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Home , Inkpaduta, Portage la Prairie, Sioux

Mr. Meyer is a professor of English at Mankato State College. Readers of History are familiar with his earlier articles and hook reviews. His History oi the Santee was published recently hy the University of Press.

The SIOUX Refugees from Minnesota

ROY W. MEYER

AT THE END of the Sioux Uprising of paralleling that of the Santee Sioux in the 1862, fewer than two thousand of the ap­ , deserves to be told for the proximately 6,300 Minnesota Sioux were ac­ light it sheds on Indian policy in the two counted for. Some eight hundred of the countries. Lower Sioux and nearly all of the Upper News of the uprising did not reach Fort Sioux had fled to the Dakota prairies, where Garry until nearly three weeks after it had pursuit that autumn was impracticable. Be­ begun. From that time until the first parties sides those who later surrendered or died of Indians arrived late in December, the during the military campaigns of 1863 and population was in a state of nervous expec­ 1864, some three thousand eventually settled tation. The Sioux had occasionally appeared down on the Sisseton and Devils Lake res­ in the Red River Settlement since 1821 and ervations in or on the Fort had always professed friendship for the Peck Reservation in . The remain­ British, brandishing George III medals on der, after drifting back and forth across the their visits. Nevertheless, the settlers there, border, finally settled in the British posses­ comparatively defenseless and believing the sions to the north. They were granted tracts most extreme reports of the horrors com­ of land after that region was transferred mitted in the Valley, were from the Hudson's Bay Company to understandably apprehensive.* and largely severed their ties with their According to a later historian, none of the American brethren. Since that time they eighty-six Sioux who appeared at Fort have been pretty much ignored by Ameri­ Garry on December 28 had been involved cans. Yet their subsequent history, closely in the outbreak, and only fifteen were from the lower bands. Contemporary accounts '^ Nor'-Wester (Red River Settlement), Septem­ paint a different picture. The Nor-Wester, ber 11, 1862; Gontran Laviolette, The Sioux Indians a newspaper published at Fort Garry, said in Canada, 25, 48 (Regina, , 1944); Alexander Begg, History of the North-West, 1:349 that one of the Indians boasted of having (Toronto, 1894). Information on early contacts be­ killed thirteen whites; the Indians' apparel, tween the Sioux and the Red River settlers is found it added, showed that they had been plun­ in Alexander Ross, The Red River Settlement: Its Rise, Progress, and Present State, 55, 162-164, 324- dering. "We loathe the very idea of the 332 (Reprint edition, , 1957). Hudson's Bay Company welcoming these

Spring 1968 13 wretches," editorialized the paper, "seeing make peace, but if refused they must fight that they are only just fresh from butcher­ in self defence."^ ing innocent families in Minnesota."- made two other requests of The ^^'elcome extended them was ex­ the Hudson's Bay Company authorities: tremely cool. After meeting them at the that he and his people be allowed to settle Sale River and unsuccessfully trying to in­ north of the border and that they be given duce them to turn back. Governor Alexan­ provisions and ammunition. Dallas rejected der G. Dallas of Rupert's Land reluctantly the first outright, saying that there was no allowed them to come to headquarters and game for them to hunt in the vicinity of the gave them lodging in the courtroom at the fort. Since they were evidently starving, he fort. There they spent the next three days gave them some provisions, but he refused "eating, drinking, making peace and making to issue them ammunition, even though merry," according to the Nor-Wester. Their they insisted that they would use it only mission seems to have been to determine for hunting. He pointed out that he could the feelings of the local Indians and metis scarcely intercede for the Indians with Sib­ toward the Sioux; they made no appeal for ley while at the same time providing am­ asylum or even for food, though they must munition to the American officer's enemies.^ have been hungry. On December 31 they left the fort and headed back to Devils AFTER LITTLE CROW and his people Lake, where they were spending the winter. left. Fort Garry was not troubled by the The Nor-Wester warned that the bread and Sioux until November 20, 1863, when a pemmican given them by the authorities small party arrived, followed by a much were the surest means of encouraging them larger group on December 11. They kept to return.^ coming until there were about six hundred Although reports reached Fort Garry and camped at Sturgeon Creek, along the later in the winter that the uprising's leader. River about six miles west of Little Crow, was going to visit the settle­ the fort. Having been deprived of their ment, he did not actually appear there until winter food supplies and other property by late in May, 1863, when a party of about the campaigns of Generals Sibley and Alfred eighty, including a few women, arrived and Sully, they were in a state of extreme desti­ asked for an interview with the authorities. tution and largely unarmed. Although many The request was granted, and Little Crow were believed to have been deeply im- displayed British medals and flags that he pHcated in the uprising, driving them away and his men had inherited from their by force would have been tantamount to fathers. The latter, he said, had been as­ , and they were aided from both sured in the War of 1812 that if they ever public and private sources.'^ got into trouble with the , they should appeal to the British and the "folds ^ Joseph J. Hargrave, Red River, 266 (Montreal, of the red flag of the north would wrap 1871); Nor-Wester, January 24, 1863. them round, and preserve them from their ^ Hargrave, Red River, 266; Nor-Wester, Janu­ ary 24, 1863. enemies."* He complained that his people * Nor-Wester, February 9, May 12, June 2, 1863; had been deceived in the exchange of pris­ Hargrave, Red River, 290, 291 (quotation). oners (at Camp Release, near present-day ' Dallas to Sibley, June 3, 1863, Office of Indian Affairs, Letters Received, St. Peter's Agency file, in Montevideo, the previous September) and National Archives, Record Group 75. asked Governor Dallas to write General " Hargrave, Red River, 291; Nor-Wester, June 2, Henry H. Sibley requesting the release of 1863. the warriors then in custody. In his letter to ^Hargrave, Red River, 313-316; Dallas to Thomas Fraser, Secretary, Hudson's Bay House, De­ Sibley, Dallas remarked that Little Crow cember 11, 18, 1863, in Papers Relating to the Sioux had stated "in general terms their wish to Indians, 4, 5 (London, 1864). A photocopy of this was provided by the Public Archives of Canada. 14 MINNESOTA Histofy The Sioux were anything but popular in plies and infirm to a place where they could the settlement. "Meet anybody, now a-days, hunt and fish. At first they rejected even and the topic is at once. The Sioux the this magnanimous offer. They said they pre­ Sioux!" commented the Nor-Wester of De­ ferred to die in the settlement rather than cember 17, 1863. "Are there any more in? on the plains.'^ Have any gone away? What are they com­ Finally, however, the combination of in­ ing for? Are these the actual murderers, or ducements seems to have worked, for on are they merely aiders, abettors and accom­ December 25 they left the immediate vicin­ plices? How many are there of them?" In ity of the fort. Unfortunately, they went earlier years small parties had visited occa­ only as far as White Horse Plain, about sionally on specific missions and left soon; twenty-five miles up the Assiniboine. Then but now they were appearing by the hun­ they spread out around the country in small dreds, bag and baggage, with no aim but to bands, some going to Lake , get food and escape the "long-knives," as where they caught so many jackfish that by they called the Americans. They would beg late February they were reported to be sell­ from house to house and then return to ing fish to the settlers. Urged by the author­ their . So desperate were they that ities of both countries to surrender, a few many sold their children. A Sioux child was took the advice and gave themselves up to valued at the same rate as a young ox. Major Edwin A. C. Hatch, who had been Drought and the partial failure of the fall placed in command of a special battalion buffalo hunt had placed the settlers in a po­ then stationed at Pembina. Two alleged sition where they scarcely had food enough ringleaders in the outbreak. Little Six (or for themselves, let alone a horde of mendi­ Shakopee) and Medicine Bottle, were cant Indians.^ spirited across the border after being ren­ Governor Dallas faced a real dilemma. dered helpless with alcohol and chloro­ "The fact is," he wrote the secretary of form.*° Hudson's Bay Company, "we cannot con- The Sioux remained in the vicinity of the viently afford either to quarrel with or to Assiniboine Valley until spring, when they maintain the Sioux, and there is no middle departed with the metis for their annual course to adopt" — except, of course, to let buffalo hunt. Then late in August an even them starve, which would have been haz­ larger incursion took place, as an estimated ardous as well as inhumane. Besides 350 lodges, or nearly three thousand souls, offering them food, clothing, and even am­ descended on the settlement. They were munition, he went so far as to provide eight destitute and starving as a result of the horse sledges for them to carry their sup- destruction of their supplies by General Sully's forces at Killdeer Mountain earlier ^Nor'-Wester, January 18, 1864; Hargrave, Red that month. William Mactavish, who had River, 315; Dallas to Fraser, December 11, 1863, in succeeded Dallas as governor of Rupert's Papers Relating to the Sioux Indians, 4. " Dallas to Fraser, December 18, 1863, in Papers Land, met them at and Relating to the Sioux Indians, 4. Dallas later denied tried to detain them there. But Standing having issued any ammunition to the Indians. See Buffalo, Waanatan, The Leaf, and Turning Dallas to Fraser, February 24, 1864 (extract), in Thunder, the last three accompanied by Papers Relating to the Sioux Indians, 10. "William Mactavish to Fraser, December 25, their entire retinue, insisted on going on to 1863 (extract), in Papers Relating to the Sioux In­ Fort Garry. Like those who had been there dians, 5; Hargrave, Red River, 315; Nor-Wester, the previous winter, they behaved circum­ January 18, February 5, 18, 1864; Alvin C. Gluek, Jr., "The Sioux Uprising: A Problem in International spectly, committing no depredations along Relations," in Minnesota History, 34:319-323 (Win­ the way to the fort.** ter, 1955). In keeping with protocol, they displayed "Hargrave, Red River, 319, 339; Nor'-Wester, May 10, September 1, 1864. medals given them by the British long ago

