Changing Perspectives: Visions from James Evans' Diaries

LISA PHILIPS VALENTINE University of Western

James Evans (1801-1846), a Wesleyan Methodist missionary, is best known in Algonquianist circles for his work on the Cree and syllabaries. He left an amazing literary legacy with his promotion of Aboriginal writing systems and translation, but he also left a remarkable collection of letters and diaries which open up his world and his mission. When I sat down with these diaries and letters (courtesy of the J. J. Talman Regional History Room at the University of Western Ontario, and later in the special collections at Victoria University in Toronto), I was amazed to discover an intense personality emerging from Evans' writings which did not fit my stereotype of either missionary or early Victorian traveller. I was intrigued by the ways that Evans presented "the other" in areas of land(scape), people, and politics in both Ontario and in the late 1830s and early 1840s. Evans' journals fit the category of "the travel journal" which "records occurrences in time and space: while travelling, everything noteworthy is registered daily" (Huigen 1996:215). As opposed to hagiographic litera­ ture, designed to create an abstract narrative of religious life and service (Tudela 1996), or ars apodemica which also "aims to produce text ab­ stracted from time and place" (Huigen 1996:215), travel journals are not systematized and are tied more or less closely to the immediate context. We find this true of Evans' diaries from 183 8 to 1841: 1 his entries tend to be most consistent (with the longest descriptions) at those times he was on trips- indeed, the further the trips took him from predominantly white urban centres, the more he wrote, usually of the events he experienced. These were often closed with a line with a somewhat more abstractable moral:

1 The entries in these diaries were transcribed by Virginia Beveridge in 1931-32 with admirable precision. The transcripts are in the 1. J. Talman collection at the University ofWestem Ontario along with one of the original diaries. The other diary, without transcript, is in the collections of Victoria University in Toronto. The excerpts here follow Beveridge's typed approximations ofEvans' handwritten tran­ scription conventions, including punctuation or lack of it and crossouts and erasures. VISIONS FROM JAMES EVANS* DIARIES 353

[4 June 1839] Mon 4 This has been a hard day we have walked landed abou 8 times to walk 4 times half unloaded our canoe and then drew her & half the load up the falls while two men remained in her to steer her clear of the rocks. And four three times we had to unload all & carry over canoe & baggage. We eat well drink well & sleep well thanks to the Father of all our mercies Charles has been sick yesterday & today and B Jacobs had to carry him on his back, in fact we each have had our load It would make our good friends both shed a tear & smile to see our cavalcade. ... Had we some of our sickly puny pampered who want appetites & want health & want sleep — they would find a sure cure in that they would not want what the[y] most need — Exercise When he reached a settlement of any sort, Evans often made, at best, cursory notations of activities. Note especially 8-11 July 1839:

Sunday 8 Had prayers with the Indians. Mon. 9 preparing our canoe & writing letters Tues 10 Left about nine wind bound on rabit [sic] island. Wed 11. Started at day light, evening found us about 1/2 of the voyage to the peak. However, deviations from this tendency to write concretely of his travels occurred during times of ritual significance such as the first of January, on the event of his birthday (18 January), near Christmas, on the first entry of a month, or on the Sabbath. On these ritual occasions, Evans' discourse changed markedly to a more abstract discussion of the impor­ tance of such ritual and its relationship to spiritual matters. In the example below, the entries were written while Evans was in a single camp — there are only seven entries between 1 February and 21 May 1839 when Evans finally left the camp after breakup. On the other hand, there are numerous letters from this period in the files. [1839] Janyl. Welcome another year. My unfaithfulness during the past is subject matter of deep regret & my many resolves & reresolves without due improvement & amendment, almost deter me from any new reso­ lutions, as least rash ones. Bent on much improvement in knowledge I entered on the past year with my mind intent on study — but the cares of my former charge the business of the mission, the business of conference & a three month's canoe excursion and last of all in the wilderness a dearth of books, has left me "to die in Bagdad." My want of love to God — and the corruptness of my heart, — my startling sceptical temptations — and my strong attractions to leave the wilderness & settle in society, sometimes greatly alarm me — but still I desire to love God more. I groan to be delivered from the indwelling sin of my nature. I am determined through grace to believe in the Truth, and to live & die in the ministry into which God has been pleased to bring me. 354 LISA PHILIPS VALENTINE

