Assembling Sovereignty: Canadian Claims to the Athabasca District Prior to Treaty No. 8

ABSTRACT

Recent Canadian legal scholarship has emphasised the centrality of treaties between the colonial state and First Nations in the assertion of Canadian sovereignty over Indigenous lands. Historical interpretations, meanwhile, would suggest that sovereignty, rather than asserted, is assembled over time. Historically, sovereignty is understood to be contingent and layered; it is assembled through a series of ‘detours, improvisations and tinkering.’ This paper looks at the historical circumstances of Canadian sovereignty in the Athabasca district prior to the making of Treaty No. 8 with the First Nations. British sovereignty claims to Rupert's Land and the Northwestern Territories (including the area that came to be known as the Athabasca district), were assembled through the practices and activities of the Hudson's Bay Company. These claims were transferred to Canada in 1869 and Canada hesitantly and quietly took measures to further assemble and express its sovereignty in these lands. Canada surveyed and inventoried the Athabasca district's resources, commenced exploratory work on petroleum resources, provided relief from famine, financially supported schools for Indigenous children, and established and enforced a system of law. By the time Treaty No. 8 was negotiated in 1899, Canada had thus taken a series of steps to assemble and express its sovereignty in the district. Rather than establishing, asserting or legitimating Canadian sovereignty, Treaty No. 8 may be better understood as another measure in the process of assembling it.

KEYWORDS:

• Canada
• sovereignty
• Indigenous peoples
• famine
• Treaty 8

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Morris, The Treaties of Canada, 95 and 103. For similar statements at Treaty 6, see pages 199 and 231.

2 As reported in Mair, Through the Mackenzie Basin, 56–7, 59.

3 Banner, How the Indians Lost Their Land, 14–15; Russell, Recognizing Aboriginal Title, 42–50. Several scholars distinguish between seventeenth century treaties of peace and friendship and nineteenth century treaties about territory. See Calloway, Pen and Ink Witchcraft, 1–11 and Miller, Compact, Contract, Covenant, 33–65. For the numbered treaties see Ray, Miller, and Tough, Bounty and Benevolence and Price, The Spirit and Intent of the Alberta Indian Treaties.

4 Although the doctrine is rooted in fifteenth and sixteenth centuries European legal theories, it is firmly associated with Chief Justice John Marshall's reasoning in Johnson v. M’Intosh 21 U.S. (8 Wheat.) 543 (1823). See Miller, Ruru, Behrendt, and Lindberg, Discovering Indigenous Lands; Benton and Straumann, “Acquiring Empire by Law,” 1–38; MacMillan, Sovereignty and Possession in the English New World. For discussions particular to Canada see Borrows, “The Durability of Terra Nullius: Tsilhqot’in Nation vs. British Columbia,” 701–42; McNeil, “Review of The Doctrine of Discovery Reconsidered and Reconciling Sovereignty: Aboriginal Nations in Canada,” 699–728; Borrows, “Sovereignty's Alchemy: An Analysis of Delgamuukw v. British Columbia,” 537–96; and Asch and Macklem, “Aboriginal Rights and Canadian Sovereignty: An Essay on R. v. Sparrow,” 498. Debates about European assertions of sovereignty and colonisation are at the foundation of the theories of settler colonialism. See Veracini, “Settler Colonialism: Career of a Concept,” 313–33; and Ford, Settler Sovereignty. See Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Calls to Action, Action 45, 47 and 49 for its rejection of the Doctrine. http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/File/2015/Findings/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf

5 McNeil, “Sovereignty and Indigenous Peoples in North America,” 82; McNeil, “Sovereignty on the Northern Plains,” 10–18; Pasternak, “Jurisdiction and Settler Colonialism.” The Supreme Court of Canada has focused on reconciliation as a primary condition of its decisions. MacIntosh, “The Reconciliation Doctrine in the McLachlin Court,” and McLachlin, “Defining Moments.”

6 Johnson, Two Families: Treaties and Government, 23–7. Johnson's conclusion appears to reflect a general consensus among Indigenous legal scholars. See Venne, “Understanding Treaty 6: An Indigenous Perspective,” 173–207; Venne, “Treaty-Making with the Crown,” 44–52; Henderson, Treaty Rights in the Constitution of Canada; and Craft, Breathing Life into the Stone Fort Treaty, 66–83. Anthropologist Asch, On Being Here to Stay: Treaties and Aboriginal Rights in Canada, 73–99 provides a good summary of this understanding with regard to the Indigenous oral tradition.