Spring 1968 15 Point, and High Bluff, all pioneer settle­ ments at varying distances up the Assini­ boine. In midsummer of 1865 some 680 lodges were said to be scattered at various points to the west of the fort. The Sioux were hungry and living on roots, eggs, and birds, but traders dissuaded them from vis­ iting the settlement because it also was short of food.^'^ Although the Sioux tried to avoid conflict with the local Indians, the latter resented any competition in an area where they claimed exclusive begging rights. Reports of clashes as early as January, 1864, seem to have been unsubstantiated, but in May of that year a party of Chippewa fired into the tents of an encampment of Sioux on , killing or mortally wound­ ing about twenty. And in June, 1866, Stand­ ing Buffalo and part of his band visited Fort Garry and were attacked as they left. Since four men were killed, the white set­ Standing Buffalo tlers expected retaliation and called upon and reminded the governor of the promise the authorities to raise a force capable of that whenever they needed assistance, they keeping the war parties apart. To their should call on the representatives of the surprise, the Sioux never returned.^* Crown. Mactavish refused them any help Despite these periodic visits, few of the but told them they could barter with Sioux had yet settled permanently outside traders on the plains on the same basis as the United States. Most of those who feared the native Indians. At this rebuff they ap­ giving themselves up to the American au­ parently became desperate and began seiz­ thorities roved over the plains without ing whatever they could lay their hands on. much regard to the international boundary. According to contemporary accounts, they As late as 1867 Standing Buffalo and Waana­ invaded fields and stole potatoes, corn, and tan were reported, as they had been in even wheat; they returned to the farms by previous years, desirous of re-establishing a night and took livestock. They entered treaty relationship with the United States houses, took what they wanted and even government. When a treaty was made at demanded to be allowed to cook the pota­ Washington with the Sisseton-Wahpeton toes they had stolen. Some visited the Sioux on February 19, 1867, Bishop Henry homes where they had sold children the B. Whipple doubted its value because these previous winter and reclaimed the young­ two chiefs had not been parties to it. After sters. Two churches were entered and valu­ able objects stolen.^^ ^Nor'-Wester, September 1, 16, 1864. Hargrave, This was the last great invasion by the writing some six years later, believed that many of Sioux of the Fort Garry vicinity. Though these depredations had been committed by local Indians rather than Sioux. See Red River, 340. they drifted back and forth across the bor­ ^^Nor'-Wester, December 3, 1864; July 4[?], der for several years, no sizable numbers 1865; 2 Parliament, 1 session. Sessional Papers, no. returned to the fort. They tended rather to 23, p. 14. ^^Nor'-Wester, January 18, May 10, 1864; Har­ congregate at Portage la Prairie, Poplar grave, Red River, 318, 396.