Jany 18th My birth day reminds me of the mercy of God who has still spared the barren fig tree. May my spared life be more than ever devoted to his service. Feby 1st The Lord still preserves me I find much satisfaction in endea­ vouring to improve those whose instructions I have taken in hand. I am reading with care Milnes [?] Church History I am in ten thousand straits. I am at times a fool — at times a sceptic at times a believer. I am in fact well nigh undone if, I write it with trembling if Christianity as a Divine system be true — where is it? Where has it been? If be true where is it. where are the Perfect holy sanctified? An additional ritual space which invited more hagiographic overtones was the initial entry in a new journal: [August 1841] 1841 Thou art my Alpha & my Omega. May this Journal bear ample testimony to the riches of thy grace, and be filled for thy glory. Wednesday 25th Aug' At 5 pm Left York Factory, where I have enjoyed 5 blessed sabbaths, with a people whose marked attention to the means of grace, and evident satisfaction in listening to the word of life, has given me the greatest pleasure, but what is still more encouraging is that, I have every reason to believe that several have profited by the word preached. I baptized 5 adults and 3 children during my visit.2 Encamped 16 miles from York, having stemmed the current with a stiff breeze. Note that in this case the abstractions are followed by increasingly specific details, a reversal of Evans' usual entries. It appears that Evans was a very consistent writer — when stationary, he wrote long letters to family, friends, and co-workers. When located at a mission station, he wrote of various literary works in progress: he was apparently working on a history of Indian customs and languages; he wrote of translations of scriptures and hymns in Ojibwe, Cree and Chippewayan; and he even mentioned a treatise he would like to write on how the languages of America come from Asia and are not closely related to Hebrew as was commonly thought. The travel diaries provided him an outlet for (written) communication when others were not available. In this paper, I focus on three interrelated topics of great importance in Evans' diaries: images of the land (found in both his diaries and sketch­ books), people, and politics. In each section, I attempt to present the perspective which emerges from Evans' own writings and drawings. The

2 The journals probably served as a register, as well as a reminder to the missionaries, which would then be sent back to the home base. VISIONS FROM JAMES EVANS' DIARIES 355 visions suggested in the title are those which Evans himself created over a century and a half ago.

LAND: THE SKETCHES Evans' drawings, aside from several views of sailing ships, one sheet of architectural details, one sketch of a basket of flowers (incomplete), and an unfinished sketch of a wigwam, were of a single type. The majority were found in a single book (located at Victoria University, and not available for casual copying), the rest in another sketchbook from the Talman collection. Most of the finished pictures are titled and represent specific locales from Evans' journeys. After examining the corpus, I came to realize that the perspective was almost invariably from the water — this is the perspective of the traveller. I made the following list from the drawings in the sketchbook from the Victoria University collection. Most of the pictures were titled — these are given below — but in some cases I have included more information about the content of the pictures in square brackets:

1. Island Portage Duck Portage Fall 2. Oxford house from the Lake [fort on small hill, two people in a canoe in the water, wigwams outside fence] 3. First Portage Below Oxford Lake 4. Island Portage Fall 5. Entrance of Oxford Lake 6. First fall below Norway House 7. Another view on Windy Lake [includes ducks and a canoe upside-down on shore] The firstfe w pictures were still attached in the book but the rest may not be in their original order:

8. Oxford Lake [unfinished] 9. Oxford Lake from the Narrows 10. Narrows of Oxford Lake, from above 11. [in syllables:] (memenkwaa waapise [sic]) or Butterfly Rock on Oxford Lake 12. Head of the Mahmejemahwid Portage Aug' 12 1842 [two people carrying goods on their backs] 13. Windy Lake [side view of two people canoeing] 14. Portage above Hills Gates 356 LISA PHILIPS VALENTINE

15. Hills Gates [unfinished] 16. Upper I [?] Portages [fine detail of water and bank] 17. Lower Second Portage [outline only of the shape of a bank, some water flows and a sketch of trees/treeline] 18. no title [minimal sketch of waterfall, hills, water] 19. Trout falls [fine detail of water, rocks, canoe moving into left front of picture] 20-21. no titles, minimal sketches [small islands, bare expanse of water in front; second is closer to shore, beaver lodge shape(s)] 22. Hill coming down [line drawing of banks (from perspective of the river) with rocks and potential falls ahead downstream] 23. no title [line drawing near end of book: close view of falls, high rocky banks on either side of water receding to horizon]

