SELECTION AFTER TREATY #3
3.1
The Selection of a General Indian Reserve at Couchiching Point near Fort
Frances
24
NAC, RG 10, v.1927, f.3232, pt. 1, 3 Sept. 1873, Pither to Provencher.
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Following the signing of Treaty #3 in 1873 at Northwest Angle on Lake of the
Woods, one of the Treaty commissioners, Simon James Dawson, was directed by
Lt.Gov. Alexander Morris to undertake preliminary consultations with the Indian
signatories on the subject of the location of reserves. On 2 March 1874 he reported on
his views of the proposed reserves, enclosing a sketch map showing locations along
Rainy River. The sketch showed a large Indian Reserve, commencing at the western
shore of Rainy Lake and extending approximately halfway to Fort Frances. The sketch
also showed the area claimed by the Hudson’s Bay Company at Fort Frances, which
enclosed the “Indian Camping Ground.” Between the two areas stretched a “proposed
government reserve.”This map is the first plan which shows an Indian reserve at the
approximate location of what is now Agency I.R. 1. This plan was forwarded to Ottawa
and entered into the Canada Lands Survey Records as Plan 163 ONT. Dawson also
noted that the reserves shown on the plan had already been the subject of discussions
with the Anishinaabe:
... In regard to Reserves the Treaty provides that they should be selected and
set aside after conference with the Indians and it will therefore be necessary that
Commissioners should meet the Indians as early as possible next summer, and,
in concert with them, proceed to lay off the Reserves.
These Reserves are to be in the proportion of one square mile to each
family of five ... This embraces farming lands to be cultivated by the Indians and
wild lands to be administered for them by the Government ... Rainy River is the
only place where extensive reserves of the first class, that is, farming lands,
could interfere with the progress of settlement and I would propose limiting them,
on that River, to an aggregate area of six square miles. It is already fairly
understood with the Indians where these Reserves are to be. And, in order
that your Department may be informed as to the localities desired by them and
which it would, at the same time, be advisable to give them, I enclose a Map of
Rainy River, showing the Proposed Reserves ...
In regard to the more extensive Reserves to be set aside and
administered by the Government for the benefit of the Indians, I am of opinion
that they should be so selected as to afford an early prospect of their returning a
fair revenue. Thus on Rainy River, where the land is well adapted for settlement,
a tract might be laid off as a Reserve to be administered by the Government and
in other localities Reserves could be selected where timber is to be had or
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valuable minerals likely to be found.
On conference with the Indians I have no doubt but that matters relating to
the Reserves can be very easily arranged. They will, of course, seek to get as
much as they can on Rainy River, but there it has already been explained
to them that they are to be confined as regards Reserves of the first class
to localities which they have hitherto occupied as camping grounds,
fishing stations or gardens.
The Treaty provides for the maintenance of schools of instruction in the
Reserves, whenever the Indians shall desire it, and the localities where they are
to be placed must form a subject of deliberation between the Indians and the
Commissioners of the Government. In the meantime, I think the preliminary
steps should be taken to have a school for secular instruction and
agricultural training established on the Reserve to be laid off in the vicinity
of Fort Frances, the principal rendezvous of the Tribe. There are always a
number of children about that place and a beginning made in this way would
show the Indians the beneficial influence of schools and encourage them to try
their effect in other localities.(emphases added)25
On 8 July 1874, Dawson and Robert Pither, the local Indian Agent, were
officially appointed Reserve Commissioners for Treaty #3; their instructions were to
select the reserves "where it shall be deemed most convenient and advantageous to
each band or bands of Indians, such selection to be made as provided by the Treaty,
after conference with the Indians, and subject to the other conditions set forth in the
Treaty". The official appointment made reference to the map submitted by Dawson
earlier that year. The Minister of the Interior, in recommending the appointment to the
Privy Council, stated that “the map furnished by Mr. Dawson [CLSR Plan 163 ONT] ...
may be taken by them as the basis of their operations, so far as the Reserves of both
kinds on Rainy River are concerned.” The Order in Council appointing Dawson and
Pither provided that the "selection of the reserves made by the Commissioners should
not be final until confirmed by the Governor General in Council." The Commissioners
were directed to report as soon as possible "after setting aside and selecting the
25
NAC, RG 10, v.1922, f.2970, 2 March 1874, Dawson to Laird [Min. Of Interior].
Note the attached marginal memorandum by Surveyor General Dennis,
approving of the proposals as to Reserves.
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reserves."26
3.2.
Construction of Agency Buildings on Couchiching (Pither’s) Point 1874
Since his appointment in 1870, Agent Pither had resided in apartments in the
quarters at the Hudson’s Bay Company post at Fort Frances. In September 1873 he
reported that he had been asked to vacate the premises, and suggested the
construction of Agency buildings be undertaken for his use, to include dwellings for him
and his interpreter, and a storehouse. With the approval of Commissioner Provencher
and the Indian Board of the Northwest Territories, but without any approval or
appropriation from Headquarters in Ottawa, Agent Pither entered into a contract with S.
Fowler of Fort Frances for the construction of a set of dwellings and a storehouse for
Agency purposes, on 9 October 1873. Construction began the following year. Fowler
forwarded an invoice for partial payment to Ottawa, which brought the events to light
there. Because there was no money available to Mr. Dawson, in his capacity as
superintendent of the Red River Road, an employee of the Department of Public
Works, he recommended that the work be undertaken by the Indian Branch directly.