16 MINNESOTA Histoty the Sisseton and Devils Lake reservations them, wrote to the secretary of state for the had been established, small bands gradu­ provinces, calling attention to the presence ally drifted southward and submitted to of the Sioux in the Portage la Prairie vicin­ reservation life.^^ ity: "Since their appearance in British ter­ A number, however, still distrusted the ritory," he wrote, "they have, on all American authorities and gradually came to occasions, conducted themselves in a quiet spend more and more of their time north and orderly manner, and although they ac­ of the border. They supported themselves knowledge the fact of their having no by hunting, fishing, trapping, and working claims upon Her Majesty, they look with for farmers in the harvest fields. By Decem­ hope to her benevolence in their endeavors ber, 1869, there were five hundred winter­ to live in peace and quiet within her pos­ ing at Portage, including a group recently sessions." Although they could not be arrived from the Mouse (now Souris) River treated like the native Indians, Simpson near the international border. More came thought they should not be left uncared for in 1870. They took no part in the metis in the face of a growing scarcity of game, insurrection led by in 1869, al­ which might "reduce them to a starving though rumors of an impending attack were and therefore desperate condition." Late in rife when a party of Sioux from Portage December the lieutenant-governor of Mani­ approached Fort Garry and, according to toba, Adams G. Archibald, submitted a dis­ one account, were induced to return only patch in which the matter was more fully by being given presents.^^ treated.*'^ No immediate results flowed from either AFTER LONG and delicate negotiations, Simpson's or Archibald's reports, but about the Hudson's Bay Company's territorial a year later Alexander Morris, Archibald's holdings were transferred to the new Ca­ successor, urged that land be purchased for nadian Confederation, and in 1870 the the Sioux. Numbering about five hundred, Province of Manitoba was created. The they worked for farmers in the summer Sioux then became the subject of consider­ and wintered at Portage, where the settlers able interest to the federal authorities complained of the expense and annoyance charged with the management of Indian caused by their begging. They had asked affairs. Not until the native and Chip­ for land as early as 1870, wrote Morris, pewa had ceded their lands to the Crown in "and were led to believe . . . that they August, 1871, however, could the notion be would be assigned a Reserve, and if so, entertained of granting the refugees a re­ they would plant crops and could then be serve. Less than three months after Treaties removed from the settlement." *^ 1 and 2 had been signed, Wemyss M. Simp­ An order in council, dated January 4, son, the commissioner who negotiated 1873, authorized the granting of a reserve of twelve thousand acres to the Sioux. The first location chosen, at the point where the ^•^ Charles A. RuflFee to Charles E. Mix, Decem­ ber 2, 1867, Office of Indian Affairs, Letters Re­ Little (now called the ceived, Sisseton Agency file, in National Archives, Minnedosa) enters the Assiniboine, was re­ Record Group 75; United States Indian Office, jected by the Indians because it lacked tim­ Reports, 1869, p. 327; 1871, p. 535; 1872, p. 259. ^^ Laviolette, Sioux Indians in Canada, 109; Begg, ber and because they wanted two or three History of the North-West, 1:429. smaller reserves instead of one large one. " 1 Parliament, 1 session, Sessional Papers, no. The commissioner charged with the selec­ 22, p. 31; 2 Parliament, 1 session. Sessional Papers, no. 23, p. 13. For the Manitoba Act and Treaties 1 tion of a reserve, in company with the and 2, see Begg, History of the North-West, l:xl, chiefs, then chose two new sites: one on the 2:40-58. Assiniboine at the mouth of Oak River and "2 Parliament, 1 session. Sessional Papers, no. another near the Hudson's Bay Company 23, p. 12.

Spring 1968 17 Reserves where Minnesota Sioux settled in present-day Manitoba and Saskatchewan post of Fort Ellice, at the junction of Birdtail Portage or in the Turtle Mountains. Be­ Creek with the Assiniboine. They were sur­ sides the possibility of occasional donations veyed in the summer of 1875 and were from the white settlers at Portage, the town found to contain roughly eight thousand afforded a market for such furs as the In­ and seven thousand acres, respectively. dians might collect during the winter, and These locations apparently represented fa­ the Turtle Mountains at that time provided vorite hunting grounds of the Sioux, for good hunting at all seasons. It should also none had taken up permanent residence be noted that not all the Sioux in Canada anywhere except at Portage la Prairie. With made even a gesture in the direction of the establishment of the reserves, the Sioux, settling down on the reserves. There was now said to number about 1,450, were en­ a considerable band under White Cap and couraged to locate themselves there and the son of Standing Buffalo whose favorite begin building houses.^'^ camping place was the Qu'Appelle Lakes, The Canadian Sioux, like their American counterparts, were at first reluctant to set­ ^"Laviolette, Sioux Indians in Canada, 111-113; tle down on their reserves. For a few years 3 Parliament, 1 session. Sessional Papers, no. 23, p. 5; 2 session. Sessional Papers, no. 8, p. 9; 3 session, the bulk of them continued to winter at Sessional Papers, no. 9, p. xi.

