George Gordon First Nations Women
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GEORGE GORDON FIRST NATIONS WOMEN: PARTNERS IN SURVIVAL A Thesis Submitted to the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy In the Program of Interdisciplinary Studies University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon By MIRIAM McNAB © Miriam McNab, December 2016. All rights reserved. PERMISSION TO USE In presenting this dissertation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Postgraduate degree from the University of Saskatchewan, I agree that the Libraries of this University may make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for copying of this dissertation in any manner, in whole or in part, for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor or professors who supervised my dissertation work or, in their absence, by the Head of the Department or the Dean of the College in which my thesis work was done. It is understood that any copying or publication or use of this dissertation or parts thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of Saskatchewan in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my dissertation. Requests for permission to copy or to make other uses of materials in this thesis/dissertation in whole or part should be addressed to: Head of the Program of Interdisciplinary Studies University of Saskatchewan 107 Administration Place Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5A2 Canada OR Dean College of Graduate Studies and Research University of Saskatchewan 107 Administration Place Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5A2 Canada i ABSTRACT This dissertation examines the work of the women of George Gordon First Nation in southern Saskatchewan from the earliest historical references until about the end of World War II. Many aspects of their experience are covered in an attempt to illustrate the vital importance of women’s work to their families’ survival and wellbeing over the period after Treaty 4, in 1874, from settling on reserve, adapting to the farming way of life of the early reserve period, and gradually to developing new responses to changing economic conditions after the turn of the century. Utilizing archival, documentary, and oral sources, this research brings forth the voices of the people to tell their own stories. Those stories reveal that women and men both worked hard to make a living under the difficult circumstances of the Indian Affairs-administered reserve. While George Gordon’s band was composed of Cree, Saulteaux, and Halfbreeds, as they were termed in the Indian Affairs records, and as settlers began to surround the reserve, many dynamics impinged on women and their work, but overall, a number of traditions can be seen to continue from the earliest times. Among them, the complementarity of roles, the fact that women worked hard, and the adaptability to hardships, are evident. “An Indian is never stuck,” is still a popular adage on the reserve today. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ninanāskomon. A heart-felt thank you to the following: I am extremely grateful to my supervisor, James R. Miller for his unwavering patience, support, and expert advice. I am also grateful to my committee; every one of them has been kind and encouraging to me: Rob Innes, W.A. (Bill) Waiser, Keith Thor Carlson, Caroline Tait, and Jennifer Poudrier, as well as Evelyn Peters earlier on. I also thank my external examiner, Heather Devine, for her expert, useful, and positive suggestions. Without my First Nation, the George Gordon band, I would not have had a purpose or subject. Elders in the community generously shared their knowledge and memories with me and assisted in my quest to gain a better understanding of our past. Their names and photos are appended. My parents, uncles, aunts, and siblings have encouraged and supported me all along the way. My mother Helen McNab assisted with poring through old newspapers and collecting unpublished materials on the reserve. My dad Ivan McNab and uncle Melvin McNab never tired of answering questions, and my aunts Irene Walter, Barbara Bitternose, and Gloria Lalman continue to share their memories. My cousin Wayne Bitternose assisted with the on-reserve interviews as my “guide” and videographer. The First Nations University of Canada, my employer, has been very obliging in granting me much-needed leaves and support. Winona Wheeler gave me the idea initially and much inspiration along the way, while the late Jo-Ann Episkenew provided an early nudge. A. Blair Stonechild has been most helpful and I value the support of my Indigenous Studies colleagues, Del Anaquod, Wes Heber, Lesley McBain, David Miller, Willie Ermine, Andy Miller, and Brock Pitawanakwat; Heads Arok Wolvengrey and Ed Doolittle; as well as Sharon Peters and my Saskatoon campus family, Louise McCallum, Danny Musqua, Sharon Acoose, Tara Turner, Hongru Liu, Jason Albert, Gilbert Kewistep, Janice Acoose, Carla Kennedy, Denise McConney, Richard Katz, Rodolfo Pino, and late Susan Dawson. Many other Indigenous scholars, particularly women, encouraged me along the way. I thank Arok