When the corpus is viewed together, and placed alongside the corres­ ponding dates in the diaries (in the few cases the date is noted in the pictures), it appears that these are functional sketches rather than purely aesthetic ones. That is, Evans has created aide-memoires crucial if one were to retrace the journey, although the majority of the pictures are of places nearer settlements.3 The perspective from the water is evident, as the first lines drawn are the shoreline and/or the rocks in the water (as in drawings 16, 17 and 18). Travel was primarily by water: Evans'journals have him on horseback only during one brief stretch on the plains in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Portages, canoes, and even the sailing ships all show this attention to travel on water. The only people in Evans' sketches are tiny stick figures, rowing a canoe, shooting ducks (from a canoe), or carrying bundles over a portage. In each case, the people are occupied with activities associated with travel and subsistence. Many of the diary entries recount food shot, snared, trapped, gathered or exchanged. Only finished pictures have people in them and even in these, the water is always primary.

LAND: THE DIARIES From the initial diary entries of 1838 to the latest ones in 1841, one finds a change in perspective. In the early entries, when James Evans was stationed at the St. Clair mission in southwestern (near

3 However, as John Nichols has informed me, Victorian travel journals were created with future publication in mind, so the pictures may well have been intended for public consumption. VISIONS FROM JAMES EVANS' DIARIES 357 modern Sarnia, Ontario), he was thoroughly delighted with the land and its richness for agricultural purposes: [20 July 1838] Arrived this morning at Saugeeng... The Indians at this place deserve great credit for their industry, their corn & potatoe [sic] fields present a beautiful appearance, they are generally speaking well hoed & I do not remember to have ever seen finer looking crops in any place they have evidently got them in, notwithstanding the northerly situation of their location, in good season. When Evans left the St. Clair mission for his first trip north, his biases towards such agricultural land and the lifestyle of the southern regions is evident, as he equates the more northern regions with negative spirituality: [13 July 1838] This morning launched our canoe & found her water tight... The Indians walked along the bank as far as the village of Port Sarnia where we stopped to get a few little necessaries & at ten oclock left for the region of moral darkness & spiritual degradation. Two weeks into his journey north, Evans wrote of the land he had come to, the Isle of FitzWilliam (Manitoulin) with great disdain: [28 July 1838] ...I do not remember to have seen but one small tract of land on hard wood land — the while nothing but scrubby evergreens growing on beds of lim[e]stone, and not even supplying us with Sir F. B. Head's choice prevision whose ber for the support of the "berries on which the Indians feed." I have several times thought, while thinking reflecting on his imortal memorable dispatch, — had he to pick berries and climb lime stone cliffs & wade through the mossy morasses from Cape Hurd to the Saugeeng River, or to pick the lime stone Islands for a week with an empty kitt he would fain to save himself from another such excursion, send Lord Glenelg another dispatch founded on fact & tested by experience. But on 8 November 1838, in the midst of a cold and gruelling canoe trip to Fort William, Evans' discourse reveals someone discovering that he is coming to see the northern lands much differently. The land was becom­ ing "home":

[8 November 1848, noon] A heavy westerly Gale which set in at sun rise while we were preparing to start confines us here, we are baricaded [sic] with our canoe & pine evergreen tops, and upon the whole tolerable com­ fortable, it has snowed all night and there is about 8 inches, the day is now clear & fine but cold wind, & still freezing where the sun does not shine the roar of the lake, Soaring eagle howling wind & binding forest crackling fire & Indian language with many accompanyments tell me I am far from, home? No this is my home — but from the haunts of civilized man... Evans had his moments of wishing to return to more populated 358 LISA PHILIPS VALENTINE environs later which he used as an example of his internal struggle with his own (lack of) spirituality: [1 January 1839] ... My want of love to God — the corruptness of my heart, — my startling sceptical temptations — and my strong attractions to leave the wilderness & settle in society, sometimes greatly alarm me — but still I desire to love God more. Evans' views of the land changed as he travelled farther north, but it appears that this change of heart was in large part due to an appreciation of the stories told by Natives from those areas. For example, one of the most poignant entries I found was Evans' description of travelling along the north shore of Lake Superior: [8 September 1838] Saturday 8 Started early in order to breakfast with Nanaboozhoo, who sits here in the north, but unfortunately not being acquainted with his deityship we passed him by without form the pleasure of a smoke with him, a custom existing with Indians from time immemorial & continued by the voyagers to the present day. I must say I felt great disappointment when I discovered that we had with a fine stiff breeze passed him by beyond the possibility of return, for I had been led to believe that Nanaboozhoo, was nothing more than a mere being of fancy painted on the canvas of the pagans imagination and although I had frequently been told that he sat in the north up Lake Superior, I must acknowledge that I was so atheistic in my principles that I still denied his very existence, judge how great is my surprize [sic] & confusion when I find that he does actually exist in propria persona, that he is here, can be seen & felt that he has remained on his rocky throne... whether divine honors were ever paid to Him or not as some have imagined is a matter of doubt as the indians beli[e]ve that Nanaboozhoo has existed as an indian & never speak of him otherwise that [than?] as such... Later we will see that Evans' concern with the land was intricately interrelated with his concern for people (especially the Aboriginal peoples of the lands) and these concerns led to his involvement in political activities.