18 MINNESOTA HistOfy Entrance to Standing Buffalo reserve, Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan in present-day Saskatchewan. When two consisted mostly of open meadows and po­ commissioners appointed to treat with the tentially arable land. Because some of this plains tribes met with White Cap in 1875, band refused to settle on the Oak Lake he told them that his people had been in reserve, another one was set up about 1883. the QuAppelle region for thirteen years It consisted of a single square mile of land and wished to be left as they were, with on the north slope of the Turtle Moun­ the privilege of hunting with the metis, and tains.^* did not want to settle on a reserve with the Although the Standing Buffalo and White other Sioux.2° Cap bands, which separated in 1874, re­ Even those who desired to locate perma­ fused to join their tribesmen on the nently were not all accommodated by the reserves, they continued to ask and receive two reserves set up in 1875. Besides the aid from the Canadian government. Given Wahpeton at Birdtail Creek and the Sisse­ agricultural implements and seed potatoes ton (plus a sprinkling of ) at in 1877 and instructed to plant at the Oak River, there were a number of Wahpe- Qu'Appelle Lakes, they were without oxen kute roving in the vicinity of the Turtle and hence accomplished little the next sea­ Mountains, where the infamous , son. When a reserve for them was proposed, leader of the Spirit Lake massacre of 1857, the two chiefs quarreled, each wanting the was supposed to have lived for a time. For same location. In the summer of 1878 they their benefit a reserve was created in 1877 informed David Laird, then Indian superin­ near Oak Lake and surveyed the following tendent for the North West Territories, that year. Covering about four square miles, it the QuAppelle vicinity was not a suitable was located along Pipestone Creek and place for their reserve and asked to be allowed to settle on the South Saskatchewan River.-- The impasse was resolved by estab- ^^3 Parliament, 3 session, Sessional Papers, no. hshing two reserves, one at the Qu'Appelle 9, p. xxvii, 43. Lakes, the other at Moose Woods on the ^ 3 Parliament, 5 session, Sessional Papers, no. 10, p. xvii; 5 Parhament, 2 session. Sessional Papers, no. South Saskatchewan, about eighteen miles 4, p. 65; Laviolette, Sioux Indians in Canada, 115. south of . They were surveyed in The exact date that the Turtle Mountain reserve 1880 and 1881, though apparently the was established is uncertain. See 6 Parliament, 1 session, Sessional Papers, no. 6, p. 182. Qu'Appelle reserve, which was named for '^ 4 Parhament, 1 session. Sessional Papers, no. 7, Standing Buffalo, had been officially desig­ p. 57, 60; 2 session, Sessional Papers, no. 4, p. 95, 98, nated in 1878. 106; Laviolette, Sioux Indians in Canada, 116-118.

Spring 1968 19 This Presbyterian church is on the Birdtail Creek reserve at Beulah, Manitoba.

Neither band was in a hurry to settle William R. Tucker was named farmer-in- down. For several years it was hard to get charge, a post he held for twenty years.^* an accurate census at Standing Buffalo be­ cause the Indians were seldom all there at AS IN the United States, the primary aim one time and because they objected to of Canadian Indian policy in the plains being counted. White Cap spent most of his region was to make independent farmers of time off his reserve, sometimes at Prince the Indians. Since the Sioux had gained val­ Albert, sometimes as far away as the Cy­ uable experience in the harvest fields of press Hills, in extreme southwestern Sas­ white settlers before being located on lands katchewan. Life at Moose Woods was hard of their own, it was to be expected that they for those who did stay. The surveyor who should be well ahead of the native Indians visited the reserve in 1880 said that in the in agricultural development. To a degree previous three years forty Indians had died this expectation was justified. It was a and the survivors were mostly elderly peo­ source of repeated wonder to the inspectors ple. The agent reported that when he ar­ that these Indians should be doing so well, rived there in May, 1881, he found many comparatively speaking, at farming. After a destitute, and three or four who had died visit to Birdtail Creek in 1890, one of them were mere skeletons. He helped the Indians remarked, "I have not on any reserve seen plant a small crop and built eight houses.^^ so many Indians so deligently [sic] em­ Gradually the Sioux acquired a status ployed (each one on his own farm) at one essentially like that of the native Indian time — the most remarkable point being, tribes. In 1878 an agent, Lawrence W. that as they have no farmer to oversee them Herchmer, was appointed for the Birdtail they set themselves to work and pursue it Creek, Oak River, and Oak Lake bands. with much judgment and industry." ^^ Except for periodic visits by Indian inspec­ Despite such evidence of progress, the tors, the Standing Buffalo reserve was al­ lowed to shift for itself until the middle ^4 Parliament, 4 session. Sessional Papers, no. . White Cap's band at Moose Woods 6, p. xiii, 124, 125, 134; Laviolette, Sioux Indians received little direct supervision, although in Canada, 118. in 1882 a farming instructor was hired for ^* 4 Parliament, 1 session. Sessional Papers, no. 7, p. 13; 5 Parliament, 1 session. Sessional Papers, no. a four-month period in the spring and sum­ 5, part 2, p. 191; 8 Parliament, 2 session. Sessional mer. There were other temporary appoint­ Papers, no. 14, p. 186; Dominion of Canada Depart­ ments in the following years, and in 1888 ment of Indian Affairs, Annual Reports, 1887, p. 75; 1897, p. 122.