The necessity of the work was apparent to the Indian Board of the Northwest
Territories, which likewise approved the work. As no parliamentary appropriation,
however, was available, it was finally decided that Agent Pither should pay for the
buildings personally, and the Indian Branch would pay him a sum for rent and use of
the buildings, $200 per year.27
26
NAC, RG 2, Series 1, pcoc 841(a), 24 June 1874 Laird/Governor General in
Council; NAC, RG 2, Series 1, v.72, 8 July 1874, pcoc 841; typed copy.
27
NAC, RG 10, v. 1927, f. 3232, pt.1, 22 May 1874, Provencher to Laird; 2 June
1874, Dawson to Laird [Min. Of Interior]; 10 June 1874, Vankoughnet to
McKenzie [Min. of Public Works]; and passim.
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Consultations with First Nations as to Reserves 1874
Reserve Commissioners Dawson and Pither held meetings with the First Nations
on the subject of location and extent of reserves during the summer and autumn of
1874. On 28 January 1875, Dawson reported on the selections made to date by the
commission, enclosing a letter from Pither which requested that Dawson prepare the
report due to Pither’s absence at Lac Seul. The report stated that reserve
arrangements had been made with many but not all First Nations:
The Reserves, as provided for in the Treaty and pointed out in your instructions,
had to be selected after conference with the Indians, and the Commissioners,
therefore, held meetings with the different bands and succeeded in concluding
arrangements with all those inhabiting the District intervening between the Height
of Land and Lac Plat, but, as the season was far advanced, they were obliged to
defer negotiations with the Indians of the Winnipeg, English River and Lac Seul.
The matter being one of deep interest and importance to the Indians, the
meetings were largely attended and, in some cases, a good deal of discussion
arose before an understanding could be arrived at, but this will be of advantage,
inasmuch as it led to a thorough apprehension on the part of the Indians as to
the extent of their Reserves, both of farming and of wild lands, and the manner in
which they were to be dealt with by the Government, and will thus tend to
prevent disputes from arising in the future.
The Bands occupying the country between the Height of Land and Rainy
Lake were the first to be dealt with. The Commissioners then proceeded to Fort
Frances where Indians from Rainy Lake, Rainy River and the adjacent districts,
to the number of four hundred, or upwards, were awaiting their arrival, and after
a week spent at that place in negotiations which were continued uninterruptedly,
from day to day, they went on to the North-West Angle where they met the
Bands of the Lake of the Woods and Lac Plat assembled to the number of about
five hundred.
There was no great difficulty experienced in dealing with the Indians to the
eastward of Fort Frances, but the Bands of the Rainy River had formed a deep
laid scheme of bringing their brethren from the Lake of the Woods to join with
them to occupy the fertile belt which extends along the banks of that river from
Fort Frances to Hungry Hall. They had probably been incited to this by some
half-breeds and white men who had their own interests to serve; but, however
this may be, they were so persistent in their objective that they for some time
25
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refused to accept their annual payments, unless their demands were conceded.
They seemed prepared to go so far as to repudiate the Treaty of the former year.
The Commissioners, however, by the exercise of a little patience, and
appealing to the good sense and honour of the Indians, brought them to see that
their views were untenable and they finally consented, in the most amicable
spirit, to accept the areas marked out for them and relinquish their intention of
bringing Bands from the Lake of the Woods.28
A further report authored and signed by Commissioner Dawson was a document
marked "A", dated 17 February 1875, and entitled "Treaty No.3 Descriptions of
Reserves to be set aside for certain Bands of the Saulteux Tribe of Ojibbeway Indians,
under Treaty No. 3." A copy of this document is attached to the Order in Council noted
below and dated 27 February 1875. In this document, the first reserve listed was
Agency IR 1:
Rainy River
No.1 At the foot of Rainy Lake to be laid off as nearly as may be in the manner
indicated on the plan. Two chains in depth along the shore of Rainy Lake and
bank of Rainy River, to be reserved for roads, right of way for lumbermen,
booms, wharves, and other public purposes.
This Indian reserve, not to be for any particular chief or band, but for the
Saulteux Tribe, generally, and for the purpose of maintaining thereon an Indian
agency with the necessary grounds and buildings.
Another general reserve was to be set aside on Lake of the Woods for “the Tribe,
generally.” It was to be the size of a section, one mile square, or 640 acres.29
The size of the Fort Frances general reserve was not specified in the description. The
plan submitted earlier by Dawson, CLSR Plan 163 ONT, showed the Fort Frances
reserve was also approximately a section, four times larger than the reserve later
28
NAC, RG 10, v.1918, f.2790D, 28 Jan. 1875, Dawson/E. A. Meredith Deputy
Minister of the Interior [NOTE: letter is incorrectly dated 28 Jan. 1874].
29
NAC, RG 2, Series 1, 17 Feb. 1875, pcoc 164(b), Dawson/Governor General-inCouncil, "A - Treaty No. 3 - Description of Reserves to be set aside for certain
Bands of the Saulteaux Tribe of Ojibbeway Indians, under Treaty No. 3".
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surveyed as Agency 1.30 Dawson later stated, in 1888, that the size of the Fort Frances
general Indian Reserve had been changed by Surveyor General Dennis and Robert
Pither in 1875; “in laying it off it was curtailed in the distance I had projected it on Rainy
River.31
The reserves listed in this 17 February 1875 document were approved by an
Order-in-Council of Canada on 27 February 1875. This approval was subject to final
confirmation by further Order-in-Council and to such additional surveys as would be
necessary. The Order was signed by Governor General Lord Dufferin.32
3.4
Survey of Agency IR 1
Following receipt and approval of the Reserve Commissioners’ report in Ottawa,
the Surveyor General of
Canada, J. S. Dennis, issued
instructions on 15 June 1875 to
E. C. Caddy, a Dominion Lands
Surveyor, to proceed to Fort
Frances and to lay out the
several reserves in the area,
including Agency IR 1, as well
as the town of Alberton, a
subdivision extending between
Fort Frances and the general Indian Reserve. Caddy was also instructed to have Indian
30
NAC, RG 2, Series 1, 17 Feb. 1875, pcoc 164(b), Dawson/Governor General-inCouncil, "A - Treaty No. 3 - Description of Reserves to be set aside for certain
Bands of the Saulteaux Tribe of Ojibbeway Indians, under Treaty No. 3".