7 Bourke, “Introduction,” 1–14. For the negotiated nature of colonial sovereignty see Greene, “Negotiated Authorities” and Mancke, “Negotiating an Empire.” For the contested nature of the concept as applied to Indigenous people see Alfred, Peace, Power, Righteousness, 55–69 and McNeil, “Sovereignty and Indigenous Peoples in North America,” 82–7.

8 Pagden, Lords of all the World; Shinoda, Re-Examining Sovereignty, 24–44.

9 Shaw, Indigeneity and Political Theory, 39.

10 Benton, A Search for Sovereignty, 30–2; See also Onuf, “Sovereignty: Outline of a Conceptual History,” 430.

11 Beaulieu, “The Acquisition of Aboriginal Land in Canada,” 104. For a study describing the complexity of these processes see Weaver, The Great Land Rush, 133–77.

12 Russell, Canada's Odyssey, 18–19.

13 Pocock, “Law, Sovereignty and History in a Divided Culture,” 481–506; Pocock, “Deconstructing Europe,” 329–345; Pocock, “History and Sovereignty,” 358–89.

14 Mancke, “Another British America,” 16.

15 Wetherell and Kmet, Alberta's North: A History, 1890–1950, 33–5.

16 McCormack, Fort Chipewyan and the Shaping of Canadian History, 69–70.

17 PC 1703, 28 June 1898, Library and Archives of Canada (LAC), RG10, v. 3848, f. 75236-1.

18 Rupert's Land Act, 1868, 31–32 Victoria, c. 105 (UK); Rupert's Land and North-western Territory Transfer, Imperial Order in Council, 23 June 1870 in Statutes of Canada, 1872.

19 For two works that assess the HBC role see Smith, “The Hudson's Bay Company, Social Legitimacy and Political Economy of the Eighteenth Century,” 71–108; Cavanaugh, “A Company with Sovereignty and Subjects of Its Own?” 25–50.

20 Foster, “Long Distance Justice,” 2–4; Brown, “UNPREDICATABLE AND UNCERTAIN,” 499.

21 Gough, First Across the Continent, 4–5, 62–77; Parker, Emporium of the North, 6–8.

22 For discussion of the judicial activity see Foster, “Long Distance Justice,” 14–32; Bumsted, The Fur Trade Wars, 195–216 and Brown, “Unpredictable and Uncertain,” 500–5.

23 William E. Lass argues that the Boundary Convention of 1818 had the mistaken impression that the 49th parallel had been established as a boundary between HBC and Spanish claims in the Treaty of Utrecht. See “The Northern Boundary of the Louisiana Purchase,” 27–47.

24 Carlos and Hoffman, “The North American Fur Trade,” 984; Foster, “Long Distance Justice,” 32–7; Mancke, “Another British America,” 14–15.

25 Galbraith, The Hudson's Bay Company as Imperial Factor, 113–34. The northern cordillera district of Stikine and those lands in the Peace River country west of the 120th meridian of longitude were included in the newly expanded royal colony of British Columbia in 1863. Gough, “Turbulent Frontiers,” 16–17.

26 Gough, “CROWN, COMPANY, AND CHARTER,” 27. Kent McNeil argues that not only was the extent of British sovereignty contested in a European context, but that outside the Assiniboia settlement and the areas in the vicinity of the fur trade posts, Indigenous people may have retained sovereignty in this fur trade period. See “Sovereignty on the Northern Plains,” 16 and “Sovereignty and the Aboriginal Nations of Rupert's Land,” 2–9.

27 Morris, The Treaties of Canada, 15.

28 Ens, Homeland to Hinterland, 12; Gibson, Law, Life, and Government at Red River, examines the changing nature of government and law in the settlement.

29 ‘An Act for the Temporary Government of Rupert's Land and North-Western Territories, 1869,’ 32–3 Victoria c. 3; Swainson, “Canada Annexes the Northwest: Colonial Status Confirmed,” 137–57; Tough, “Aboriginal Rights versus the Deed of Surrender,” 225–50 points out that Indigenous rights were largely ignored in this process.