20 MINNESOTA Histovy Sioux did need some help and supervision repeated mowings, most of the cattle were before they could become successful sold off. At Moose Woods there was an farmers. For the first few years of Herch- excellent supply of hay, which enabled the mer's tenure as agent, all but the Birdtail Indians there to remain stock raisers down Creek band spent only the growing season to the present time.-*' on the reserves and wintered at Portage or The Indians did not wish to place their elsewhere. One of the agent's main tasks reliance entirely on agriculture or stock was to persuade them to give their year- raising. After being assigned reserves, they round attention to farming. In the belief continued to hunt and trap, though the that teaching by example would be useful, game diminished steadily. As late as 1879 he opened a demonstration farm just off the they were able to earn enough from the reserve and employed as many of the In­ sale of furs to buy necessary ammunition, dians as possible there, paying them in matches, tea, tobacco, and flour. As white cash as well as in experience. Each year he settlement spread, some of the Indians professed to see substantial progress to­ found employment in cutting logs and put­ ward self-sufficiency. As early as 1880 the ting up hay for the settlers, and neai4y all Birdtail Creek band raised enough wheat, of the men continued to work in the harvest corn, potatoes, and vegetables to last them fields. Herchmer lamented in 1882 that the until the next crop and were able even to Indian found it easier to work for the set­ sell three bushels of seed corn to a destitute tlers than to farm. At Standing Buffalo the Chippewa band. As elsewhere on the Great reserve was virtually abandoned during the Plains, the principal reliance was on wheat, harvest season, for the men took their fami­ although the Indians preferred to raise lies with them. As towns grew up along the corn, and they showed marked ability to railroads, the Indians were able to find em­ grow and preserve potatoes and vegetables. ployment there, and the women sold bas­ Cattle raising was promoted for a time, but kets, moccasins, mitts, and other articles to as the supply of native hay diminished with the townsfolk.-'^ All in all, the Sioux got along reasonably well despite not receiving ^7 Parliament, 1 session. Sessional Papers, no. annuities from the sale of lands, as the na­ 18, p. 158. For similar comments, see Isaac Cowie, tive Indians did. Company of Adventurers: A Narrative of Seven Years in the Service of the Hudson's Bay Company Though without treaty obligations to the During 1867-1874, 188 (Toronto, 1913); Depart­ Sioux, the Canadian Parliament did appro­ ment of Indian Affairs, Annual Reports, 1904, p. 108. priate regular sums for their support and -" 4 Parliament, 2 session, Sessional Papers, no. 4, civilization. In 1880-81 Parhament appro­ p. 70; 7 Parliament, 4 session, Sessional Papers, no. priated them $7,000. This was reduced to 14, p. 215; 5 session, Sessional Papers, no. 14, p. 59; Department of Indian Affairs, Annual Reports, $4,000 in each of the next three years and 1880, p. 77; 1897, p. 122, 129; 1906, p. 150; 1909, then to $2,000 for the next several years, p. 111. plus supplemental grants from time to time ^ 4 Parliament, 2 session, Sessional Papers, no. 4, when emergencies arose. Most of the money p. 71; 5 Parhament, 1 session, Sessional Papers, no. 5 p. 42; Department of Indian Affairs, Annual was spent for employees' salaries and for Reports, 1880, p. 77; 1887, p. 169; 1888, p. 63, 163. implements, seed, and livestock needed to ^ 4 Parhament, 4 session, Sessional Papers, no. 6, get the Indians started farming. On most of part 2, p. 167; 5 Parliament, 1 session, Sessional Papers, no. 5, p. 191; 2 session, Sessional Papers, the reserves no rations were issued except no. 4, p. 171; 3 session. Sessional Papers, no. 3, during seeding and haying, when they were p. 188; 4 session, Sessional Papers, no. 4, part 2, deemed necessary to keep the Indians from p. 207-209; 6 Parhament, 1 session. Sessional Pa­ pers, no. 6, part 2, p. 212; 7 Parliament, 1 session, leaving their fields to hunt or earn money.-'^ Sessional Papers, no. 18, p. 42; 8 Parliament, 2 ses­ The repeated claim by the agents that the sion, Sessional Papers, no. 14, p. 186; Department Sioux were "almost self-supporting" was of Indian Affairs, Annual Reports, 1887, p. 75; 1889, p. 57. accurate in the sense that the Indians were

Spring 1968 21 Contrasting houses: an unoccupied log cabin (left), built about 1928, and a frame residence, built about 1961, at Oak River reserve, Griswold, Manitoba feeding themselves on a day-to-day basis. supervision, their reserve did not prove the To build an economic base capable of most attractive. As time passed, more and maintaining them indefinitely, however, more of the Indians moved to Oak River, they required government assistance. since the beginning much the largest in As part of the acculturation program car­ population. The land there was good, the ried on by the Canadian government, re­ main line of the ligious bodies were encouraged to open passed nearby, and there were towms, such Indian mission schools. Among the Sioux as Brandon, close enough to provide a the Birdtail Creek group seems to have led ready market for crops. Oak Lake and in education. When Herchmer arrived to Turtle Mountain remained somewhat back­ take up his duties as agent, he found a Pres­ ward in acculturation. Occasional cheerful byterian missionary already working among reports by agents notwithstanding, there the Indians, whom he represented as very seemed general agreement that the Oak devout. Many were able to read and write Lake people had little disposition to "better in their native language, some in English. themselves"; they preferred to hunt, fish, Indians on the other reserves were still en­ and work for settlers rather than improve tirely "heathen," though a Church of Eng­ their own lands. The people at Turde land mission had been built at Oak River. Mountain, though self-supporting as long There were no missions at Oak Lake or as game was plentiful, were inclined to Turtle Mountain for many years, and those wander and were constantly entertaining estabfished in the 1890s seem to have met parties of Sioux from across the border, only with fittle success. The Standing Buffalo re­ six miles away.^° serve acquired a Catholic day school in Standing Buffalo was also characterized 1886. Though, like all the rest, it was as somewhat unprogressive. Besides spend- plagued by poor attendance, it struggled on until 1895, when it was closed and the chil­ ^4 Parliament, 2 session, Sessional Papers, no. 4, dren sent to the boarding school at Lebret, p. 11, 72; 6 Parhament, 1 session. Sessional Papers, Saskatchewan, founded in 1890 by the no. 6, p. 119; 7 Parliament, 1 session. Sessional Papers, no. 18, p. 64, 159; 3 session. Sessional Pa­ Oblate Fathers. A day school under Method­ pers, no. 14, p. 151; 8 Parhament, 2 session, ist auspices was operated at Moose Woods Sessional Papers, no. 14, p. 145; Department of for about fifteen years, beginning in 1890.^9 Indian Affairs, Annual Reports, 1880, p. 77; 1889, p. 58; 1895, p. 138, 143; 1908, p. 161. Although the Indians at Birdtail Creek •'"' 6 Parliament, 1 session. Sessional Papers, no. 6, were the most advanced, possibly because p. 121; 7 Parliament, 1 session. Sessional Papers, no. 18, p. 43; Department of Indian Affairs, Annual the agent had them under his immediate Reports, 1887, p. 76; 1888, p. 164; 1895, p. 143.