PEOPLE We find the words of only a few "others" in James Evans diaries. In this, Evans fitsth e description of David Livingstone: Among many Victorian African travellers who may be cited as not suc­ cumbing to easy paradigms of 'strong othering', David Livingstone is probably the most outstanding figure. That Livingstone's and his fellow explorers' writings were subsequently co-opted by late Victorian hege­ monic discourses cannot be allowed [to diminish] their insight. Livingstone made a conscious effort to let the Other speak, even — and VISIONS FROM JAMES EVANS' DIARIES 359

especially — when his own beliefs were most directly challenged [Smith 1996:286] In fact, there are a handful of entries in Evans' diaries where alternative belief systems are detailed quite nicely. In all but one case, they were discussions with elders (predominantly male) who explained why they did not, could not, or had not yet become Christians. The following excerpts from Evans' diaries present an interesting picture of his own perspectives which appears to range from that of a well- trained Wesleyan missionary, whose terms of reference came from the mission, to a person who truly listened to the people with whom he spoke. The entry of 29 July 1838 is notable for the extended discussion of Christianity, as told Evans by an elder at "Cape Peter": Sunday 29 Spent this day on Cape Peter. On Sunday morning a canoe came along side. We gave the old man a plug of tobacco and had some conversation on the subject of Christianity. He made a reply stating that the great good spirit had made the white man & given him land across the great waters & that he had made the red man & given him a residence in this great country — that to the white man God had sent a great teacher who was born into this world of one of their white women, so likewise a great while ago an indian woman brought forth a great personage who was a teacher from God named Nanaboozhoo, and he taught the indians how to worship the great spirit in the way their fathers have worshipped; that as for himself he was too old to change his religion, but he though the young people might take hold on the white man's religion with some advantage, that he was anxious to have his children instructed in the wisdom of the white man but for himself he could learn nothing new. Other entries from this trip in 1838 present more typical versions of how Evans addressed issues of conversion in his initial foray into the north. In these cases, the teachings of the outsider are the primary focus: [2 August 1838] Visited an old chief from the Head of Lake Superior. He appears to be an intelligent indian... He said, that for his part he heard some few years ago that the indians in the South were all becoming Christians, and that he looked & looked & looked to see some good teacher come to tell them the good news in that country but no one came. at length a teacher came, who professed to teach them the good way & how to worship the great Spirit, and that as soon as ever he heard the good news he went & with his people & children heidinc at was baptized he then enquired if he was to be blamed[.] he thought he was doing right, and wished to serve the Great Spirit.

[11 November 1838] ...the Indians wuc fiuui Hie Oaull bcn.g Fait uf Shengwaiis baud and chmlians & the other pagans I visited them « as they had been unable to fishfo r several days they were almost in a stare of starvation. Although provision was scarce, yet in this indian country 360 LISA PHILIPS VALENTINE the custom is to devide [sic] as long as you have any provision left, I accordingly gave them a small piece of pork & three biscuits, & a few frozen potatoes, for which with a plug of tobacco they were very thankful. I conversed with them on the subject of religion & found them ready to receive the truth. As Evans continued his journey north, the discussions became more dialogic in the diaries, closer to the entry of 29 July 1838: [25 May 1839] ...we got in behind a large Island, which we c[o]asted & made a fine old encampment, under the guidance of two Indians from the Pic. The[y] were two brothers & it is difficult to express the pleasure which they manifested in conversing on the Christian religion & on the establishment of a mission, at their post. One of them is the principle & most aged man of the tribe & appears a sensible indian. Evans' diaries present many images of Aboriginal peoples. They range from the description of prosperity ("plump and greasy skins") and of poverty ("people near starvation... unable to fish or hunt") to descriptions of activities such as hunting, fishing, trading and the like. In this, Evans presents images of women as well as men, including in his recounting discussions about belief systems. Evans wrote of a young woman's success and skill in learning the syllabary which she later taught to others. There are many references to "old men" and to "principle [sic] men" (often referring to the same people). The discussions of band leadership are presented as male-dommated. However, leadership was addressed in terms of belief systems, and the leaders as allowing or disallowing the band to convert, as individuals. (This distinction is important: the band was allowed or disallowed choice, but if allowed a choice, that choice still belonged to the individual. Thus, a leader might disallow conversion entirely, but even if HE were open to conversion, it was not forced on all members of the band.) While leadership was presented as male-dommated, women were presented as trading alone, fishing, reading, writing and translating, gumming boat bottoms, carrying heavy loads and steering large canoes through dangerous waters as men rowed.4 This distinction between work and commerce and leadership gives interesting insights into band structure. As I read the diaries, I was struck by how often I was unable to tell whether Evans was writing about Native people or about non-Natives. It