31
NAC, RG 10, v.1927, f. 3232, pt.1, 4 July 1888, Dawson to Vankoughnet.
32
NAC, RG 2, Series 1, 11 Feb. 1875, pcoc 164(a), Laird/Governor General in
Council; NAC, RG 2, Series 1, 27 Feb. 1875 pcoc 164.
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Agent Pither "indicate the starting points of the several reserves".33
Caddy's report, dated 14 July 1876, indicated that he met with Pither and
surveyed Reserve No.1 during the late summer of 1875, subsequently meeting the
Surveyor General at Fort Frances in September 1875. By that time, according to
Caddy, he had completed the survey of Agency IR 1 and had proceeded to other
reserves.34
Caddy submitted on 14 July 1876 a plan showing the reserves for Chief Little
Eagle and Gobay, as well as the Half-Breed Reserves. Also shown on the plan was
“Reserve No.1, 170 acres.” Both Caddy's official plan, and his field notes, record what
is now known as Agency IR 1 with an area of 170 acres. The field notes show the
Indian Agency buildings, including Pither's residence, as being located on the
reserve.35 Following receipt of this survey, Surveyor General Dennis had a plan
showing all the Dominion surveys on Rainy River and Rainy Lake compiled. He
certified this plan as a true copy of the other Dominion land surveys on 29 November
1876. This map also showed Agency I. R 1, in relation to the other surveys in the Fort
Frances area.36
3.5
Surveyor General’s Plan for Additional Agencies in Treaty #3
The Surveyor General, on 1 November 1875 following meetings with Treaty #3
bands, proposed the establishment of a series of Indian agencies for instruction and
annuity payments: Agency IR 1, “Mr. Pither’s present station,” for the Rainy River,
Rainy Lake, and Eagle and Wabigoon Bands; Assabaskashing, for the Lake of the
33
NAC, RG 10, v.3882, f.95721.
34
NAC, ibid. NAC, RG 15 v.234, f. 3597.
35
NRC, CLSR ONT Fieldbook 42. CLSR Plan 91 ONT. CLSR Plan T258.
36
NRC, CLSR Plan 1143 ONT.
28
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Woods Bands; "Mattawan" reserve, for English River and Lac Seul Bands; and at Lac
des Mille Lacs, for Seine River, Lac la Croix, Sturgeon Lake and Lac des Mille Lacs
Bands.37
This scheme was only partially carried out. Agent George McPherson was
appointed as agent on Lake of the Woods in 1877. He established his headquarters
adjacent to Agency IR 30. The agency remained there until his retirement in 1888, after
which Agent Pither removed it to Rat Portage, now Kenora, upon his transfer there.
Savanne Agency was established for several years near Lac des Mille Lacs, until the
dismissal of Agent Mathews for drunkenness and the transfer of the administration to
37
NAC, RG 10, v.1918, f. 2790D, 1 Nov. 1875, Dennis to Laird [Min. Of Interior].
29
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Port Arthur under Agent McIntyre.38
3.6
Prohibition of Annual Gatherings at Couchiching Agency
Within a decade of the signing of Treaty #3, traditional Indian government and
religion came under attack by Canada. In particular, the use of the camping ground at
the Agency Indian Reserve by First Nations for governmental or ceremonial use was
prohibited even though the Agency Indian Reserve had been selected under the treaty
for that purpose. The Department of Indian Affairs regarded the gathering of large
numbers of Indians at the Agency Indian Reserve for the payment of Couchiching [Fort
Frances] Agency annuities as a threat to Department of Indian Affairs control. It sought
to suppress traditional government and religion. Accordingly efforts were made to move
treaty annuity payment to First Nation reserves where Chiefs and Council could be
isolated from other First Nations. The report of the Superintendent General of Indian
Affairs for 1881 notes:
It is to be regretted, however, that the Indians of this district [Couchiching
Agency] lose five or six weeks annually at their heathen feasts, whereat pagan
ceremonies and war dances are celebrated, much gambling being also indulged
in, resulting in the reckless squandering, of the money received at the annuity
payments, and in the loss of time above referred to, which might be profitably
employed on their reserves.39
E. McColl, Inspector of Indian Agencies, expanded upon this theme in his report dated
10 December 1881:
It is very desirable that all the Agents be instructed to make, during the payment
of annuities, a personal inspection of the different reserves embraced within their
respective Agencies to enable them to obtain accurate statistics to ascertain
themselves the actual condition of Indian Affairs and to give the requisite
38
Canada, Annual Reports of the Dept. of the Interior, 1878, 1879. Annual Report
of the Dept. of Indian Affairs, 1880.
39
Annual Report of the Department of Indian Affairs for the Year Ended 31st
December 1881 (Ottawa: Maclean, Roger & Co.) 1882, pp.xl-xli.
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instructions in husbandry. This could easily be accomplished, without much
additional expense, if the policy of making payments to the Indians on their
reserves, practised in the other Agencies, were adopted in those of Messrs.