30 Ens, Homeland to Hinterland, 121–38; Gibson, Law, Life and Government, chapter 10; Bumsted, The Red River Rebellion.

31 ‘The Manitoba Act, 1870’ 33 Victoria, c. 3; Martin, “Dominion Lands” Policy, 5–6, 20–1.

32 Stacey, “The Military Aspect of Canada's Winning of the West, 1870–1885,” 6–12. Morton, “Cavalry or Police,” 7.

33 ‘An Act to make further provision for the government of the Northwest Territories, 1871’, 34 Victoria, c. 16; ‘The North-West Territorial Act, 1875,’ 38 Victoria, c. 49.

34 ‘The Dominion Lands Act, 1872,’ 35 Victoria, c. 23; Larmour, Laying Down the Line, 19–21.

35 ‘The Administration of Justice, North-West Territories Act, 1873’ 36 Victoria, c. 35.

36 Morton, “Cavalry or Police,” 5–6; McKenna, “Above the Blue Line,” 92–5.

37 St. Germain, Indian Treaty-Making Policy in the United States and Canada, 36–46.

38 Beal and Macleod, Prairie Fire; Stonechild and Waiser, Loyal Till Death.

39 OIC, 1882-982(a), 8 May 1882, LAC, RG2, Series 1, vol. 228.

40 Canada kept the First Nations of Athabasca separate from other First Nations of Manitoba and the North-West Territories. See Annual Report for the Department of Indian Affairs, 1882, 257.

41 David Laird to Minister of Interior, 24 December 1880 and Dewdney to Superintendent General, 12 January 1881, RG 10, vol. 3708, file 19502 pt. 1; Dewdney to Superintendent General, 25 April 1884 (J.A. Macdonald rejected a treaty in a note on the file 27 May 1884); and Superintendent General of Indian Affairs to Privy Council, 19 January 1887, LAC, RG10, 4006, f. 241209–1 (J.A. Macdonald decided not to proceed with a treaty. In his margin note, he wrote that First Nation rights would need to be ‘guarded’ through treaty once the taking up of lands for settlement commenced). Additional examples are J. Finalyson to Indian Commission, 7 January 1890; Desjarlais to Superintendent General, 4 February 1890; Vankoughnet to Dewdney, 22 February 1890 (Dewdney rejected the treaty in a margin note on the document, 24 February 1890); [Vankoughnet?] to Dieudonne Desjarlais, 27 February 1890; [Vankoughnet?] to Indian Commissioner, 11 March 1890, LAC, RG 10, v. 3708, f. 19502 pt.1.

42 Thomas, The Struggle for Responsible Government. Federal constituencies in Assiniboia, Saskatchewan, and Alberta were created by legislation in 1886. 49 Victoria, c. 24. The practice of restricted application of Territorial Ordinances appeared through convention. The Game Ordinance, Territorial Ordinances, No. 8, 1893 clearly applied to the Athabasca district but enforcement was restricted to the districts of Assiniboia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. The next year, the Parliament of Canada decided to enact its own legislation with regard to game in ‘The Unorganized Territories’ Game Preservation Act, 1894’ which applied to ‘those portions of the North-west Territories of Canada not included within the provisional districts of Assiniboia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan.’ 57–8 Victoria, c. 31, s. 2.

43 General Fishery Regulations: Province of Manitoba and the North-West Territories, OIC 1889–1753, LAC, RG2, Series A-1-d, v. 2776 and General Fishery Regulations: Province of Manitoba and the North-West Territories, OIC 1891-3053, 4 January 1892, LAC, RG2, Series A-1-d, v. 2779.

44 Zaslow, The Opening of the Canadian North, 1870–1914, 94–6. Prospecting for minerals was permitted on ‘vacant Indian lands that have been surrendered’ and was governed by the Superintendent General of Indian Affairs. See OIC 1789, 15 September 1888, LAC, RG2, Series A-1-d, v. 2774.