4 One of the most fascinating (and unresolved) issues was Evans' reference to "an old woman my aunt" on 20 June 1839. His use of that particular kin term is very provocative. VISIONS FROM JAMES EVANS' DIARIES 361 simply was not a distinction of importance to him in many cases — he wrote about people as individuals. His fellow missionary, with whom he travelled north, was an Ojibwe from southwestern Ontario, a fact that took me quite a while to piece together from the diaries. Evans encouraged another (non-Native, young, male, and unmarried) co-worker to marry a local (Native) woman. Other issues: the term pagan meant 'not (as yet) a Christian' rather than 'not white' as many contemporary scholars read the term. Pagan was used to describe Natives and non-Natives alike. However, the term Catholic WAS damning in Evans' writings. The term civilized meant 'agri­ culturalists' or 'urbanized' and was also applied regardless of apparent genealogies. Many of Evans' representations of whites, especially men, in the area were, however, quite negative — the standards he set for demonstrating a Christian life were applied all the more strongly to these men than to (recently converted) Aboriginal peoples. In the following two excerpts, which tie into the next section on Evans' political activities, we see clearly the standards by which Evans condemns non-Native business practices. In the second excerpt, he does not spare even members of the Hudson's Bay Company, his benefactor in the north.

[23 July 1838] ... The Huron fishing company have here a fine fishery, not unfrequently taking between three & four hundred barrels of herrings at one haul of the seine. They are erecting some substantial buildings & will doubtless succeed in securing the possession of and this ground &c erecting extensive fishing works & the unless the Indians give them to understand that they intend to occupy this station themselves. The Company pay to the Indians the paltry sum of one hundred dollars a year while four times that sum might doubtless be procured were the value of the ground generally known. [23 October 1841 ] Having encamped near the Fort we washed & dressed, and after about two hours ride reached Fort Pitt. Was kindly received by Mr Fisher. Few Indians present. I was sorry to findtha t here, as well as at Carlton, the men of the Establishment were on Saturday starting for the Plains so that the Sabbath instead of being a day of rest, and in my visit a day of religious instruction, so far as they are concerned it must be a day of labour & hunting. This cannot fail to make an unfavourable impression upon the Indians. They must either think our instructions respecting the Sabbath unnecessarily strict & severe, or otherwise that the Hon. Com. Servants are not practically christians. In the face of this difficulty 1 see but one course open, which is to preach the truth, & should it bear hard or injuriously upon the character of the Hon Com or any of their servants 362 LISA PHILIPS VALENTINE

with themselves rests the remedy. Reformation & consistency. [underlines in the original] In his presentation of people, Evans rejoices in learning about others' values and knowledge. While explicitly focused on converting people to Christianity, he appears equally interested in the lifestyles and the aspira­ tions of especially the Aboriginal populations.

