u Ottawa l.'Univcrsiltf canndicnnc C'uiacln's university FACULTE DES ETUDES SUPERIEURES 1=1 FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND ET POSTOCTORALES U Ottawa POSDOCTORAL STUDIES L'University canadienne (Canada's university Robert Talbot AUTEUR DE LA THESE / AUTHOR OF THESIS M.A. (History) GRADE/DEGREE Department of History TA^LTETMCOLTDIPARTEMENTTFA^ Alexander Morris. His Intellectual and Political Life and the Numbered Treaties TITRE DE LA THESE / TITLE OF THESIS Dr. Jan Grabowski EXAMINATEURS (EXAMINATRICES) DE LA THESE / THESIS EXAMINERS Dr. Michael Behiels Dr. Jeffrey Keshen .G.^y.W1.Slater.. Le Doyen de la Faculte des etudes superieures et postdoctorales / Dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies ALEXANDER MORRIS. HIS INTELLECTUAL AND POLITICAL LIFE AND THE NUMBERED TREATIES by Robert Talbot A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Post-Doctoral Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree in History University of Ottawa © Robert Talbot, Ottawa, Canada, 2007 Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-49281-9 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-49281-9 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Plntemet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. Canada 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many thanks are due for the completion of this work. The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship Program provided the financial support that has made this study possible. I also owe much gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Jan Grabowski, who provided invaluable insight, constructive criticism, and encouragement throughout the research and writing process. I must thank the teaching staff and personnel of. the Department of History generally. Suzanne Dalrymple, Academic Assistant (Graduate Programs), was ready to provide her time whenever the need arose. Several individuals outside the University of Ottawa were also generous with their assistance. Among them, Barry Cottam, of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, provided early inspiration and insight for the research process, directing me to key archival and primary sources. Of course, any errors or inaccuracies contained in the text of the present work remain solely those of the author. Finally, I must reserve the greatest gratitude for my fiancee, Sheila, my parents, Lloyd and Peggi, and my siblings, Carolyn, Mary Ann, and Jonathan, for their constant support, in this and all of life's endeavours. This thesis is dedicated to you. 3 ABSTRACT Alexander Morris (1826-1889) is best remembered for his service as Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba and the North-West Territories (1872-1877), and for acting as the chief Canadian negotiator for Treaties 3-6 with the Amerindian peoples of western Canada. Ideologically speaking, Morris was a conservative, an imperialist, and a devout Christian. Historians have generally argued that Euro-Canadian officials like Morris failed to appreciate the significance of the treaties and the long-term reciprocal relationship that they entailed for Amerindian peoples. It is argued here, however, that Morris's understanding of the treaty relationship may have been much closer to the Amerindian perspective than previously believed. Over time, and through a series of interactions and intellectual exchanges with Amerindian leaders, Morris was able to transcend his social formation and empathize significantly with their viewpoint. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 6 I. Alexander Morris: his place in Canadian historiography 10 II. Early intellectual development 18 Early political convictions and identity 18 Religious beliefs and moral convictions 26 Early perceptions of indigenous peoples and a love of nature 31 III. Business interests and professional career to 1872 36 Land speculation 36 Legal career 43 IV. Political career and advocacy of North-West annexation 46 Developing the political platform 46 In office, 1861-1872 60 V. Land speculation and 'retirement' in the North-West 66 VI. Alexander Morris and the Numbered Treaties 70 VII. The Amerindian nations and the treaties 73 Amerindian diplomatic history and precedents 73 Oral record, Amerindian understanding 76 Amerindian pragmatic considerations 78 5 VIII. Alexander Morris as treaty negotiator 81 Euro-Canadian diplomatic history and precedents 83 Cross-cultural understanding 88 Treaty 3 92 Treaty 4 108 Treaty 5 124 Treaty 6 132 DC. Alexander Morris as Indian Affairs administrator 159 Taking on the role of Indian Affairs administrator 161 Problems with Provencher 163 The structure of Indian Affairs administration 166 Morris and the Sioux 173 Implementing Treaties 1 and 2: The 'outside promises' 179 Implementing Treaties 3-6 204 Removal from power 221 Treaty implementation - in brief 229 X. After the treaties 232 'Retirement' and ongoing interest in the North-West 233 The Treaties of Canada with the Indians 237 Conclusion 250 Bibliography 256 6 INTRODUCTION The ideological convictions of the individual are, to a significant extent, the product of social formation. The individual's capacity to transcend this social formation, and to think or act outside their time, is a subject of ongoing historical debate. In the case of nineteenth-century treaty-making between Canada and the Amerindian peoples of the North-West, for instance, historians have yet to reach consensus as to how far Euro-Canadian government treaty negotiators like Alexander Morris (1826-1889) were able to understand and empathize with the Aboriginal people they encountered. Historians have generally argued that treaty negotiations did not produce mutually- understood terms. Given their divergent world-views, the parties held irreconcilable conceptions of the meaning and significance of the treaties and the long-term relationship they entailed. The earliest treaty historiography asserted that the treaties had been made on the initiative of the Euro-Canadians, acting out of a sense of paternalism to protect the allegedly hapless Amerindian population. Until recently, non-Aboriginal historians traditionally portrayed the treaties as tragedies of history; land surrenders in exchange for paltry terms forced on Amerindians by the white negotiators of the Canadian government. Since the mid-1980s, however, ethno-historians, anthropologists, and social historians have emphasized Aboriginal agency, convincingly arguing that the Amerindians were not passive observers at the negotiating circle. Rather, the First Nations used treaty negotiations as a means to secure a promise from government for autonomy and a relationship of reciprocity. Encumbered with an allegedly incompatible world-view, however, Alexander Morris and Euro-Canadian negotiators in general failed to understand the deeper significance of the treaty relationship to which they had committed their government. 7 The newly established historiography has been crucial in providing an Aboriginal- centred perspective. One difficulty, however, is that it tends to reduce government officials to the category of "classic imperialist." Moreover, it operates on the assumption that little distinction need be made between the various officials like Morris, as their ideological convictions had limited their capacity to understand Aboriginal people. While the historiography provides the crucial structural and institutional contexts under which government officials operated, it does not capture the particular experiences of the individuals involved in shaping and applying the government's Amerindian policies. In other words, the unique contributions of certain key actors - and their potential capacity to demonstrate a degree of intellectual flexibility in their encounters with Aboriginal people - remain obscured. This work will focus on Alexander Morris's personal understanding of the significance of the treaty-making process