45 Gluek, “The Minnesota Route,” 44–50.

46 Friesen, “Imports and Exports in the Manitoba Economy, 1870–1890.”

47 Leonard, Delayed Frontier, 150–5.

48 McCormack, Fort Chipewyan, 71–84.

49 Ray, The Canadian Fur Trade in the Industrial Age, 50–60 refers to it as an era of transition.

50 Gough, “CROWN, COMPANY, AND CHARTER,” 25; Benton, A Search for Sovereignty, 30–1, 55–6.

51 Zeller, Inventing Canada, 269.

52 Fleming, Report of Progress on the Explorations and Surveys up to January 1874, 45–55 and 68–79; Horetzky, Canada on the Pacific; Selwyn, “Report on Explorations in British Columbia,” 28–86; Macoun, “Report on the Botanical Features of the Country Traversed from Vancouver Island to Carleton, on the Saskatchewan,” 110–232; Dawson, “Report on an Exploration from Port Simpson on the Pacific Coast to Edmonton on the Saskatchewan Embracing a portion of the Northern Part of British Columbia and the Peace River Country,” B1–B98; Bell, “Report on Part of the Athabasca River”; Ogilvie, “Report” Annual Report of the Department of the Interior, 1884, 45–56; Geological and Natural History Survey of Canada, Annual Report, 1888–89, 12A–15A; Ogilvie, Report on the Peace River and Tributaries, 1891. McConnell, “Report on the District of Athabasca Composed of the Country Between the Peace River and Athabasca River North of Lesser Slave Lake,” 5D–67D. The district's potential was popularised in Macoun, Manitoba and the Great Northwest, 121–40.

53 Larmour, Laying Down the Lines, 97–8; Leonard, The Last Great West, 17–21, 81–2; McCormack, Fort Chipewyan, 86–9.

54 Vankoughnet to Superintendent General, 5 November 1883 and Dewdney to Vankoughnet, 20 April 1884, LAC, RG10, v. 4006, file 241209-1. See the margin notes on both documents by John A. Macdonald.

55 Senate of Canada, The Report of the Senate Select Committee Appointed to Enquire into the Resources of the Great Mackenzie Basin. Reissued as Chambers, The Great Mackenzie Basin.

56 Dewdney to Vankoughnet, 8 Dec. 1890 and PC 52, 26 January 1891, LAC, RG10, v. 3848, f. 75236-1.

57 Geological and Natural History Survey of Canada, Annual Report, 1888–89, 12A–15A and Geological Survey of Canada, Annual Report, 1894, 8A–12A. Ogilvie, Report on the Peace River and Tributaries in 1891; Fumoleau, As Long As This Land Shall Last, 41–3 discusses the aborted treaty proposal and blames the delay on the chaos that ensued in the Conservative party following Macdonald's death.

58 OIC 2774, 18 December 1890, LAC, RG 2, Series A-1-d, v. 2778. Following the treaty, a staking rush occurred and by 1910 33 claims had been approved in the Athabasca River basin. H.W. Rowatt, Memorandum to Minister of Interior, 20 December 1910, LAC, RG 85, v. 1814, f. 55190.

59 Wetherell and Kmet, Alberta's North: A History, 32.

60 Robert Coutts, “We See Hard Times Ahead of Us,” 448; Cavanagh, “A Company with Sovereignty and Subjects of Its Own?,” 44–5.

61 Macdonald to Indian Agent (Battleford), 21 January 1880, LAC, RG10, v. 3703, f. 17680.

62 Roderick Macfarlane to Lawrence Clarke, 28 May 1884, LAC, RG10, v. 4006, f. 241209-1.

63 Leonard, Delayed Frontier, 52–64.

64 Extracts form a letter to the Commissioner of the Hudson's Bay Company form Dr. McKay, 12 October 1886, LAC, RG10, v. 3708, f. 19502 pt. 1.

65 Garrioch to Young, 15 December 1887, Provincial Archives of Alberta (PAA), Anglican Diocese of Athabasca Fonds, Acc. 70.387, v. A281, f. 105; Also see Synod Report, 8 July 1888, PAA, Acc. 70.387, v. A220, f. 3.

