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Reflections on the Annual Manitoba Indian and Métis Conferences of the Early 1960S

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Reflections on the Annual Manitoba Indian and Métis Conferences of the Early 1960S Reflections on the Annual Manitoba Indian and Métis Conferences of the Early 1960s TOBY MORANTZ McGill University Beginning in 1954, the Welfare Council of Winnipeg organized annual conferences devoted to providing “an opportunity for people of Indian origin and those of non-Indian origin to join together in discussing problems of mutual concern” (Welfare Council of Greater Winnipeg1 1961:i). It thus brought together both status Indians and Metis of Manitoba, and Metis at that time, then included those Indians, such as women, who had married non-status Indians. This, of course, was three decades before Bill C-31 of 1985, which returned to these women their Indian status and bestowed it upon their children. These annual meetings continued, it seems, until 1968; fourteen in all were held. In this paper I look at the how these conferences functioned, who was involved, what programs were instituted in the communities, and what befell them. The intent is to convey the creativity and enthusiasm of both Natives and non-Natives regarding the development of the communities that lasted throughout much of the 1960s. However, the eventual bureaucratization seems to have dampened or even destroyed this spirit. This may be a bold statement to make since my knowledge of the workings of the Indian and Metis Annual Conferences was confined to a three-year period, 1961–1963. I left Winnipeg in 1963 and was unable to follow the ensuing developments first-hand. I have relied on secondary sources in formulating my conclusions, provisional as they are. Another objective of this paper is the discussion of these conferences which, to my knowledge, are referenced only once in the published literature and only in passing on a different topic (Sawchuk 1978:47). Most of the data are derived from the notes I took as a recording secretary of the three conferences, namely the Seventh through Ninth, and from the reports the conference organizers issued those years. These are 1. Hereinafter designated as WCGW. 310 THE ANNUAL MANITOBA INDIAN AND MÉTIS CONFERENCES 311 in my possession. It is very likely that a more complete record can be unearthed at the Province of Manitoba Archives. The format of the meetings usually followed a similar pattern from year to year with designated themes such as “Partners in Planning” (1961) and “Responsibility for the Future” (1962). The conference began in the evening with a keynote address. In 1961, Frank Calder, then an MLA in British Columbia, spoke to an audience of about 550 people2 (WCGW 1961:2; Community Welfare Planning Council3 1963:i). The following morning, the assembly listened to ten-minute presentations by the chiefs of the bands and representatives of the Metis communities. Many of the chiefs did not speak in English and other chiefs translated their words. In 1963, spokespeople from about thirty-nine bands and communities provided a report. Not all communities were represented for in 1961 there were fifty status Indians bands (Canada 1961:56:Table 2) and an indeterminate number of Metis communities in the Province. In a few cases, both a Chief and a Metis representative spoke from essentially the same community as at Norway House, Fairford, Fisher River, and others. I do not know how the bands or communities were selected but I believe it was by their choosing to attend, and I presume subsidies for transport were made available through Indian Affairs or an agency of the Manitoba government. However, at the 1963 meetings (CWPC 1963:19), Metis delegates complained that it was expensive for their communities to send delegates as the federal government was not providing assistance. The meetings were always held in February and it may be also that some delegates could not travel then to Winnipeg because of lack of transport. The afternoon of the first full day of the meeting and the next day were devoted to discussing issues in groups, culminating in a general assembly in the morning of the last day. Here reporting was made from each of the discussion groups; resolutions, which were many and categorized according to activity, were proposed and voted upon. However, standing committees met throughout the year to find ways to implement the resolutions and reported on their progress at the next annual meeting. The 1961 workshops 2. This was the attendance at the evening session, given for the 1963 Conference. 3. Hereafter CWPC. Note that the Community Welfare Planning Council was a renamed Welfare Council of Greater Winnipeg. 