Indian Agents McPherson, Pither and McIntyre. By making a circuit around Lake
of the Woods, Mr. McPherson could visit and make payments on the balance of
the reserves in his Agency. In returning from Winnipeg with the funds
appropriated for his Agency, Mr. Pither could make payments on all the reserves
along Rainy River, and in going to Lac Seul he could attend to the several bands
along his route, on Rainy, Wabegon and Eagle Lakes. The only additional
expenditure of any consequence would be owing to the difficulties encountered in
transporting supplies over numerous portages in Mr. McIntyre's Agency. The
practice of collecting Indians in large numbers is most demoralizing, affording
them an opportunity of perpetuating heathenish ceremonies, and of indulging in
gambling, drunkenness and other dissipations besides imposing upon them
unnecessary inconveniences by compelling them to come various distances up
to a hundred miles for their annuities. The habit of adopting children, and of
transferring Indians to other bands is very objectionable, causing complications in
the pay sheets, making irregularities difficult to trace, and therefore should be
discontinued only in exceptional cases submitted to the arbitrament of the
Superintendent-General.40
Despite instructions that “it is imperative that the Indians should be paid their
annuities on their reserves,” payment was made at Agency IR 1 in 1882. However, in
1883 and thereafter payment was made at the Couchiching Agency First Nations’
reserves. McColl’s report for 1884 makes the department’s reasoning clear. Traditional
Anishinaabe political, social, and religious ceremonies were disparaged and the
banning of general treaty annuity payments promoted as a means of destroying
traditional activities. McColl was less successful at limiting general annuity payments to
many of the Lake of the Woods First Nations at Asabaskasing. According to McColl:
All the Indians of the Lake of the Woods, except the Rat Portage Band, were
paid at Assabaskassing this year, contrary to the first instructions given to the
agent, and to the arrangement made with the contractor for the delivery of the
various Indian supplies. The agent alleges that the Indians refused to receive
their annuities on their several reserves, without having made any attempt to
make the payments there. It is apparent that these objections to the
commendable policy of the Department, to pay their annuities to the different
40
Annual Report of the Department of Indian Affairs for the Year Ended 31st
December 1881 (Ottawa: Maclean, Roger & Co.) 1882, pp.87-8.
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bands of Indians on their respective reserves, are not made on account of any
alleged promises made that they would continue in perpetuity to receive their
annuities at their camping ground or the agency, but in consequence of their
opposition to anything interfering with those large annual gatherings, where they
remain for several weeks, until all the money they received, or the articles
purchased with it, are gambled away, and where their degrading and
demoralizing heathen ceremonies are perpetuated. It is also evident that traders,
unwilling to follow the agent to the different reserves when making payments to
the Indians, induced them to insist upon being paid at the camping ground. If the
argument advanced by the agent, in support of the claims of the Indians of the
Lake of the Woods to receive their annuities here, is valid, why does he pay the
Rat Portage Band on their reserve, while the several bands at Shoal Lake,
Whitefish Bay and Buffalo Bay, living a greater distance off, are paid at the
camping ground? The Indians of Rainy Lake and River, in Mr. Pither's
agency, made similar claims to be paid at their alleged camping ground at
Coutcheeching, and consequently received their annuities for a number of
years at Fort Frances, near that locality; but for the last two years their
annuities were received on their different reserves, to the entire satisfaction of all
the Indians of the district, except a few medicine men, who victimize their
devotees at those gatherings by inducing them to make sacrifices - to the
Manitou - of various personal effects which become the property of these wily
imposters. (emphasis added)
Lac la Croix and Seine River First Nations were transferred to the Couchiching Agency
from Savanne Agency in 1884 after the change to on-reserve from entire agency treaty
annuity payments.41
3.7
Agent Pither’s Claim to Agency IR 1 as a Personal Homestead
In 1888, a controversy developed between Indian Agent Pither and the
Department of Indian Affairs over the ownership of Agency IR 1. Agent Pither had made
an application for the land to the Department of the Interior as a homestead in 1879.
41
Annual Report of The Department of Indian Affairs for the Year Ended 31st
December, 1882 (Ottawa: Maclean, Roger & Co.) 1883, p.132; Annual Report of
the Department of Indian Affairs for the Year Ended 31st December, 1883
(Ottawa: Maclean, Roger & Co.) 1884, p.65; Annual Report of The Department
of Indian Affairs for the Year Ended 31st December,1884 (Ottawa: Maclean,
Roger & Co.) 1885, pp.xxxiv,133.
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The Department of Indian Affairs vigourously protested the application. Pither
responded by submitting a number of affidavits, including one from Caddy, the surveyor
of the Fort Frances reserves, which stated that Pither should have received the agency
lands as his personal property. Pither also claimed that the land was not included as an
Indian reserve in his instructions as a Reserve Commissioner in 1874, that he had not
included them within any reserve, and that he had homesteaded there in 1872. Caddy
eventually amended his testimony after viewing his plans indicating the establishment
of the Agency IR 1 in the 1875 survey. Pither eventually abandoned his formal claim
upon a payment from the Department for the agency buildings.
The often conflicting documents contained in the file are pertinent to
determination of band interests in Agency I.R.1. Simon Dawson, formerly Treaty and
Reserve Commissioner, by then MP for Algoma, restated the initial 1874-75 disposition,
that in his view, Agency IR 1 was to be set aside for the entire Tribe, all the Bands, and
not for any particular First Nation. Dawson provided evidence in the form of affidavits in
rebuttal to Pither's claims that he had settled on the land prior to Treaty in 1873, and in
rebuttal to the claim that Surveyor General Dennis had granted the Agency lands to
him. On 18 June 1888, Dawson wrote to the Deputy Superintendent General of Indian
Affairs, Lawrence Vankoughnet, the chief civil servant in the Indian Department,
explaining his recollections at length. Among other information provided by Dawson
was the following:
the ground Mr. Pither wanted was within the Reserve which the Indians were
informed they were to get in 1872 and which was actually marked out for them in
1873 & 1874 ... the Fort Frances Reserve was marked off from the very first for
the Indians.