66 Vankoughnet to Superintendent General, 19 May 1888, LAC, RG10, v. 3708, f. 19502 pt. 1.

67 Bishop Clut to John A. Macdonald, 18 May 1888, LAC, RG10, v. 3708, f. 19502 pt. 1.

68 Dunvegan Inspection Report, 1889, Hudson's Bay Company Archives (HBCA), B.56/e/3.

69 Ray, “Periodic Shortages, Native Welfare,” 1–20.

70 L. Vankoughnet, Memoradum, 19 January 1887, LAC, RG10, v. 4006, f. 241209-1. For a full discussion about the issues see also Vankoughnet to Dewdney, 3 June 1887 and A. Desmarais to Dewdney, 2 January 1888, LAC, RG10, v. 3781, f. 39830; Memorandum to Accountant, 9 June 1887 and Vankoughnet to J. Gough Brick, 11 July 1887, LAC, RG10, v. 3779, f. 39478; E.J. Lawrence to Hayter Reed, 5 Sept. 1887 and Hayter Reed to Superintendent General, 4 Nov. 1887, LAC, RG10, v. 3784, f. 40775 (See margin note)

71 Tobias, “Canada's Subjugation of the Plains Cree, 1879–1885,” 519–48; St. Germain, “Feed or Fight: Rationing the Sioux and the Cree, 1868–1885,” 71–90.

72 Vankoughnet to Superintendent General 21 January 1888 and 19 May 1888, LAC, RG10, v. 3708, f. 19502 pt. 1.

73 Dewdney to SGIA, 12 January 1881, LAC, RG10, v. 3708, f. 19502 pt. 1; Vankoughnet to Dewdney, 19 November 1883 and Dewdney to Superintendent General, 25 April 1884, LAC, RG10, v. 4006, f. 241209-1. John A. Macdonald rejected a treaty until the land was required for settlement in a margin note on Dewdney's letter dated 27 May 1884.

74 Wrigley to DSIA, 12 Nov. 1886 forwarding an extract of Letter, William McKay to Wrigley, 12 October 1886 and Lawrence Clark to Vankoughnet, 10 January 1888, LAC, RG10, v. 3708, f. 19502 pt. 1.

75 Secretary (HBC) to Donald Smith, 15 May 1888, LAC, RG10, v. 3708, f. 19502 pt. 1.

76 Superintendent General to Privy Council, 19 January 1887, LAC, RG10, v. 4006, f. 241209-1. A margin note on the document indicates that John A. Macdonald decided to delay making a treaty until after the next general election. Vankoughnet had prepared a different memorandum opposed to making a treaty the same day. Vankoughnet to Superintendent General, 19 January 1887, LAC, RG10, v. 4006, f. 241209-1.

77 Edmonton Bulletin, 22 January 1887; a copy of the story from the Calgary Tribune, 8 February 1887 is in the files of the Department of Indian Affairs, LAC, RG10, v. 4006, f. 241209-1.

78 Clut to Superintendent General, 18 May 1888 and Vankoughnet to Superintendent General, 30 May 1888, LAC, RG10, v. 3708, f. 19502 pt. 1.

79 Richard Athabasca in Evangelical Churchman, 3 May 1888, 616–18 copy in LAC, RG10, v. 3708, f. 19502-1.

80 J. Gough Brick to Vankoughnet, 7 May 1888 and Vankoughnet to Superintendent General, 19 May 1888, LAC, RG10, v. 3708, f. 19502 pt. 1.

81 Memorandum of the Superintendent General, 7 July 1888, OIC 1714(a), LAC, RG2, Series 1, v. 398.

82 OIC 1714, 11 July 1888, LAC, RG2, Series 1, v. 398.

83 Dunvegan Inspection Report, 1891, HBCA, B.56/e/4.

84 Vankoughnet to Wrigley, 29 January 1890, LAC, RG10, v. 3708, f. 19502 pt. 1.

85 OIC 272, 3 February 1890, RG 10, v. 3708, f. 19502 pt. 1.

86 See Dewdney's margin note on Vankoughnet to Dewdney, 27 February 1890 and Vankoughnet to Dewdney, 29 March 1890, LAC, RG10, v. 3708, f. 19502 pt. 1.

87 Post Reports, Lesser Slave Lake, 1890, HBCA B.115/e/11.

88 Post Reports, Lesser Slave Lake, 1890, HBCA, B.115/e/10.

89 Fort St. John Inspection Report, 1891, HBCA B.189/e/2.

90 Dunvegan Inspection Report, 1891, HBCA B.56/e/4. The HBC used horses for transportation and started a ranch at Spirit River in 1888. They may have been the source. Leonard, Delayed Frontier, 211.