22 MINNESOTA Hlstory ing much of their time off the reserve, the unsanitary log cabins. Moreover, the Sioux Indians of this band built their houses in were simply not reproducing as rapidly as a ravine extending back from the lake the other Indian tribes of the region. This rather than up on the prairie where the the agents could not explain.^^ best land was found. Not until the early As in the United States, agents inveighed 1890s did they begin moving up on to the against the Indians' overindulgence in "bench," and then only under pressure from whiskey, which they believed caused some their agent. The White Cap band made a of the deaths. If their reports can be better record for itself. Once the alarming trusted, Herchmer and his successor, J. A. population decline had been arrested and Markle, were reasonably successful at keep­ a successful cattle-raising economy estab­ ing Indians and whiskey apart and even lished, the Moose Woods reserve earned instilled in their charges a willingness to the praise of most of the inspectors who abstain when the temptation presented it­ visited it.^* self, which it did increasingly as railroads were built and towns sprang up.-^'^ HIGH MORTALITY, not only at Moose Whatever their success as temperance Woods but at all of the Sioux reserves, dis­ campaigners, there is no doubt that the turbed the agents. Until about the end of agents were on the way toward helping the the nineteenth century, the death rate usu­ Indians achieve self-sufficiency by the mid- ally exceeded the birth rate, sometimes 1880s. Then the series of droughts that dramatically — as in 1885, when eleven out caused so much trouble on the American of the eighty-eight heads of family at Oak began. On Indian reservations River died, together with seventeen chil­ in Canada, as in the United States, much of dren under the age of three. The agents the ground that had been gained was lost. conjectured that the high death rate, chiefly The first bad year was 1886; then, with a from pulmonary diseases, was caused by a few exceptions, the cycle of drought con­ change in diet from heavy reliance on meat tinued until 1895, when a return of more to a greater use of cereals and vegetables. adequate rainfall brought better crops, and Some blame was also attached to the transi­ the progress toward self-sufficiency re­ tion from an outdoor life, with tipis the sumed. By the time of World War I the only shelter, to the congested conditions of Canadian Sioux were self-supporting to much the same degree as white farmers on the Great Plains.^^ ^^ 7 Parliament, 2 session, Sessional Papers, no. 14, p. 161; 3 session, Sessional Papers, no. 14, p. 81; Meanwhile, two more reserves had been 4 session. Sessional Papers, no. 14, p. 215; 8 Parlia­ created. At the time the Moose Woods re­ ment, 5 session, Sessional Papers, no. 14, p. 186; serve was established, the Indians assigned Department of Indian Affairs, Annual Reports, 1906, p. 150; 1908, p. 161. to it were spending much of their time in ^- 5 Parliament, 2 session. Sessional Papers, no. 4, and near Prince Albert, where seasonal p. 64; 4 session, Sessional Papers, no. 4, p. 61; 7 jobs were available. As early as 1880 a Parliament, 2 session, Sessional Papers, no. 14, p. 162; Department of Indian Affairs, Annual Re­ farming instructor was employed to look ports, 1895, p. 143; 1897, p. 123. after destitute Indians, including 750 Sioux, '" 5 Parhament, 2 session, Sessional Papers, no. 4, in the Prince Albert area. The figure may p. 64; 3 session. Sessional Papers, no. 3, part 1, p. 70, part 2, p. 188; 4 session, Sessional Papers, no. 4, have been exaggerated, but there were a p. 61;'Department of Indian Affairs, Annual Re­ number of Sioux in the vicinity, both Teton ports, 1895, p. 143. and members of the White Cap band, who '*7 Parliament, 1 session, Sessional Papers, no. 18, p. 43; 4 session, Sessional Papers, no. 14, still lived in tipis and had apparently never p. 56; 5 session. Sessional Papers, no. 14, p. 58; come under civifizing influences. No spe­ Department of Indian Affairs, Annual Reports, 1880, cific provision was made for these people p. 77; 1887, p. 76; 1888, p. 63; 1889, p. 58; 1895, p. 138, 142; 1897, p. 122. until 1890, when some tentative moves

Spring 1968 23 Round Plain (now called the Wahpaton Sioux reserve) has remained the poor rela­ tion among those occupied by the Canadian Sioux. In 1908 the agent described the buildings as one-room, sod-roofed log huts, of less value than those on any of the other reserves under his jurisdiction. Tuberculosis and scrofula still took a heavy toll of the Indians there; few of the children reached maturity. Those who camped near Prince Albert earned their food and clothing but lived "miserably in every other way." Al­ though in 1910 he thought he saw a shift from berry picking and the sale of wood and hay to cattle and grain raising, three years later only thirty-seven of the sixty-six Sioux were on the Wahpaton reserve, and they were still living in the old way.^'^ The other reserve created in the 1890s constituted a belated recognition of the little band of Sioux that had been in Canada longer than any other. When the first reserves were set up in 1875, a few Indians remained at Portage la Prairie, sink­ ing deeper into poverty as the years passed. About 1886 they were "taken in hand," as a later inspector expressed it, by local white Early photograph taken on one of citizens. A school was started, and the In­ the Canadian Sioux reserves dians were induced to begin saving money were taken to select a reserve for them. ^ 4 Parliament, 4 session. Sessional Papers, no. 6, About a year later a school was opened p. ix; 7 Parliament, 2 session. Sessional Papers, under Presbyterian sponsorship.^^ no. 14, p. 137, 199, 240; 3 session, Sessional Papers, no. 14, p. 222; 4 session, Sessional Papers, The designation of a reserve for these no. 14, p. 179, 217; Department of Indian Affairs, Indians was complicated by their lack of Annual Reports, 1880, p. 102. The Teton were interest in farming and their wish to be members of the band, who had fled to Canada after the Battle of the Little Big Horn in close to Prince Albert. Not until 1894 was June, 1876. Long after the refugees from Minne­ a suitable tract found, a block of four sec­ sota had settled down on reserves, these Plains tions at Round Plain. It consisted mostly of Sioux were still dwelling in tents and trying to eke out a living by hunting, fishing, and occasionally burned-over timberland, with hay meadows working on farms or in towns like Moose Jaw. In scattered here and there. It recommended 1913 a reserve was created for them at Wood itself as a home for Indians because there Mountain in southern Saskatchewan. See Laviolette, Sioux Indians in Canada, 120. were fish in the nearby river and berries '^"7 Parliament, 6 session. Sessional Papers, grew profusely. Apparently these attrac­ no. 14, p. 178; 8 Parliament, 4 session. Sessional tions were not sufficient, for very few fami­ Papers, no. 14, p. 132; Department of Indian Af­ fairs, Annual Reports, 1895, p. 174; 1904, p. 147; lies could be persuaded to move on to the 1908, p. 160. reserve. In 1908 two sections in an adjoin­ ^^11 Parliament, 3 session, Sessional Papers, no. ing township were added in hopes that 27, p. 125; 12 Parhament, 3 session. Sessional Papers, no. 27, p. 140; Department of Indian Af­ these would prove more suitable.^^ fairs, Annual Reports, 1908, p. 160.

