Rich Man, Poor Man, Beggarman, Chief: Saulteaux in the Red River Settlement LAURA L. PEERS University of Winnipeg When Miles Macdonell led the first straggling group of Lord Selkirk's settlers from York Factory to Red River in 1812, he had instructions to establish friendly relations with the Indians around the colony. It was hoped that these relationships would enable the settlers to make use of the Indians' country skills to sustain the colony during its first difficult years. The colony officials were surprised, however, at the apparent eagerness of the Natives' response, particularly that given by a local band of Saulteaux led by Peguis. Not only did the Saulteaux provide food and shelter at various times, they also actively supported the colonists during the North West Company's worst harassment. But their assistance was not merely given out of charity: just as the Europeans planned to use the Saulteaux, so did the Saulteaux have plans to use the colony to their own advantage. This paper examines the relationship between Peguis's band of Saulteaux and the officials of the Red River settlement during the first two decades of the settlement's existence, up to the founding of a Christian agricultural settlement for Peguis's band at Cook's Creek in 1833.1 Previous biographies of Peguis as well as histories of Red River have emphasized the decline of the chief's political influence and his band's economic situation as well as the inevitability and/or wisdom of Peguis's acceptance of a Christian agricultural settlement (Cf. Dempsey 1976, Ross 1856, Thompson 1973). Peguis, however, may have seen things differently, and might have asserted 1 Several other Saulteaux bands passed through the settlement occasionally, from Red Lake, Rainy Lake, the Interlake area, and Portage la Prairie. Peguis's band, being the closest to the colony, had a more complex relationship with it. There was also, presumably, an informal relationship between members of Peguis's band and the various groups within the settlement. I would like to thank Professors Jennifer Brown and Jean Friesen for reading and commenting on an earlier draft of this paper. 261 262 RED RIVER SETTLEMENT that his band maintained a great deal of political and economic autonomy even after 1833. In fact, Peguis's motives for accepting the missionaries' proposals were related to his original desire to benefit from the colony. The Red River settlement was designed by Thomas Douglas, the Fifth Earl of Selkirk and the largest shareholder in the Hudson's Bay Company, to provide a haven for the poor of Atlantic Britain and to provide agri­ cultural produce for the Company's inland posts. The site chosen for the colony at the Forks of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers straddled the ma­ jor water routes from Montreal in the east and York Factory in the north to the western posts. For the same reasons that the site was convenient for the Hudson's Bay Company, however, it posed a direct threat to the Company's rival in the fur trade, the Montreal-based North West Company. The commercial rivalry which had been escalating since the late 1700s came to a head over the settlement as the North West Company, fearing for its survival, vowed to destroy first the colony and then the Hudson's Bay Com­ pany. The objects of this rivalry were the Indians and the furs they harvested. In the Red River area by 1812, though, both fur-bearing and game animals had become scarce. This forced Saulteaux bands which had migrated into the Red River valley in the 1790s to move north and west of Red River. Peguis's band stayed in the area, having a seasonally-occupied camp just north of the Forks at Netley Creek, but their returns from the fur trade were fast diminishing. The arrival of the first settlers in 1812, then, was a promising event for Peguis's and other Saulteaux bands. Within a few years, it was reported that most of the local Indians "seem very glad to see white people come to cultivate their land k they imagine that for the future they will want noth­ ing" (HBCA B. 235/a/3, 19 October 1814). The Black Man, a Saulteaux chief from the Red Lake area, stated that his people were "pleased with the people coming to settle upon their Lands, to teach them how to manufac­ ture European articles" (PAM MG1 D3, 16 July 1815). Other statements were made to the effect that the Saulteaux had been "afraid of being alto­ gether abandoned by the traders" and were "pleased to see people of steady habits arrive who are to make a permanent residence, acting towards them on fair and just principles & administering to their wants" (PAM Selkirk, 8 March 1814). It is unlikely that the Saulteaux would have taken up sedentary agri­ culture or the manufacture