91 Fort St. John Journal, 31 December 1892, HBCA B.189/a/5.

92 Fort St. John Inspection Report, 1897, HBCA B.189/e/4.

93 Fort Chipewyan Inspection Report, 1897, HBCA B.39/e/25.

94 Forget to Secretary, 24 November 1897, LAC, RG10, v. 3708, f. 19502 pt. 3.

95 Annual Report for the NWMP, 1897, 161. Jarvis to Officer Commanding, 2 March 1897, LAC, RG 18, v. 128, f. 23–37; F. White, Comptroller to J. Smart, DSGIA, 17 June 1897 and Acting Secretary Department of Indian Affairs to White, 25 June 1897, LAC, RG10, v. 3708, f. 19502 pt. 3.

96 J.D. McLean to C.C. Chipman, 2 June 1897; Forget to Secretary, 2yth [sic] November 1897 and McLean to White, 3 December 1897, LAC, RG 10, v. 3708, f. 19502 pt. 3. In those districts with NWMP patrols, the government continued to distribute emergency relief through the HBC when required. D.C. Scott, Memo to Secretary, 9 November 1899, RG 10, v. 3708, f. 19502 pt. 3.

97 Leonard, Delayed Frontier, 104–9. Vankoughnet to S.G.I.A., 6 June 1877 and E.A. Meredith, Deputy Minister of the Interior to Bishop Henri Faraud, 11 June 1877, LAC, RG10, v. 3649, f. 8185; E. J. Lawrence to Minister of Agriculture, 6 Dec. 1879 and Bishop Bompas to Laird, 15 February 1883, LAC, RG10, vol. 3707, file 19446 pt. 3.

98 A. Desmarais to Dewdney, 2 January 1888, LAC, RG10, v. 3781, f. 39830.

99 Vankoughnet to Superintendent General, 16 May 1887, LAC, RG10, v. 3779, f. 39478.

100 Annual Report for the Department of Indian Affairs, 31 December 1892 (Ottawa: 1893), 52 and 306–7; Annual Report for the Department of Indian Affairs, 30 June 1893 (Ottawa: 1894), 288–95.

101 Annual Report for the Department of Indian Affairs, 30 June 1898, (Ottawa: 1899), 300 and 374–9.

102 Foster, “Sins Against the Great Spirit,” 23–76; Foster, “Law of Necessity in Western Rupert's Land and Beyond, 1670–1870,” 77–8. Rollason Driscoll and Macleod, “Natives, Newspapers, and Crime Rates,” 254.

103 Brown, “Unpredictable and Uncertain,” 497–512; Harring, “There Seems to Be No Recognized Law,” 93–7.

104 Butler, The Wild Northland, 220.

105 Gavigan, Hunger, Horses and Government Men, 45; Leonard, Delayed Frontier, 138–43. Garrioch, A Hatchet Mark in Duplicate, 30–2. Hugh Richardson was one of the 5 original justices of the Supreme Court of the NWT in 1886.

106 H. Moberly to David Laird, 23 May 1880 forwarded in David Laird to Minister of the Interior, 24 Dec. 1880, LAC, RG10, 3708, 19502 pt. 1.

107 ‘Arrest at Slave Lake,’ Edmonton Bulletin, 1 October 1887 and ‘Supreme Court,’ Edmonton Bulletin, 22 October 1887. McCormack, Fort Chipewyan, 91–2 emphasises the Indigenous people's unwillingness to accept the authority of Canadian law in her account. The wîhtikôw phenomenon is discussed in Carlson, “Reviving Witiko (Windigo): An Ethnohistory of ‘Cannibal Monsters’,” 355–94.

108 Herchmer to Comptroller, 23 March 1888; Comptroller to unidentified, 23 March 1888 (with marginal note from Macdonald); and Comptroller to L. Vankoughnet, 3 April 1888, LAC, RG 18, v. 21, f. 361.

109 Statutes of Canada 1894, 57–8 Victoria, c. 31. The origin of the legislation is discussed in Sandlos, “Where the Scientists Roam,” 93. For a discussion about changing attitudes towards wildlife after 1890 see Colpitts, Game in the Garden, chapter 3. For jurisdiction and wildlife management see Loo, States of Nature, 13–24.