24 MINNESOTA Histofy to buy a tract of land. When they had abandonment and the regularization of accumulated $400, they purchased twenty- marriage practices. Now and then someone six acres on the within would become righteously indignant and the limits of the town. The Presbyterian take vigorous action. In 1902 Inspector church built a chapel for them on this land, Alexander McGibbon arrived at Oak Lake and a nonreservation Sioux village devel­ to find the Christian faction planning a oped. Its occupants supported themselves Christmas tree and social, while the pagans mainly by working for farmers and towns­ were getting ready for a powwow and people. In 1898 the Canadian government dance. When McGibbon learned that the finally took notice of the little community latter were building a dance house in the and granted a 109-acre lot in a location less brush, he and some Indian allies found it subject to flooding. But as before, the In­ and leveled it. "No more dancing-houses dians preferred to stay where they were. will be heard of at this place," he grimly At last the government acceded to their predicted.^'' wishes and exchanged the lot previously More characteristic, however, was the set apart for a much smaller (twenty-five attitude of an agent writing in 1908. Com­ acres) but more acceptable one just west menting on the generally high morality of of the . They eventually moved there, the Sioux, he remarked, tolerantly, "Some­ and most of the band remained, even when, times, perhaps, from our point of view they in 1934, the government purchased a much are a little lax on the marriage question; larger tract adjacent to the Long Plain Chip­ but a transfer of a good horse will quickly pewa reserve.^^ and quietly settle a disagreement or dam­ Although a measure of forced accultura­ ages and set things running again as be­ tion was present in Canadian Indian policy fore." Evidence also of a growing tolerance as in that of the United States, the pressure was the substitution in the religious census seems to have been less. The agents strove of 1916 of the term "aboriginal beliefs" for to supplant wandering with sedentary "pagan." '^^ habits, but this was a matter of economic necessity. The fact that as late as 1904 nearly IN GENERAL, Canadian Indian pohcy has half the Sioux were classified as pagan indi­ not been characterized by the sharp fluctu­ cates that no such religious persecution was ations and reversals that have been seen directed against their aboriginal beliefs as in the United States. There was no attempt prevailed in the United States. to hurry the Indian into citizenship by The disdain felt for Indian customs is breaking up the reservations as in the reflected in the agents' reports, which stig­ of 1887, and hence there was no matize the dances as "give-away affairs" comparable dissipation of the Indians' land and report with approval their gradual resources and no need for such legislation as the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. By the time of World War I the Canadian '^Laviolette, Sioux Indians in Canada, 114; 8 Parliament, 4 session, Sessional Papers, no. 14, p. 78; Sioux had long since settled down to a 9 Parhament, 1 session, Sessional Papers, no. 27, placid life as small farmers, though con­ p. 87; 2 session. Sessional Papers, no. 27, p. 89; tinuing to derive a portion of their income 3 session. Sessional Papers, no. 27, p. 98; 11 Parlia­ ment, 3 session, Sessional Papers, no. 27, p. 94, from off-reservation employment. Govern­ 104; 12 Parliament, 1 session. Sessional Papers, no. ment assistance was limited to the services 27, p. 105, 113; 3 session. Sessional Papers, no. 27, of an agent, partial support of schools, and p. 110; Department of Indian Affairs, Annual Re­ ports, 1904, p. 93. occasional issues of seed grain when '"" 9 Parliament, 4 session, Sessional Papers, no. 27, drought or hail had wiped out the Indians' p. 207. crops. Until after World War II life for the ^ Department of Indian Affairs, Annual Reports, Sioux in Canada was a steady linear pro- 1908, p. 107; 1916, part 1, p. 126. Spring 1968 25 Unoccupied house on the bleak Wahpaton Sioux reserve north of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan gression, marked neither by spectacular im­ been further handicapped by his inability provement nor by noticeable retrogression. to use the reservation lands as collateral for Perhaps the most dramatic fact about loans. The result has been that the Indians the Canadian Sioux in the twentieth century have almost ceased raising wheat, which has been the tremendous increase in their was formerly their principal cash crop. numbers. From the time they were settled Since technological advances in farming on reserves until just about the turn of the have reduced the need for seasonal labor, century, their total population declined the Indians have been hard pressed to steadily. Birdtail Creek, for example, make a living. Many have been thrown on dropped from 143 in 1884 to sixty-five in the relief rolls. and towns provide 1900, and Oak Lake fell from seventy-eight some jobs, but there is no parallel in in 1884 to thirty-seven in 1896. For the Canada for the massive migration away entire group of Sioux descended from the from the reservation that has taken place Minnesota refugees the lowest point was in the United States in recent years; hence reached in 1899, when they totaled 897. Indians tend to stay on the reserves, re­ They increased to 903 in 1904 and to cipients of provincial and federal welfare.^^ 917 by 1916. The climb continued in later years, and on January 1, 1964, the popula­ ^^ 5 Parliament, 3 session. Sessional Papers, no. 3, tion of the seven reserves occupied by these p. 207; 8 Parliament, 2 session. Sessional Papers, people was 1,922 — more than twice their no. 14, p. 142; 5 session. Sessional Papers, no. 14, numbers a half century earlier.^^ As in the p. 491, 493, 498; Department of Indian Affairs, Annual Reports, 1904, part 2, p. 76-79; 1916, part 1, United States, the causes of this impressive p. 126; Department of Citizenship and Immigration, population growth were a generally higher Indian Affairs Branch, Traditional Linguistic and birth rate and a lower death rate, the latter Cultural Affiliations of Canadian Indian Bands, 25, 26, 27, 28 (, 1964). These figures should be the result of improved medical treatment. taken as approximate, for they vary widely from year Unfortunately, the increase in numbers to year. Since the figures for Moose Woods were not given in 1899 or 1904, the 1900 and 1906 num­ has not been accompanied by a correspond­ bers were substituted in arriving at totals. In 1964 ing improvement in the Indians' economic there were 343 other Sioux in Canada, presumably condition. Since World War II the Canadian descendants of the Teton who crossed the border Sioux, like other plains tribes, have suf­ in 1876 and later. ^Letter to the author from N. J. McLeod, No­ fered an economic setback caused by vember 18, 1965, and interviews with Mr. McLeod, changes in the pattern of agriculture in the August 13, 15, 1966. Before his retirement Mr. wheat-growing regions. World surpluses McLeod was regional director of Indian affairs for have depressed prices, wdth the severest Saskatchewan. He reports that except for a few of the prairie Indians "who have continued to raise effects being felt by the small operator. beef cattle or have left their reservation to become The Indian, necessarily a small operator by engaged in other industries the great majority are virtue of the land available to him, has today dependent upon a monthly reUef cheque for their existence."