On 4 July 1888, Dawson stated to Vankoughnet that:
at Fort Frances, in 1872,...during the negotiations then in progress, to all of
which Mr. Pither was a party, it was held out to the Indians, that the land in
question was to be laid out, as a Reserve, for the general benefit of all the bands
33
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on Rainy River and that the agency would thereon be established ... This
Reserve, more especially the portion of it which Mr. Pither now wants, was an old
camping ground of theirs (the Indians) which they and their ancestors had
occupied long before he came into the world ... it had been understood and
agreed upon with the Indians that it should be apportioned to no particular band
but to the tribe at large, for the purpose of an Indian agency and camping ground
for their sole use and benefit forever ... In 1874 I passed by Fort Frances and
have a distinct recollection of seeing boards and the commencement of a house
and, at the same time, much to my disgust, I saw that some of the magnificent
oaks in the old camping ground of the Indians had been cut down.
On 29 October 1888, Dawson penned a memorandum regarding Pither’s claim,
which also dealt with the reasons for the establishment of a general reserve:
The Indians were in the habit from time immemorial of holding their annual
meetings at Fort Frances, and the Reserve in question, instead of being
apportioned to any particular band, as the other Reserves were, was made a
general one for the use of the tribe at large. It was also considered by the
commissioners, of whom the undersigned was one, that it would be very
desirable that grounds sufficient for the purpose of an Indian Agency as well as a
general Reserve should be retained, in such a way as to be under the control of
the Indian Department, at Fort Frances, and this was one of the reasons why the
Reserve was made a general one.
The undersigned, with Mr. Pither’s assistance, apportioned Reserves to the
different bands and, at the same time, set aside the Reserve under consideration
for the general use of all the bands, as a summer camping ground where they
could hold their accustomed meetings and transact their business at the
proposed Indian Agency residence.
Dawson forwarded on 2 November 1888 an affidavit by Captain James Dick,
formerly a contractor at Fort Frances who had constructed steamboats there in 1871
and 1872. Dick stated:
I was present at several meetings of the Indian Commissioners with the Indians
both in 1871 and 1872, that I heard the matter of the Reserves discussed, when
it was pointed out to the Indians by the said commissioners that land at the
Rapids at the foot of Rainy Lake would be reserved to them as a summer
camping ground for the Tribe.
34
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On 10th November Dawson forwarded another two affidavits. One by James
Baine declared that he “was with Mr. Dawson in 1873-4 when the Indian Reserves were
located, and all the Land (including the Point known as ‘Pither’s Point’) above the
Rapids for a considerable distance along the shore of Rainy Lake was laid out as a
General Reserve, to be used by all the Indians for camping purposes, during the time
of annual payments.”
Dawson forwarded a further two affidavits on 18 November. John Pinnesse,
former Chief of Fort William First Nation, stated that he:
was present at Fort Frances in 1871 and 1872 while negotiations were going on
between the Government Commissioners and the Indians and there heard the
Commissioners promise the Reserve forever for the Indians and their
descendants, the land at the rapids at the outlet of Rainy Lake, as a part of the
Consideration to be given the Indians for ceding their Territory to the
Government ... to the summer of 1874 there was no improvement whatever
beyond what had been made by the Indians of Old Time in clearing off the
underwood to an extent sufficient for their wigwams.
Following the Ontario victory in the St. Catherine’s Milling and Lumber Co. case
in late 1888, the Ontario provincial government appointed a commission to investigate
claims in Rainy River. Agent Pither, now based in Rat Portage, forwarded a claim to
Agency IR 1 to that body. Upon notification of this, the Department of Indian Affairs
wrote a lengthy letter to the Ontario government, stating the grounds on which they
asserted that Agency IR 1 was in fact a reserve established pursuant to Treaty #3.
They also threatened Agent Pither with dismissal on 14 October and 23 November
1889 unless he abandoned his “alleged claim.” The file does not contain any letter from
him abandoning his claim at this time. In 1897, following the formation of a new Liberal
federal government, Pither again advanced a claim to the Deputy Superintendent
General, Hayter Reed, but his claim was refused once more on 7 August 1897.42
Although Pither abandoned his claim in the face of opposition from the
Department and from Simon Dawson, the affidavits which he filed in support of his
42
NAC, RG 10, v. 1927, f. 3232, pt.1, passim.
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assertions provide an alternative view of the history of the selection of Agency IR 1.
Although there are several inconsistencies in his narrative, such as the date of his
occupation of the point or his assertions regarding Surveyor General Dennis’ views and
instructions, nevertheless his affidavits contain alleged statements from Chiefs Little
Eagle and Gobay that state they never “asked or claimed the Homestead then claimed
and since occupied by Mr. Pither.”43
4.
THE 1908 SURRENDER AND LATER AGENCY IR 1 ADMINISTRATION
4.1
The Application by the Canadian Northern Railway for Agency IR 1 Lands
In May 1901 an application for land on Agency IR 1 was made by the owners of
the Canadian Northern Railway, who believed that the area could be developed for
railway and tourist purposes. A beach resort would facilitate the profitability of the
railway connection, and assist marketing the railway line: “it could be made suitable for
a beach and resort and it is the only piece of ground of that particular character in that
section of the country that we could make available and connect it with the Canadian
Northern Railway.”
