The lost Atlantis, and other ethnographic studiesWilson, Daniel, Sir
History
The lost Atlantis, and other ethnographic studies
Wilson, Daniel, Sir
America -- Antiquities; Atlantis (Legendary place); Ethnology -- America; Indians of North America -- Antiquities
The reports of the Indian Department supply interesting glimpses of the
process of adjustment with the various tribes of natives reluctantly
yielding to the new condition of things. Returns made to an address of
the House of Commons at Ottawa, dated March 1873, disclose the
jealousies and suspicions of the native tribes, and the anxiety evinced
by the Government officials to remove all just grounds of complaint. Mr.
Beatty, a contractor for certain surveys on the Upper Assiniboine,
reports that the Portage Indians, under their chief, Yellow Quill, had
absolutely forbidden any survey of their lands, and driven him and his
party off the field. The Lieutenant-Governor thereafter held an
interview with Yellow Quill and a party of his braves, and after a long
_pow-wow_ succeeded in pacifying him. Again, a party of about two
thousand Sioux are reported to have left in high dudgeon, with a threat
to return in force next spring; and the Hon. Alexander Morris—now
Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba—writes to the Provincial Secretary at
Ottawa, that “The Red Lake Indians on the American side have been
sending tobacco to the Sioux in our territory, as it is believed, with
the view of common action with regard to the Boundary Survey.” For the
settlement of provinces, and the surveying of the prairie for disposal
to its new occupants, had necessitated the determination of a
well-defined boundary between the Canadian territories and those of the
United States. Only a few years had elapsed since the State of Minnesota
was desolated by a cruel war, carried on by the Sioux at the
instigation, as was then affirmed, of Southern agents, with a view to a
diversion in favour of the South during the great Civil War. A large
number of the Sioux have since crossed the boundary, and settled within
the British lines; and the Hon. Mr. Morris writes from Fort Garry in
December last: “Some of the Sioux assist the white settlers as labourers
in the summer. They have asked for land, and were led to believe that
they would be assigned a reserve, and, if so, they would plant crops,
and could then be removed from the settlement.” But Mr. Morris specially
draws the attention of the provincial authorities to the excited state
apparent among all the Western tribes, and adds: “I believe it to be in
part created by the Boundary Commission. They do not understand it, and
think the two nations are uniting against them.” The difficulties,
however, were overcome; and the reports of the Indian agents contain
some curious illustrations of the difficulties inevitable in the first
attempt at transforming wild Indian tribes into prairie farmers. One of
them thus writes: “The full demands of the Indians cannot be complied
with; but there is, nevertheless, a certain paradox in asking a wild
Indian, who has hitherto gained his livelihood by hunting and trapping,
to settle down on a reservation and cultivate the land, without at the
same time offering him some means of making his living. As they say
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account