The Background to the 1924 Deposing of the Six Nations Hereditary Council
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University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies Legacy Theses 1998 Conflicting outlooks: the background to the 1924 deposing of the six nations hereditary council Trevithick, Scott Richard Trevithick, S. R. (1998). Conflicting outlooks: the background to the 1924 deposing of the six nations hereditary council (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. doi:10.11575/PRISM/20761 http://hdl.handle.net/1880/26128 master thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca THE UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Conflicting Outlooks: The Background to the 1924 Deposing of the Six Nations Hereditary Council by Scott R. Trevithick A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY CALGARY,ALBERTA JUNE, 1998 © Scott R. Trevithick National Library Bibliotheque nationale l • I of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographic Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Ottawa ON K1 A ON4 C8nada canac1a The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant a la National Library of Canada to Bibliotheque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distnbute or sell reproduire, preter, distnbuer ou copies of this thesis in m.icroform, vendre des copies de cette these sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format electronique. The author retains ownership of the L' auteur conseIVe la propriete du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protege cette these. thesis nor substantial extracts from it Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. 0-612-34920-9 Canadl iii Abstract The Dominion government deposing of the Six Nations Hereditary Council at Grand River in 1924 was highly significant at the time, and it remains so today. This thesis seeks to explain this event through examination of the political history of the Six Nations from the l 870s through 1924. Factionalism, a longstand.ing belief in sovereignty, and a local reform movement remained constant throughout these years. At the tum of the century a burgeoning Six Nations nationalism found expression in a number of unrelated claims against the government and other First Nations. Nationalism continued to grow through the first two decades, fueled principally by the Department's encroachment on Council's traditional jurisdiction. In order to defend Council's local autonomy, the Chiefs f~ught for recognition of their claim to sovereignty first domestically and then internationally, eventually provoking the Department of Indian Affairs into imposing an elective system. iv Acknowledgments This thesis, for whatever it is worth., is the product not simply of my efforts, but of the innumerable and important contributions of family, friends and fellow academics. I am, perhaps, most indebted to my supervisor, Donald B. Smith, whose sound advice, attention to detail, encyclopedic knowledge and above all, constant prodding, played no small role in bringing this thesis to fruition. Your passion and dedication has instilled in me a new found respect and admiration for the historical method and our exceptional subject: the past. Next I would like to thank the Department of History secretaries, especially Olga Leskiw. Your awing administrative knowledge and friendly, caring attitude ensured that deadlines and requirements were met, and that the process in general was a more personal, less intimidating one. To Sarah Carter and James Frideres who sat on my committee, r must also extend my gratitude. Your critique was thoughtful and challenging, and I believe my thesis is much stronger as a result. My thanks also goes out to Ian Getty at the Nakoda Institute, who obligingly supplied me with microfilm reels, which I would otherwise have had to order, at considerable time and expense, from the National Archives. I would like to thank Benoit Theriault at the Canadian Museum of Civilization whose warm, competent assistance helped make my research more pleasant and successful. Regrettably, I have not had the time (or money) to go out with my friends in the History Department as much as I would have liked. Nevertheless, when I did need your help, want to go out, or simply to talk you were always willing to welcome back, unreservedly, your prodigal friend. Thank you for friendship and support over the past two years. I would like to thank my wife Yuko and my family for their unending, unconditional and sometimes undeserved belief in me. You have been, through the years, my greatest supporters and I am at a loss to express both my gratitude and my indebtedness to you. Without your help there would be no thesis for which to write an ack.nowledgment page. Lastly, I would like to give special thanks to Sally Weaver. Dr. Weaver was, V before her tragic death in 1993, one of the foremost students of the Grand River Iroquois in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Her work has had an incalculable influence on my conception and writing of this thesis. I am profoundly indebted to her. for Yuko vii Table of Contents Approval Page ···························••u••··············································································ii Abstract ........................................................................................................................ iii Acknowledgments........................................................................................................ iv Dedication.................................................................................................................... vi Table of Contents ........................................................................................................ vii Notes on Style ............................................................................................................. viii IN'TRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1 CHAPTER ONE: THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY BACKGROUND TO THE CONFRONTATION ..................................................................................................... 17 Factionalism: Conservative vs. Progressive at Six Nations ............................... 17 The Tradition of Reform at Six Nations ............................................................29 The Six Nations' Belief in their Political Independence ....................................33 CHAPTER TWO: GRIEVANCES AND BURGEONING SIX NATI ONS NATIONALISM AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY .............................................39 The Haldimand Claim .......................................................................................3 9 The Six Nations-Mississauga Dispute ..............................................................44 The Grand River Navigation Company Claim ................................................. .49 CHAPTER THREE: DETERIORATING RELATIONS, 1906-1920 ...........................55 The Indian Rights Association, 1906-1910......................................................... 55 Adding Insult to Injury: Departmental Interference and the Defence of Local Autonomy .........................................................................................................62 Important Landmarks on the Road to Confrontation ........................................69 The Evolution of the Sovereignty Argument, 1909-1920 ................................. 76 CHAPTER FOUR: CONFRONTATION: THE FINAL YEARS OF THE HEREDITARY COUNCIL~s OFFICIAL RULE, 1921-1924 ................................................................ 84 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................... 107 Figure l: Map of the Six Nations Community............................................................. 112 Bibliographic Note....................................................................................................... 113 BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................................................ 116 viii Notes on Style Capitalization In Council minutes from the period, the words ''Council'" and "Chiefs" are, with few exceptions, capitalized. Out of respect for the body which forms the primary subject of this thesis as well as the people to whom it catered and caters., this capitalization is maintained. Hence all references to the Six Nations Hereditary Council., Confederacy, League, and Chiefs are capitalized. Where no reference is made specifically to the Six Nations Council, Chiefs., Hereditary system, capitalization is not employed. TTius "Hereditary System" refers to the system at Grand River and '·hereditary system'" refers to such systems in general. Additionally when reference is made to specific groups at Six Nations capitalization is also employed (i.e., Conservative, Traditionalist, Progressive,