The Canadian Northern owners were informed on 4 June 1901 that no
application for the land for resort purposes could be entertained due to the dispute with
Ontario, which had not yet confirmed the reserves in Treaty #3 following the St.
Catherine’s Milling case. However, the Department of Indian Affairs Secretary advised
them that if the land was required for railway purposes, it could be expropriated under
section 35 of the Indian Act, as amended, upon filing of a Plan showing the land
required and a certificate from the Chief Engineer of the Department of Railways and
Canals. The request was made again two years later, on 26 October 1903 via the
Department of the Interior, and again on 27 March 1906, but there had been no change
43
NAC, ibid., 3 September 1888, Affidavit of Chiefs & Councillors.
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in the Department of Indian Affairs position.44
4.2
Timber Trespass by John Tight 1905
Dead wood cut on Agency IR 1 was seized by Agent Wright from John Tight
under the Indian Act, section 26. On 2 February 1905 Agent Wright reported that Tight
had been prosecuted and fined for the trespass.45
4.3
The Establishment of the Fort Frances Boarding School
In 1905 the Fort Frances Boarding School was established at the northern end
of Agency IR 1, with a complement of 41 and a maximum capacity of 70 students from a
number of First Nations. It was a large 3 story building, with outbuildings. It cultivated
lands on both the Agency and Couchiching reserves.46
4.4
The Transfer of a Right of Way to the Canadian Northern Railway
The Canadian Northern Railway abandoned their plans for a beach resort but
proceeded with plans to connect their railway system to the United States via a bridge
to Rainier, Minnesota, at the Point. On 27 October 1906, the Right of Way Agent for
Canadian Northern Railway requested a grant of 5.6 acres on the Agency IR 1. Canada
by federal Order in Council dated 19 January 1907 approved the expropriation and
transfer to the company. Letters patent for 3.3 acres eventually issued to the company.
Indian Agent Wright's valuation of this property was at $1,000.00 per acre, which
44
NAC, RG 10, v.1927, f. 3232, pt.1.
45
NAC, RG 10, v. 12379, Accession [Acc] 87-88/346, Letterbook #3, 1904-07., 12
Jan. 1905, Wright to Laird; 2 Feb. 1905, Wright to Secretary.
46
Canada, Sessional Papers [CSP], A. 1907, #27, pt. i, pp.332-34.
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was objected to by the company. After consultations with local land experts, and
extensive unsuccessful negotiations between the Department of Indian Affairs and
Canadian Northern Railway, Chief Surveyor Bray suggested a compromise and a lower
valuation:
Judging by the prices of lots in Fort Frances, and in the townplots
immediately opposite on the United States side of the river, Mr. Agent Wright's
valuation of $1000.00 per acre is not excessive and two gentlemen whom I
consulted consider this price to be a very reasonable one. However, on
consultation with others, I found that it is thought to be too high. I had an
interview with Mr. Keating, the gentleman who valued the land for the Railway
Company. Mr. Keating was furnished with a plan showing the land to be taken by
the Railway Company ... he said that had he been aware of the actual location of
the line he would have valued the whole at $450.00 per acre.
In considering the matter well I have come to the conclusion that the
Agent's valuation is high; that is to say, if the case went to arbitration on his
figures we would lose. He also informed me that at one time he was on the point
of arranging at a lower figure ($750.00) with the Right of Way Agent.
This $750 per acre figure was eventually accepted by the Company for a
narrowed right of way that lessened damages to Agency buildings, and the matter was
settled in 1910. The right of way divides the point into 2 portions, and also separated
the buildings of the old Indian Agency.47
4.5
The Applications by the Town of Fort Frances and the1908 Surrender
Commencing in February 1904, the Town of Fort Frances applied for the point
for park purposes. The Minister of Indian Affairs, Clifford Sifton, was “favourably
disposed towards” the request. But questions of title arising from the boundary dispute
with Ontario, and the resulting uncertainty of Crown title over Treaty #3 Indian
Reserves, prevented him from proceeding with approval. Further requests were made
after April 1907, with the expressed support of the Ontario government. An internal
47
NAC, RG 10, v. 7669, F. 22124-7, pt.1.
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memorandum was prepared to brief the department as to the Indian ownership. W. A.
Orr of the Lands and Timber Branch advised the Deputy Minister on 30 June 1908 that
“all the Bands of Indians within the Agency” had an interest in the Agency IR 1 land:
Pither’s Point is what is known as Indian Reserve No. 41, containing 170 acres,
situate near Fort Francis, and was set aside under Treaty No. 3, made with the
Indians in 1873, as a site for the Indian Agency and as a general reserve for the
Indians when visiting the agency.
In view of the mode of setting aside of this tract, it not being for any
specific Band of Indians, it would seem questionable as to whether this
Department could make any disposition thereof after confirmation of same by the
Ontario Government, except under a surrender obtained from all the Bands of
Indians within the agency.
On 8 July 1908 the Deputy Superintendent General of Indian Affairs, Frank Pedley,
advised that the Department would be willing to take a surrender “from the Indian
owners of the property” if Ontario would “pass an Order in Council confirming the
Reserve No. 1.” On 4 September 1908 Ontario passed a provincial Order in Council
granting permission for Canada to grant a part of the reserve to Fort Frances for park
purposes. Indian Agent Wright was authorized on 19 September 1908 “to submit the
question of surrender to the Indians of Treaty 3, for whom this reserve was set aside.”48
The first indication that only four bands had an interest in this reserve came from
Agent Wright in 1908, in his 12 Oct. report subsequent to the surrender:
I have the honour to enclose herewith the surrender, in duplicate, signed by the
Chief's and principal men in the Coucheching, Stangecoming,
Niacatchewenin and Nickickonsemenecaning Bands, they being the only
bands for whom this reserve was set aside. The affidavit of execution made
by myself and two principal men, was signed by the Chief of the Couchiching
band and one of his Councillors, who made the trip with me and saw the other
bands sign. (emphasis added)
Despite the failure to adhere to his instructions, the department took no action against
Agent Wright. In fact, within a week of receipt of the signed forms, the Minister had
submitted the surrender to the Governor in Council for approval, and this was granted
48
NAC, Ibid.