312 TOBY MORANTZ were labeled simply “fishing,” “education,” “housing,” “local administration,” “health and welfare,” “cooperatives,” and “handicrafts.” By 1963, the titles of the workshops had moral overtones, such as “Education and the Future,” “Renewable Natural Resources and the Native Economy,” “Co-operative Development—All the Community Benefits,” “Housing and Community Planning,” and “Local Self-Government and Unconditional Grants.” The reporting was generally carried out by non-Natives: federal, provincial or municipal staff or ministers or priests, some of whom served as resource persons in the workshops. There is no reference to Indian Agents taking a role, though at each conference (but not on the opening night), A. G. Leslie, Superintendent of the Indian Affairs Branch, brought “greetings” and in each year’s packet was a report of the Indian Affairs Branch’s activities in Manitoba. Some of the planning committees of the conference involved Native People, usually a Metis man or woman living in the city, as did the standing committees. The justification for relying on non-Natives was the convenience of their residence in Winnipeg (CWPC 1962a:1). To situate the native population within the Canadian economic context of 1963, it was reported that Indians earned, on average, $210 per annum while Manitobans as a whole earned $1,500. Additionally there were the transfer payments available to all Manitobans/Canadians. Of the 6,000 employable Indians, only 15 percent held full-time jobs. One half had no employment at all. The majority of the Indian bands were far removed from urban areas and relied on fishing and trapping; those farther south could both fish and cut pulpwood and those living near agricultural areas could take seasonal employment harvesting sugar beets in addition to their own farming and some cattle raising. Culturally, the Indian population of roughly 23,000 (Lagassé 1961–62:232) was made up of about 10,500 Crees and 10,500 Saulteaux (Ojibwa), with the Sioux (Dakota) numbering 1,200 and the Chipewyan (Athapaskan/Dene), 800. Understandably, the Metis population was more difficult to characterize. There were, at that time, about 25,000 Metis or “half-breeds” as the ones of Anglo-Saxon ancestry were designated. The total number in Manitoba who could claim mixed ancestry was closer to 100,000. Mainly, these 25,000 were Metis who previously had not become integrated with either the Indian communities to whom they were related, or assimilated with the white farming communities amongst whom they lived and worked. These Metis, Lagassé (1961–62:233) noted were descendants of “wandering Metis bands THE ANNUAL MANITOBA INDIAN AND MÉTIS CONFERENCES 313 living independently from hunting, trapping and casual jobs” and were to be found in 250 communities. He further estimated that 3,000 lived on the fringes of Indian reserves and the same number were settled close to white communities while 7,000 lived in predominantly Metis communities. The remaining 11,000 Metis were living in white communities. The Metis who participated in the Indian and Metis Conferences seem to have come from the predominantly Metis communities or the ones on the outskirts of the reserves. As Norman Shorting, the Metis delegate from Fairford, said at the 1962 Meetings, that the Metis had been “turned off the reserve [of the same name] and had no land of their own” (CWPC 1962a:9). The Metis organizers of the Conferences were residents of Winnipeg and involved in the local Indian and Metis Friendship Centre, founded in 1958 as an outcome of the Conferences. Unlike the status Indians, or as they referred to themselves, “treaty Indians,” the Metis had no special government links. Edward Campbell, the delegate from the Norway House Resident Association phrased it this way: “the Metis people felt left out, as the government was not providing them with the same opportunities as the treaty Indians. There were no government officials at the Conference who represented them or could answer questions” (CWPC 1963:13). Similarly, reports issued at the time, such as by the Province’s Department of Welfare could not present health statistics for the Metis, though they did for the Indians (Manitoba 1962:1). As poor as the Indians were, the Metis were often living in poorer substandard conditions, a factor underlined by the housing policies. In his 1961 report to the Conference, the co-chairman, Fr. G. Laviolette (WCGW 1961:6) indicated that on the reserves, applications for the building of 316 houses were received but only 178 could be provided. However, he went on to say, “Everyone is aware that there exists no machinery by which municipal or provincial government authorities can make either cash grants or grants of building materials to Metis residents.” A brief sketch of one Metis community might be helpful for those of us more familiar with Indian reserves. Cedar Lake in 1960 was a settlement of 87 persons located beside an Indian reserve of 200. The community settled there to obtain the benefits of fishing from one good fishing lake and trapping in a large area of muskrat marsh. There was one trader in the area who purchased the fish caught in winter, while in the summer it was obtained from the Metis by a fish company.
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