of European goods in 1814-1815. What they wanted, rather, was access to the Europeans' potential material wealth and military power, which they hoped to gain through the establishment of a diplomatic relationship with the colony. Among the Saulteaux, such rela­ tionships were created and maintained by gift-giving, and involved recipro- LAURA L. PEERS 263 cal physical and military support (cf. White 1981). Thus, the assistance of the colony by the Saulteaux was not merely done out of kindness or charity, as historians such as Alexander Ross and A.S. Morton have maintained it. In addition to these motivations, the Saulteaux fully expected their actions to be later rewarded and reciprocated. During the first few years of the colony, the assistance given by the Saulteaux made the difference between survival and starvation for the set­ tlers. The supply of fish, game, sugar, wild rice, and even shelter to the settlers has been well-noted in the histories of the colony. In addition to these economic exchanges, Peguis's band complied with the political requirements of their relationship with the colony by support­ ing it and the Hudson's Bay Company during the period of harassment by the North West Company. The actions of Peguis and his band during the crisis of June 1815 provide a clear illustration of the workings of their early relationsip with the colony. In the spring of 1815, the North West Company attempted to convince the Crees and Saulteaux between the Qu'Apelle River and Lake Superior to attack the tiny settlement at the Forks. Rumours of Hudson's Bay Company plans to enslave Indians were circulated and bribes of liquor and goods were offered (PAM Selkirk, 29 July 1816). Most of the Saulteaux, including Peguis's band, refused.2 A group of Crees accepted and came down from Carlton House, but changed their minds after they had drunk the liquor given them as bribes by the North West Company, and instead wished the colony prosperity (PAM MG1 D3, 10 June 1815). On June 20th, after the colony's governor had been captured by the Nor'westers and the settlers ordered to leave, trader Peter Fidler sent two men "to fetch up Pigivis the Bungee Chief and young men, to see what they can do for us in making Peace and remaining here . ." (PAM MG1 D3, 20 June 1815). Four days later, Peguis and another chief arrived in ceremony with 33 men and received tobacco and rum (HBCA B.235/a/3, 24 June 1815). The colony officials then appealed to the Saulteaux for help, saying that the land around the Forks belonged to the Saulteaux, and therefore only the Saulteaux could ask the settlers to leave. If the Indians wanted the settlers to stay, they would, but they needed the assistance of the Saulteaux in making peace with the Canadians. As added incentive, the colony officials referred to the the gift-giving aspect of their relationship with the Saulteaux, saying the governor had taken the Indians' pipe stems 2John Tanner (James 1956:209) did not respond to the summons, even though he "considered [himself] as in some measure belonging to them", "because [he] thought these quarrels between relatives unnatural". Nor did an Ojibwa chief at Sandy Lake respond, even though he was offered "all the goods and Rum" in three of the Hudson's Bay Co. posts (PAM Selkirk, 22 July 1816; 20 June 1815). 264 RED RIVER SETTLEMENT with him, "in order that he may talk to our Great Father, that he may be charitable to you" (PAM MG1 D3, [June 1815]). Thus entreated, Peguis agreed to attempt to make a settlement with the North West Company. He was unsuccessful, and returned in shame for having failed his allies, but promised to seek military aid from other bands. In a final gesture befitting their position as colony protectors, Peguis and his young men accompanied the fleeing settlers down the Red to Lake Winnipeg to prevent further harassment by the North West Company. In return for their loyalty, as they expected, the Saulteaux were given a considerable quantity of goods by the Company just before the settlers left Red River. After the Saulteaux' expectations of their relationship with the colony had been so well met, it was no wonder that: "The day after the last buildings [in the settlement] were burnt, The Black Man an Indian Chief from Turtle River . went to the foundation of the Captain's room now in ashes and wept bitterly over it" (PAM MG1 D3, 16 July 1815). For a few years, then, the relationship between the Saulteaux and the colony officials worked as each group had anticipated. The Saulteaux pro­ vided provisions and some measure of physical protection for the colony, while the settlement supplied them with opportunities for prestige, new economic alternatives, and access to European goods in the form of gifts.