Sir John A. Macdonald’s Influence on the Development of Canadian Indigenous Policy, 1844-1876. by Sarah Taekema Bachelor of Arts, Redeemer University College, 2011 Bachelor of Education, Redeemer University College, 2011 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of History © Sarah Taekema, 2020 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This Thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. ii Supervisory Committee Sir John A. Macdonald’s Influence on the Development of Canadian Indigenous Policy, 1844-1876. by Sarah Taekema Bachelor of Arts, Redeemer University College, 2011 Bachelor of Education, Redeemer University College, 2011 Supervisory Committee Dr. John Sutton Lutz, Department of History Supervisor Dr. Peter Cook, Department of History Departmental Member iii Abstract John A. Macdonald was not only Canada’s first Prime Minister; he played a significant role in framing much of Canada’s early “Indian policy” including legislation that was incorporated into the Indian Act (1876) which is still in effect today. Despite his central role, in all the voluminous analyses of Macdonald’s life and career, there is no in- depth scholarly study of Macdonald’s Indian policies or how his ideas about Indigenous people or race were formed. In this thesis, I examine Macdonald’s early personal context, how he may have developed his ideas about Indigenous people, the development of his Indigenous policies, and the local contingencies that shaped the rolling out of this legislative framework including the Gradual Civilization Act (1857) and the Gradual Enfranchisement Act (1869). iv Table of Contents Supervisory Committee ...................................................................................................... ii Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... v Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: The Evolution of a Corporate Memory for Managing Indian Affairs ............ 12 Chapter 2: A Scottish Boy Becomes a Canadian Politician ............................................. 40 Chapter 3: Macdonald’s Influence on Canadian Indigenous Policy Development .......... 72 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 110 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 121 v Acknowledgments This was a long undertaking – much longer than I intended when I set out in 2016. However, during the years I spent working on this project, Sir John A. Macdonald had a resurgence in the public discourse following the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report in 2015 and Canada’s sesquicentenary in 2017. It was eye-opening to observe and consider this new wave of interest and engagement with Canada’s first Prime Minister and it helped me to gain a sense of how he fits into the public imagination at this moment. I was not surprised to see the incredible criticism leveled at Macdonald for his actions and policies in the last decade of his life and public service, but I was surprised that no one seemed to be asking why Macdonald did what he did, or what shaped his perspective of Indigenous peoples. I watched the resulting entrenchment of both camps – those who celebrated Macdonald as a Great Man in Canadian history, and those who saw him as a great villain. As a scholar of Macdonald, I thought that it would be of some use to both camps, and to the national commitment to reconciliation, to investigate how Macdonald formed his ideas of Indigenous people, and how that understanding shaped the Indigenous policies that he had a hand in developing. I am humbled to contribute my research to this conversation. I am deeply indebted to the scholars before me, whose work I could engage with and build upon. An incredible amount of heavy lifting was done by Macdonald’s biographers, and Dutil and Hall’s edited book for Macdonald’s 200th birthday was a wealth of scholarly insight, criticism, useful sources, and food for thought. I am also grateful to Dr. Donald Smith for his insights at the start of my project, and for sharing his previous work and work in progress so generously with me. This thesis is itself a consolidation of a considerable number of drafts and edits and has benefitted greatly from close readings by and contributions from Dr. Peter Cook and Dr. Hamar Foster. I was privileged to draw on the expertise of these scholars and I am deeply grateful for their willingness to share resources, knowledge, and many very useful, thoughtful, and insightful comments on my work in progress. I owe a sincere and heartfelt thank you to my supervisor, Dr. John Lutz, for taking a chance on my research project back when John A. was an unpopular topic. I feel deeply privileged to have had the opportunity to work with John at the University of Victoria. John is a thoughtful scholar and a kind, generous, supportive and patient supervisor. He was always willing to make time for a call to work through challenges, and he included me in some of the very interesting projects he was working on – I truly appreciated those opportunities! Through the Ethnohistory Field School, co-supervised by John and Keith T. Carlson, which I participated in in 2017, my understanding of history – who tells it and how we tell it – and my own understanding of myself as an historian, was reshaped. I may never fully understand how impactful that incredible experience was, but I will forever be grateful I had the opportunity to participate in that course. John encouraged me to be curious about new ways of researching old topics, and to listen to unconventional voices. Thank you, John, for your influence and impact on my development as an historian! Working from my home in British Columbia’s West Kootenay region could have been a challenge, but thanks to a true Canadian treasure, Canadiana.org and the Canadian vi Research Knowledge Network, I was able to easily access thousands of digitized documents online. Also, my sincere gratitude to the staff at the Library and Archives of Canada for direction, guidance, and generously spending hours of their time over the course of my project to help me gather useful resources from a surprising variety of angles. My love of history was inherited from my parents, Henry and Sylvia Taekema. Family vacations spent exploring Ontario and visiting historic sites instilled in me a love of Canadian history, and nurtured an interest in the stories, people, and places that shaped and continue to shape the country we call home. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for taking us to museums and heritage sites and encouraging us to be curious about our history. I also could never thank you enough for your endless support, for happily spending hours listening to me talk about my research and providing helpful feedback, and for cheering me on. My sincere thanks also to my parents-in-law, Rens and Elizabeth Slot, for an incredible amount of encouragement and support, and for always taking an interest in my work. To my friends and family across the world, my incredible support network, thank you so much for frequently checking in, asking questions, and indulging me with long conversations about my research – I could not have done this without you all cheering me up and cheering me on! Finally, to my husband, Graham: I’m done! Time for a new adventure. 1 Introduction Truth, and then reconciliation. Telling the truth about the past is the necessary prerequisite to real reconciliation and yet, Canadian politicians, the public, and scholars, still do not fully understand the origins of Canada’s treatment of the original inhabitants of the land we now call home. One of the most controversial legacies in this area belongs to Sir John A. Macdonald. Sir John A. Macdonald was not only Canada’s first Prime Minister; he played a significant role in framing much of Canada’s early “Indian policy” including the Indian Act (1876) which is still in effect today. Despite his central role, in all the voluminous analyses of Macdonald’s life and career, there is no in-depth scholarly study of Macdonald’s Indian policies or how his ideas about Indigenous people or race were formed. My research is at the intersection where intellectual and political history meet the history of Indigenous-settler relations. For decades, research and writing on John A. Macdonald has been limited to a simplistic debate between whether he was a great man or a great villain. Since Canada’s sesquicentennial celebrations in 2017, the focus of debate has centred on his role in Indigenous affairs. Through a close historical study of Macdonald’s ideas of race, civilization, and Indigenous legislation in his roles as Premier of the Canadas, Attorney General, and Prime Minister of Canada, I will re-frame this ‘Great Man/Great Villain’ discourse in Canadian national history and offer Canadians a well-documented and reasoned explanation of what guided his Indian policies and has been