Seeing with Two Eyes: Colonial Policy, the Huron Tract Treaty and Changes in the Land in Lambton County, 1780-1867 Karen Jean T
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SEEING WITH TWO EYES: COLONIAL POLICY, THE HURON TRACT TREATY AND CHANGES IN THE LAND IN LAMBTON COUNTY, 1780-1867 KAREN JEAN TRAVERS A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN HISTORY YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, CANADA JUNE 2015 © KAREN TRAVERS, 2015 ABSTRACT This dissertation explores the histories of Walpole Island (Bkejwanong), Sarnia (Aamjiwnaang), and Kettle and Stoney Point (Wiiwkwedong and Aazhoodena) between 1790 and 1867 in what became Lambton County, Ontario. Anishinabe peoples faced tremendous challenges during this crucial period in their histories stemming from the loss of the Ohio Valley, non-native settlement, and intense pressure to surrender the land and settle permanently on reserves. With few exceptions, literature on the subject of Upper Canadian history and Indian policy largely accepts the decline of Anishinabe communities as an inevitable consequence of demilitarization after the War of 1812. The fact that Anishinabe peoples continue to live in these same communities as they have for hundreds of years, complicates such analyses. Through the lens of ‘two-eyed seeing’ I interrogate this contradiction and explore the many ways that the Anishinabeg sought to combine Indigenous knowledge and worldviews with the tools to survive in Eurocanadian economies between 1790 and 1867. While this story is not one of swift decline, I argue that Indigenous leaders sought a future for themselves that differed fundamentally from the one that unfolded in the years before Confederation. This study uses petitions, Indian Affairs and municipal documents to explore the confluence of local processes that undermined Anishinabe attempts to co-exist with Eurocanadians. While it is true that Great Britain no longer needed its ‘Indian allies’ after the War of 1812, this does not sufficiently explain why fellow Loyalists and settlers did not accept Anishinabe peoples as partners in a province that both communities helped establish. While policy is an important part of this process, it is only a part of this story. My focus is on the relationships established between two peoples, and the construction, devolution, and ii disintegration of these relationships. Plans made by Anishinabe Chiefs to create a self-sufficient and independent future in Upper Canada were gradually undone by a combination of politics, policy, land and economics. These coalesced over the first half of the nineteenth century to radically transform their vision to one that by Confederation, increasingly sought to confine and define ‘Indians’ as legal wards. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe an enormous debt to many people who made this dissertation possible. David T. McNab opened my eyes to a new way of seeing Ontario’s past and his unwavering faith and encouragement continues to inspire me. My committee members, Dr. Colin Coates and Dr. William Wicken offered invaluable direction and constructive criticism. I would especially like to thank Colin for his advice and assistance throughout the writing process and for taking the time to comment on my draft chapters. I appreciate the constructive feedback given to me by Karl Hele and Susan Dion following my defense. Ute Lischke and Paul-Emile McNab have treated me like family and continue to support me in all my endeavours. Many scholars in the field including Dean Jacobs, Phil Bellfy, James Jenkins, David D. Plain, Patsy McArthur and community members from Bkejwanong (Walpole Island), Ketegaunseebee (Garden River) and the Historic Saugeen Métis took interest in my project and willingly shared their stories, ideas and sources with me. Rhonda Telford and Victor Lytwyn directed my attention to specific Indian Affairs files that proved invaluable to my thesis. Thank you. The York University Graduate Entrance Scholarship and Ramsay Cook Fellowship as well as additional financial assistance from the Women’s Canadian Historical Society of Toronto, the United Empire Loyalists’ of Canada, and the American Society for Ethnohistory made research and conference travel possible. Lisa Hoffman and Karen Dancy in the History Department and staff at the Ontario Archives helped me navigate academic and archival bureaucracies. My research trips were always productive and entertaining because of the assistance of Dana Thorne, Curator and Supervisor at Lambton County Museums and Pat and iv Colleen at the Lambton County Archives (Lambton Room). Thanks also to Matthew Wilkinson, and the staff at Heritage Mississauga for generously donating time and resources during the initial stages of my research. I am so fortunate to have dear friends from each stage of my academic career. I offer my sincerest thanks to Stacey Alexopoulos. Our regular phone conversations helped me survive grad school and navigate all the trials and tribulations of research and writing. Jean Rosenfeld, Siobain Matys and Angela Mashford-Pringle supported and encouraged me throughout this process. Together with colleagues Rebecca Beausaert, Guillaume Teasdale and others from ‘the Year’ in the History Department at York, I thank you all for your advice, feedback and career counciling, but most of all for the countless times we ‘talked shop,’ vented, and laughed. I would not have finished this dissertation without the love and support of friends, family and neighbours. In particular, I thank my ‘adopted’ Mum June Murphy who is always available for tea and who helped me with the kids, the cat and the house so that I could research, teach and attend conferences. I also thank my sister, Debbie Bruce for hosting sleepovers and inviting me to work in the ‘office’ by the pool. Most importantly, I offer my heartfelt thanks to my husband Chris and my daughters Dana and Siobhan who encouraged me to pursue a dream and tolerated me while I did so. I dedicate this to you. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ vii LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................ ix INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 Borders and Boundaries .................................................................................................... 23 Methodology ................................................................................................................. 28 Historiography .............................................................................................................. 36 Chapter Summaries ....................................................................................................... 52 Chapter 1: Loyalists of another Kind ................................................................................ 56 Chapter 2: “An inconvenient debt”: Pensions, Pathogens and Presents on the St. Clair, 1815-1840. ....................................................................................................... 107 Chapter 3: “Whence all this misery?”: Settlers, Squatters and Speculators, 1830-1860 ....................................................................................................................... 167 Chapter 4: Inconvenient Neighbours: Economies of Confinement, 1839-1867 ............. 222 Chapter 5: ‘For a dying race the Indians have lasted very well’: Indigeneity in Lambton County, 1850-1867. ......................................................................................... 270 Chapter 6: A ‘Lot’ in Common: Quakgwan’s Settlement in Bosanquet Township ....... 320 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................... 366 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................... 382 APPENDIX A: GLOSSARY .......................................................................................... 415 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Characteristics of Loyalist Claimants………………………………………………….. 63 Table 2: Instances of Theft and Damage Attributed to ‘Indian’ Allies and the Enemy………… 91 Table 3: Total Population: Kent and Essex, 1831-1846……………………………………….. 110 Table 4: Variations in Four Huron Tract Agreements…………………………………………. 130 Table 5: Western District Birthplaces of the People, 1842……………………………………..177 Table 6: Reserve Accounts 1864………………………………………………………………. 216 Table 7: Primary Occupations in Sombra and Sarnia, 1861-1871…………………………….. 263 Table 8: Main Causes of Death: 1861 Census, “Chippewa Indians”………………………….. 285 Table 9: Township Populations and Densities…………………………………………………. 332 Table 10: Denominations as a Percentage of the Population of Bosanquet, 1842…………….. 340 Table 11: Population Growth, Essex, Kent and Lambton, 1851-1881………………………… 345 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Gus-Wen-Tah (Kahswentha) or Two-Row Wampum .................................................... 5 Figure 2: Different