POLITICS Evans' tie to Algonquian peoples and land is especially evident in his political activities, characterized by taking on European officials against policies which would separate the people and their land. Evans' fight to maintain land for the Saugeen peoples against the actions of Sir Francis Bond Head, as noted earlier, may have been initially prompted by Evans' view of the value of the land: The land is excellent — the flats especially so — The a good part of which has been laid down with grass & produces an abundant crop, and such parts of the flats as are not under cultivation are covered with a most luxurious growth of wild grass proving the to a demonsttation the richness of the soil. Should the unjust arrangement compulsive surrender made to Sir F. B. Head be considered valid to at home, which I can scarcely conceive to be possible, after the gracious professions of Lord Glenelg's dispatches & especially after the late instructions from our beloved & youthful Sov[e]reign to Her Representative in this Province, this people are undone. But it cannot be, the honour & dignified character of the British empire will never be tarnished & debased by any dishonest transaction even for a continent much less for a few thousand acres of American land which is dear to the Indians as the graves of their fathers, and valuable as the source of subsistence for their families. Evans' intervention provoked the following statement of the appropriate duties of a Wesleyan missionary written by R. Alder, the secretary of the Wesleyan Missionary Society in London, England, to George Simpson. Alder's note provides some excellent insights into Evans' actions. Actually, this excerpt points to the inappropriateness — in the eyes of Alder — of James Evans' advocacy of Aboriginal issues (typically against government or Hudson's Bay Company officials) given his position. That he would take the stance he did against Sir Francis Bond Head and against practices of the Hudson's Bay Company, and in a letter from New York City against pro-slavery Methodism, speaks to the internal code by which Evans lived: Permit me, my dear Sir, to repeat to you in writing what I have more than VISIONS FROM JAMES EVANS' DIARIES 363

once stated to you in our frequent conversations on this subject, that we send out Missionaries for the accomplishment of one great object which is to promote the spiritual and everlasting welfare of the people amongst whom they are appointed to labour, and that we require require [sic] them everywhere and at all times to avoid interferference [sic] with political parties or secular disputes. They are sent, and, I may add, that they act simply as Teachers ofReligion, and keep that alone in view. They are not permitted to engage in trade of any kind or for any purpose whatsoever, although it is expected and desired that they will use their best endeavours to promote the cultivation of the useful arts amongst the rude and savage tribes and nations in which they are stationed. Our loyal and devoted attachment to our great Institutions in Church and State is well known at home and in every part of the British Empire where our Missionaries are found, and we constantly inculcate upon our agents everywhere the motto of our venerable Founder Be the friends of all; the enemies of none — nor do we employ any man as a Missionary of whose piety, zeal, and Christian Loyalty and general fitness for the work of the Ministry we have reason to doubt. [HBCA D.5/5, 243a, Alder to Simpson, 4 February 1840] Evans also acted as a facilitator for very early land claims. The following two letters from Wawanosh and two other chiefs were written in James Evans' hand (one or two being copies of the originals in Evans' hand, with the appropriate symbols beside Wawanosh and Quageqwan's names). The initial petition reads as follows: Copy of the address sent by Wawanosh to Sir. F. B. Head in Sept 1836 Father, I have just learned that some of the Indians [?]ing at the Saugeeng River while at the Munnetoolin Island surrendered to you part of the Territory which I own. Father I wish to inform you that it has never been understood among the Indians that any person whatever had power or authority to dispose of any part of that tract, without my consent. I am the hereditary & acknowledged chief & as such I feel myself in duty bound, in behalf of my people to throw in my remonstrance to any such sale, barter or concession. Father, I hope that your ears will be open to listen to my words, our Father who lately left us on your arrival was well acquainted with that matter, as the Indians in council last summer informed him by mouth that no persons could dispose of the Sahgeeng land, unless the chiefs were all present & even then not without consent [?]. Father, you must know that we your Red children have never refused to let you have land but we have listened to you at all times, until now we have only one comer left to which we can go for a refuge and no place [?]ane Saugeeng to which we can point our children as an inheritance This our last hope is now gone unless you be pleased to listen to this our reasonable remonstrance. th Father, I can only say, The paper signed by the IndiaraMhe Munmtoolin is good for nothing, because they were not invested with authority to sell, or part with, the land at Saugeeng. di in Father, I hope this information will prevent any proceedings in 364 LISA PHILIPS VALENTINE