26 MINNESOTA HistOfy On the surface the Sioux reserves in Man­ powwow takes place at Standing Buffalo in itoba and Saskatchewan present a favor­ August, Indians from the other Sioux re­ able appearance to a visitor from the serves gather, along with members of other United States. The economic distress of tribes in Canada and the northern their occupants is partially masked by an United States. For a few days the hills of ambitious housing program that on some the Qu'Appelle Valley echo to the sound of reserves has placed most of the people in drums and the Indians perhaps forget their neat new dwellings. Oak River presents the economic plight. But behind the facade are most satisfactory prospect. It has the largest the grim facts. Poor like the other Sioux, the amount of good land, the largest number people at Standing Buffalo are beset by fac­ of farmers actually working their land, the tionalism— the ravine versus the prairie largest number of new pastel-painted upland — and they are said to be more de­ houses. Birdtail Creek, with its widely scat­ pendent on the agency than other bands. tered houses, its weathered church, its un­ Cattle raising gives the people at Moose used school with shattered windows, has Woods a somewhat better economic status, the appearance of partial abandonment, de­ and employment is available in Saskatoon spite the fact that the population there has and at the Dundurn Army Base adjacent to increased from seventy-three in 1916 to 175 the reserve.^^ in 1964. Oak Lake, too, has its quota of Dreariest of all is the Wahpaton Sioux re­ new houses and an attractive school build­ serve near Prince Albert, the northern­ ing, but the visitor is likely to be more im­ most point reached by the Sioux people. pressed by the number of employable There are no new houses here; scattered young men with nothing to do but race over the reserve are log houses, many of their cars back and forth along the dusty them unoccupied. Although some land is road that bisects the reserve. cultivated, practically none of it is farmed Standing Buffalo and Moose Woods (now by the Indians themselves. Employment — officially called White Cap) give much the what there is — must be found in Prince same appearance. On both there are new Albert. By contrast, the Indians living in houses, attractive school buildings, old but the Sioux village at Portage la Prairie have well-maintained churches. When the annual work available across the street at a mush­ room-processing plant. Their community, some of whose houses are quite new, gives ^^ Interviews with H. A. Matthews, Superintend­ ent, File Hills-Qu'Appelle Agency, Fort Qu'Appelle, an appearance of neatness and order. Mak­ Saskatchewan, August 12, 1966, and Wilham ing no attempt to farm, they have not been Eagle, resident of the Moose Woods reserve, Au­ affected by recent changes in agriculture. gust 13, 1966; letter to the author from R. B. Kohls, Superintendent, Duck Lake Agency, Duck Lake, Like their ancestors nearly a century ago, Saskatchewan, April 28, 1967. they earn at least part of their living by ^* Letter to the author from D.A.H. Nield, Super­ working for their white neighbors.^^ intendent, Portage la Prairie Agency, May 8, 1967. According to Mr. Nield, the people at Portage la In their Indian policies Canada and the Prairie find employment as carpenters and as farm United States have pursued divergent roads laborers, in addition to that furnished by the Camp­ toward the same objective: bringing the bell Soup Company of Canada plant adjacent to the Sioux village. Indian to a point of economic and social

A dirt street in "Sioux WHinge" at Portage In Prairie, Manitoba equality with the rest of the population, to nadian Indian pohcy has yielded, for the the end that he might participate fully Sioux, much the same results as American in the collective life of the nation. Neither Indian policy: an economically depressed country has entirely succeeded. It is prob­ class, half assimilated, yet not fully ac­ ably fair to say that Canada has had fewer cepted. Their aboriginal culture modified obstacles to contend with. Settlement was beyond recognition, the Sioux have not slower, and the typical settler was less wholly embraced the white man's culture. savagely anti-Indian in sentiment. Those The recipients of a dwindling number of Indians with a basis for comparison have services not afforded the general popula­ noticed the difference. In 1914 Frederick H. tion, they seem in both countries as yet un­ Abbott, secretary of the Board of Indian prepared to undertake their own support Commissioners, visited the Standing Buf­ unaided. The thought inevitably suggests falo reserve and asked the chief if his peo­ itself that, in the white man's campaign to ple would like to return to the United eliminate the features of the Indian heri­ States. "No," was the reply, "we have tage that he deemed undesirable, he may visited our friends in the United States have vitiated in the Indian the qualities of many times — we would not trade places character necessary to success as an inde­ with them. We are getting along all right. pendent citizen in a changing society. Our government treats us right." ^^ 'pjjjg ^^^ a bleak period in the history of American Indian policy, and perhaps the chief would *® Frederick H. Abbott, The Administration of have answered differently had he been Indian Affairs in Canada, 22 (Washington, 1915). ^"The tenure of agents was generally longer asked the same question in the 1930s and than in the United States. Markle, who succeeded early 1940s. And one must not discount the Herchmer at the Birtle Agency in 1886, remained natural feeling of loyalty to the country and until 1901, and his successor, G. H. Wheatley, stayed at least fifteen years. See 6 Parhament, 1 ses­ locality of one's birth. Yet Canadian Indian sion, Sessional Papers, no. 6, p. 121; 9 Parhament, 2 pohcy has been on the whole more en­ session, Sessional Papers, no. 27, p. 126; Department lightened than United States policy. of Indian Affairs, Annual Reports, 1916, p. 48. Canadian administration has been less sub­ THE MODERN PHOTOGRAPHS used in this ject to the spoils system and to the vagaries article were taken by the author in August, 1966. The picture of Standing Buffalo on page 16 is from of economy-minded legislatures.^^ the Minnesota Historical Society picture collection; that on page 24 is from the Gunn Collection, Mani­ Despite these seeming advantages, Ca­ toba Archives. Encampment on QuAppelle Lakes during August powwow at Standing Buffalo reserve

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