39
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on 14 November 1908.
There are few historical facts which would explain the reasons for Agent Wright's
opinion that an interest in the reserve was limited to only four bands. He offered one in
his valuation letter dated 1 December 1908:
as I understand this land was set aside for an Agency and general camping
reserve for the Rainy Lake Indians.(emphasis added).
The four bands chosen to sign the surrender were exactly the Rainy Lake Indians.
They did not include the Seine River Indians, or those even further inland at Lac la
Croix or Sturgeon Lake. They did not include the Rainy River Indians, or other Bands
which at one time had been part of the Couchiching or Fort Frances Agency.
Agent Wright’s valuation of the land was high, between $500 and $1,000 per
acre; as noted by the Indian Affairs Surveyor S. Bray, “the land in the park was so
valuable that the town could not afford to purchase it.” D. C. Scott advised on 21
January 1910 that, at Wright’s valuation, the “full price for the 60 acres would therefore
be $45,000.00, and the rental calculated on an interest of 3% ... would be $1350.” The
lease offered to the Town in 1910 was on the basis of $1 per acre, considerably less.
The four First Nations were not asked to approve the lease. Couchiching would
not have approved it, as that First Nation had already protested the proposed park on
29 September 1909. The lease for $60 a year to the Town of Fort Frances had a term
of 99 years, and a proviso or condition allowing continued Indian camping and sales of
wares:
the various Bands of Indians now or hereafter entitled to hold meetings and
camp on Pither’s Point shall have the right during the continuance of this lease to
camp and sell wares free of charge within the limits of the land hereby leased.49
49
NAC, RG 10, v. 1927, f. 3232, pt. 1.
40
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5.
LATER LAND AND FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS INVOLVING AGENCY IR 1
1910-1970
5.1
The Reserve General Register
The Reserve General Register for Agency IR 1 discloses a large number of
transactions for portions of land after the 1910 lease to the Town. These are outlined
under items 10 to 43 of the Reserve General Register, an abstract of land transactions
involving the reserve maintained by Canada under the terms of the Indian Act. Many of
these involve complex matters of land transaction and are beyond the scope of this
report. However, the items in the register provide details about First Nation use of, or
involvement in, the administration of the Agency IR 1 lands.
Beginning in 1957, the register discloses involvement by the four First Nations,
Couchiching, Naicatchewenin, Stanjikoming and Nicickousemenecaning, in the
administration of the lands and assets of Agency IR 1. Band Council Resolutions are
followed by permits, evidence of active involvement in the administration of Agency IR
1 lands. After 1970, the reserve general register in the Treaty #3 file ends, but current
files in the possession of the First Nations or its corporate entities may also evidence
continuing involvement in Agency IR 1 administration. Annuity payments to all Treaty
#3 First Nations at Agency IR 1 lasted for only a brief period compared to the
administration of this reserve by the four First Nations noted above.
5.2
The Flooding of Agency IR 1
In 1905 an agreement with Ontario permitted the industrialist E. W. Backus to
build a power dam at Fort Frances at the Chaudiere Falls; no permission was given to
overflow lands not under the control of Ontario. However, flooding commenced by
1909, due to the impact of the dam. On Agency IR 1, there was extensive flooding and
damage to trees, plus submergence of much of the two chain shore allowance
surveyed along the 1875 shore of the lake. In 1916, the level of Rainy Lake reached
41
GRAND COUNCIL TREATY #3
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SELECTION, USE AND ADMINISTRATION
CONFIDENTIAL - FOR DISCUSSION ONLY
500.88 D.P.W. Datum, 7.98 feet above ordinary high water under natural conditions.
The Company attempted some mitigation by providing funding for a breakwater in front
of the Boarding School, but then denied liability. The case went to trial in 1920; appeals
were heard in 1923 and 1924. Much of the damage was within the two chain allowance,
which was ruled to be not part of the reserve.50
5.3
The Taking, Return and Distribution of the Trust Funds for Agency IR 1
In October 1906, the Agency residence and office were moved into the town of
Fort Frances. In 1907, Trust Fund Account [TFA] #77 was opened, and listed on the
ledger as "Fort Frances Agency Reserve 77". Large sums were credited into the
account during the next two decades, particularly from the sale of lots on Idyllwild
Drive, and from compensation paid by the Canadian Northern Railway for lands
expropriated for its right of way across the Point to Minnesota.
In 1925, by federal order-in-council, the Department of Indian Affairs
appropriated $8,000 from TFA #77, in order to complete a land transaction in Fort
Frances; this land transaction involved the acquisition of property for Fort Frances
Indian Agency use.
In 1941, after internal review, the successor agency to the Department, the
Indian Affairs Branch of the federal Department of Mines and Resources,
recommended return of the monies taken in 1925. Parliament voted a sum during the
1941-42 session, and $18,690.75 was returned to TFA #77, divided between the
capital and interest portions of TFA #77.
In 1943, the sums present in both capital and interest portions of TFA #77 were
debited from the account, and transferred to the separate trust fund accounts of the
four Treaty #3 Bands with interests recognized by Canada in Agency IR 1:
Couchiching, Naicatchewenin, Nickickousemenecaning, and Stangecoming.