surveying or settling the Saugeeng lands, before the subject is properly understood. As we your red children desire to continue that friendly feeling toward our Great Father on the other side the water has now excited for seventy winters. [Added below:] Father We your red children the chiefs of St. Clair [mission?], that what our chief Wawanosh has signed is true and [with] all the chiefs both here & at Munsee [?] Town agree in this matter that the Saugeen lands cannot be surrendered except as a council of all the chiefs and with the consent of Wawanosh. Signed Quageqwan. A letter written by Evans on Christmas 1837 to Col. Hugh (?) of Muncee Town, gives evidence of the reception of that initial petition. 25Decff1837 Sir, I was much surprised last evening on being informed by Mr. Wm. Jones Ind Sup That he had received a letter from you expressing strong dissatisfaction with a document written by me at the request of the Indians and signed by three of the Chiefs at this station. I cannot possibly imagine what clause you can construe as selfish & disloyal to her Majesty's Government and consider that nothing was either expressed or implyed in the document but a desire that the Indians would "remain quiet" & be particularly cautious that no party of vagabonds "designing white men" should draw them from their homes under any false pretences or deceitful promises, and the[n?] as a motive endeavoured to impress on their mind, that by joining any party against Her majesty that they must so doing "lose everything" & "gain nothing." Nothing Sir, I consider, was farther from the sentiment of both the writer and the signers of the letter than disloyalty, and should proof be required by His Excellency \To whom the letter has I understand been forwarded/ [above the line, finalword(s ) indecipherable] respecting the sentiments of the former he can have on the spot the most respectable references & should stronger proof than the flourish of a pen ever be necessary a verbal declaration/ one the writer Sir is not less willing nor less prepared to give it that yourself of whose loyalty \he I'm happy to say/ he forms a higher estimate than you appear to form of his. I am for my own part fully satisfied of the strongest attachment existing toward the British Government by the Chiefs whose names are found in the letter alluded to, and have no doubt should they be called on by the proper authorities to act in any case of emergency they would be found no less ready than others to aid in suppressing any acts of hostility toward her Majesty's Government. I have endeavoured, and shall continue to do, to inculcate the great scriptural sentiment in my intercourse with the various Indian tribes "Fear God Honour the King" and be subject to the powers that be [Front of letter:] last clause VISIONS FROM JAMES EVANS' DIARIES 365

As you have taken the trouble to forward the letter in question to His Ex — perhaps you will be pleased to forward this through the same channel, thereby counteracting the misconstruction which may be otherwise be put on the same under the circumstances. I have the honour to be, Sir, yours respectfully, JE To Col J. V. Hugh [?] L. A. [?] Muncee Town The final example occurs in the James Evans collection in Victoria University: Wawanosh's second petition at St. Clair Mission, 1834-8 Father I have just heard your answer to my petition dated October last. I thank you for listening to my petition it. Father You say "it does not appear that" I "have proved, myself entitled to have been previously consulted previous to the Surrender in question, and, that my "concurrence was necessary to its validity." Father, I would respectfully beg, to be informed what proof you require that I am the rightful proprietor of the Saugeeng Territory. Father, I beg that no surveyors or settlers may be sent on until this question is settled subject is fully understood. As I believe I can prove to your satisfaction that the surrender made was without any authority. Father, I look to you for protection. Wawanosh There are many examples of this type of action in Evans' writings, including many entries in his diaries on other matters where he takes the perspective of the Aboriginal group rather than of the white official. In all cases, James Evans clearly stated a position which recognizes the value of land, labour and potential resources and that those belonged to the Aboriginal peoples.

CONCLUSION I have now read the diaries (along with much of Evans' personal correspondence) from many different angles, each one adding a bit more information as to how Algonquian lands and people left their indelible mark on this sojourner. As Zbinden notes: Narration, be it in fiction, or history, or in whatever life-world context, always serves the apperception and perception of meaning and identity... By narrating, we generate contexts, coherence, and significance. [Zbinden 1996:35] The narrative traces left by Evans paint a picture of an early Victorian Protestant missionary whose integration of personal beliefs and actions was shaped in no small part by Algonquian peoples and their land. 366 LISA PHILIPS VALENTINE

REFERENCES Hudson's Bay Company Archives (HBCA). D.5/5, 243a. R. Alder, Secretary, Wesleyan Missionary Society, to George Simpson, 4 February 1840. Huigen, Siegfried. 1996. Travellers to Monomotapia: the representation of southern Africa by the Dutch in the seventeenth century. History and Anthropology 9:207-230. Smith, M. van Wyk. 1996. The metadiscourses of postcolonialism: 'strong othering' and European images of Africa. History and Anthropology 9:267-291. Tudela, Elisa Sampson Vera. 1996. Voyages in the New World cloister: the representation of travel in the hagiographic literature of New Spain. History and Anthropology 9:199-220. Zbinden, Jttrg. 1996. Historical reality, narrative identity and guilt conscience: on Paul Ricceur's theory of history. Discours social/Social Discourse 8(1—2):25—43.