Wolvengrey, Jean Okimāsis, Alandina LaPlante, Mary LaPlante, Lillian McNab, and Ernestine Starr for help with Cree. The staff at the Saskatchewan Archives Board, both Regina and Saskatoon offices, the Saskatchewan iii Indian Cultural Centre, and the Specific Claims office of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations were very helpful. Financial support from the Touchwood Agency/George Gordon Post-Secondary program, the First Nations University of Canada’s Indigenous Studies Research Unit, and a University of Saskatchewan Centennial Equity Merit Scholarship made this research possible. Finally, I would like to thank my long-time partner and supporter, Gary LaPlante, our sons Armand and Max, and my stepchildren Joey, Tiffany, Dominic, and Maggie for their patience and encouragement. I dedicate this work to my dad, Ivan, whom we lost in 2015, and to the women of Gordon’s both today and in the past; their tough hands show their devotion to their families. kinanāskomitināwāw, I thank you all. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PERMISSION TO USE………………………………………………..…………… i ABSTRACT……………………………………………………..………………….. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………..…………………….. iii ABBREVIATIONS…………………………………………..…………………….. vii LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………..……………………….. viii CHAPTER ONE “Introduction: George Gordon’s Women’s Work”…………...…………………….. 1 CHAPTER TWO “Early History of Gordon’s People”……………………..…………………………. 27 CHAPTER THREE “Women’s Traditional Roles and Work”…………………..……………………….. 54 CHAPTER FOUR “Making a Living on Reserve”………………………..……………………………. 68 CHAPTER FIVE “Making a Living After the Turn of the Century: 1900-1945”………..…………… 96 CHAPTER SIX “The Church and the School”……………………..………………………………... 123 v CHAPTER SEVEN “Three Women’s Lives”……………………...……………………………………. 151 CHAPTER EIGHT “Conclusion”……………………………………………………………..………… 177 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………..… 186 APPENDIX A – Table of Elders…………………………………………………… 199 APPENDIX B – David Anderson’s letter and response………………….………… 200 vi ABBREVIATIONS DIA Department of Indian Affairs HBC Hudson’s Bay Company HBCA Hudson’s Bay Company Archives FSIN Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations LAC Library and Archives Canada SAB Saskatchewan Archives Board vii LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1.1 Map showing Gordon’s Reserve and surroundings FIGURE 2.1 Map showing George Gordon’s Reserve and Traditional Territory FIGURE 2.2 Drawing of Daybird and Depit (David Anderson?) by Henri Julien, 1874 FIGURE 4.1 “Touchwood Hills Farm – Candidates for Honours,” by S.P. Hall FIGURE 4.2 “Indian Wigwams at Little Touchwood HBC,” by S.P. Hall FIGURE 4.3 A Seneca Root Digger found in the author’s family yard FIGURE 4.4 Examples of beaded bags and frames in Punnichy Museum FIGURE 4.5 Beaded mats as described by Nancy Bitternose. FIGURE 6.1 Photo of St. Luke’s Churches FIGURE 6.2 Recent photo of St. Luke’s Church FIGURE 6.3 Interior of St. Luke’s Church, Gordon’s Reserve FIGURE 6.4 Gordon Indian Residential School, c. Late 1950s FIGURE 7.1 Photo of Walter Anderson, Flora Anderson, and Jenny Anderson FIGURE 7.2 Photo of Clara Pratt FIGURE 7.3 Photo of Nancy Bitternose FIGURE 7.4 Nancy’s Plough viii Chapter 1 Introduction: George Gordon’s Women’s Work Purpose This dissertation is a social history of the people of the George Gordon First Nation of the Touchwood Hills in southern Saskatchewan, with a particular focus on the economic contributions made by women to the survival and well being of the people of the First Nation over the years. The period examined spans from before Treaty 4 was signed in 1874 up until about 1945 when my parents were still children. From the buffalo-hunting and trading days to reserve settlement and agriculture, the people underwent drastic changes, periods of famine, and increasing colonial intrusions. Traditional roles were altered, both men’s and women’s. Using old and new methods, women adapted to the changing conditions and preserved old roles in the family context. A mixture of Plains Cree, Saulteaux, and Half-breed1 descent primarily, the people of George Gordon have worked hard under adverse climatic, policy, economic, and social conditions to persevere and thrive. Through numerous historical traumas and struggles, the First Nation has grown from approximately 225 members at Treaty time in the mid-1870s to a currently thriving population of 3,541.2 It is the contention of this research that the work of women, often uncounted at best or denigrated by officials at worst, was just as important as, and sometimes more important than the work of men to the economy of the community and it was certainly vital in the survival and 1 Half-breed (or Halfbreed) was the term used in the records of the time under study here. It refers to people with mixed ancestry of Scottish or French and Cree and/or Saulteaux, and may be more complex than that. Some might seek to apply the term Métis in this case, but others reject the term for cases of “mixedness” with no obvious link to the Métis Nation deriving out of Red River.