50
NAC, RG 10, v.4021, f. 282759; v. 7585, f. 6129-1, pt. 1; v. 7584, f.6124-1, pt. 2.
NAC, RG 125, v.462, f. 4517-1.
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CONFIDENTIAL - FOR DISCUSSION ONLY
The 1943 transfers, from TFA #77 to the four individual Band trust fund
accounts, were based upon the per capita population of each Band at the time of the
original improper appropriation, in this case 1925, and not on the per capita population
of each Band at the time of distribution, in this case 1943.51
6.
SUMMARY OF HISTORICAL FACTS
•
Before 1873, the residence of the hereditary Grand Chief and the traditional
camping grounds of the Anishinaabe were located on the Rainy River at the site
adjacent to the Hudson’s Bay Company post at Fort Frances.
•
These traditional camping grounds, which were regarded by the Grand Council
as including their post, were the site of national deliberations by large
gatherings at which the Council exercised “not only territorial but sovereign
rights.”
•
Couchiching (Pither’s) Point was also utilized as a camping and burial site by
Anishinaabeg.
•
Canada acquired the lands covered by the Hudson’s Bay Company grant under
the Rupert’s Land Act, 1868. Under this act the Company retained land around
its Fort Frances post. The same land was considered by the Anishinaabe as
their own camping grounds and national centre.
51
NAC, RG 10, v. 10292, f. 485/4-1.
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•
SELECTION, USE AND ADMINISTRATION
CONFIDENTIAL - FOR DISCUSSION ONLY
During negotiations for Treaty #3 in 1872, the traditional Anishinaabe camping
grounds were identified as one of the locations to be reserved under the treaty.
The “Chief of Fort Frances” threatened to pull up Hudson’s Bay Company survey
stakes at that location during treaty negotiations in 1873 asserting that it had
already been reserved.
•
Arrangements were made by Robert Pither, before the completion of Treaty #3
in 1873, to begin construction of agency headquarters.
•
Following the finalization of treaty negotiations, Simon James Dawson, one of
the treaty commissioners, was directed to undertake preliminary consultations
with Anishinaabe leaders to establish the location of reserves. In March of 1874
Dawson submitted a sketch map showing the area claimed by the Hudson’s Bay
Company which was also identified as “Indian Camping Ground.” A large area to
the east, which included Couchiching Point, was identified as “Proposed Indian
Reserve.”
•
Construction of Agency buildings at Couchiching Point was begun by Pither in
1874.
•
In February of 1875, following consultation with Anishinaabe, Dawson submitted
a report which described Agency Indian Reserve [IR] 1 “At the foot of Rainy Lake
... not to be for any particular chief or band, but for the Saulteux Tribe, generally,
and for the purpose of maintaining thereon an Indian agency with the necessary
grounds and buildings.”
•
Agency IR 1 was approved by an Order-in-Council of Canada on 27 February
1875.
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•
SELECTION, USE AND ADMINISTRATION
CONFIDENTIAL - FOR DISCUSSION ONLY
In 1875 E.C. Caddy, D.L.S., was directed to survey several reserves in the area,
including Agency IR 1. He submitted a plan on 14 July 1876 which included
“Reserve No.1, 170 acres.” Indian Agency buildings, including Pither’s
residence, were shown on the plan.
•
In November 1875, following meetings with other Treaty #3 First Nations, the
Surveyor General proposed the establishment of three more agency reserves for
instruction and annuity payments. Only the agency reserve at Assabaskashing
was set aside.
•
Until 1882, the Couchiching (Fort Frances) Agency First Nations received their
treaty annuity payments together at Agency IR 1 or at Fort Frances. Thereafter,
Indian Affairs policy to restrict large gatherings, at which traditional
governmental and religious activities might be carried out, resulted in annuities
being paid at individual First Nation Reserves.
•
Lac la Croix and Seine River First Nations were transferred to Couchiching
Agency from the Savanne Agency in 1884.
•
In 1879 Indian Agent Pither had applied for land at Agency IR 1 as a homestead.
The Department of Indian Affairs protested the application. The issue came to a
head in 1888. Documents submitted in this controversy demonstrated that the
land had been set aside as a general reserve and Pither eventually abandoned
his claim.
•
Application for land on Agency IR 1 was made in 1901 by owners of the
Canadian Northern Railway. A right of way across the Reserve was granted in
1907 and valuation of $750 per acre was eventually accepted.
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SELECTION, USE AND ADMINISTRATION
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Beginning in 1904 the town of Fort Frances applied to Indian Affairs for
Couchiching Point to use for park purposes. In 1908 the Department was
advised that all of the First Nations in the agency had an interest in Agency IR 1.
The current Indian Agent, J.P. Wright was authorized to submit the question of
surrender to all of the Treaty #3 First Nations for whom the reserve was set
aside. Wright accepted a surrender from the Chiefs and Councillors of the
Couchiching, Stanjikoming, Naicatchewenin, and Nicickousemenecaning First
Nations. He did so on the understanding that Agency IR 1 had been set aside for
the Rainy Lake Indians only.
•
The lease for the Agency IR land that was offered by the Department to the town
of Fort Frances drastically undervalued the land at $1/acre. The lease provided
a continuing right for “the various Bands of Indians now or hereafter entitled to
hold meetings and camp on Pither’s Point ... to camp and sell wares free of
charge within the limits of the land hereby leased.”
•
The four First Nations that surrendered Agency IR 1 have been involved in the
administration of the reserve since 1957. This period of administration is much
longer than the brief period that all Treaty #3 First Nations were paid treaty
annuities at the Reserve.
46