110 Fumoleau, As Long As This Land Shall Last, 53.

111 Heatherington to Officer Commanding, 18 August 1893, LAC, RG 18, v. 77, f. 162–169.

112 Inspector Snyder to Officer Commanding, 14 September 1896, LAC, RG 18, v. 124, f. 53.

113 Oliver to Laurier, 11 September 1896; and Comptroller, Memo Respecting Extension of Mounted Police Supervision to the Unorganized Territories in the North West, 30 September 1896, LAC, RG 18, v. 128, f. 23–37.

114 E. Newcombe, Acting Deputy Minister of Justice to Fred White, 6 October 1896; Herchmer to Comptroller, 5 October 1896; Routledge to Herchmer, 2 December 1896, and Fred White to A.M. Burgess, 23 December 1896, LAC, RG 18, v. 128, f. 23–37.

115 Newcombe to White, 4 December 1896, LAC, RG10, v. 128, f. 23–37.

116 Heatherington to Officer Commanding, 10 August 1897, LAC, RG18, v. 128, f. 23–37.

117 Annual Report of NWMP, 1897, 171.

118 Routledge to Commissioner, 4 April 1898, LAC, RG18, v. 1427, f. 188–190.

119 A.M. Jarvis to Officer Commanding, 31 January 1897 and Sgt. Heatherington to A.M. Jarvis, 25 February 1897, LAC, RG18, v. 1398, f. 46; Annual Report of NWMP, 1897, 158 and Annual Report of NWMP, 1898, 96.

120 Jarvis to Officer Commanding, 25 February 1897 and Heatherington to Officer Commanding, 25 February 1897, LAC, RG 18, v. 128, f. 23–37. Alexander Laviolette would sign Treaty No. 8 at Fort Chipewyan, 13 July 1899 as the chief of the Chipewyan people in that area.

121 Annual Report of NWMP, 1897, 200.

122 White to Sifton, 31 August 1897 forwarding Heatherington to Office Commanding, 11 July 1897, LAC, RG 18, v. 141, f. 567–595 – a note on the file asks, ‘What territory is not covered by treaties – briefly what tribes must be dealt with for remainder.’

123 White to James Smart, 14 October 1897, LAC, RG18, v. 141, f. 567–595; the DIA copy of this request is in LAC, RG10, v. 3708, f. 19502 pt. 3.

124 Oliver to Sifton, 13 and 18 August 1897 and Sifton to Oliver 21 August 1897, LAC, Sifton Papers, MG 27, II D 15, v. 29, reel C465. Oliver's newspaper carried on an aggressive campaign for the route. See for example the stories Edmonton Bulletin, 9, 16 August, 25 October, 8, 11, 15, 25 November 1897.

125 Ogilvie, The Klondike Official Guide, 95–104.

126 Resolution of the Legislative Assembly of the North West Territories, 11 Nov and 13 Dec. 1897, LAC, RG 15, v. 740, f. 436787; Report of Chalmers, D.L.S. in Annual Report of the NWMP, 1897, Appendix O, 197–8; Larmour, Laying Down the Lines, 100–3.

127 Fort St. John Inspection Report, 1897, HBCA B.189/e/4; Peace River Crossing Inspection Report, 1897, HBCA, B.325/e/2.

128 MacGregor, The Klondike Rush Through Edmonton and Wonders, “Edmonton in the Klondike Gold Rush.”

129 Annual Report of the NWMP, 1897, Appendix M and N; Herchmer to Sifton, 20 November 1897, RG 18, v. 168, f. 266–274 and ‘Return giving a statement of officers and men … .’ 11 May 1898, LAC, RG 18, v. 151, f. 253–270.

130 K. Anderson to Officer Commanding G Division, 13 September 1897, LAC, RG 18, v. 140, f. 443–461 and S. Heatherington to Officer Commanding Fort Saskatchewan, 14 September 1897, LAC, RG 18, v. 128, f. 23–37.

131 Herchmer to Snyder, 28 November 1897, LAC, RG 18, v. 1401, f. 242–247.

132 Holmes to Young, 4 April and 3 June 1899, PAA, Acc. 70.387, A.281, f. 149 and ‘Indian Murder,’ Edmonton Bulletin, 20 April 1899. In consultation with the Treaty Commissioners, deposing witnesses was delayed until after the treaty was completed. Deputy Minister of Justice to Secretary, Department of Indian Affairs, 1 June 1899, LAC, RG10, v. 7471, f. 19131–4 pt. 1. Following the completion of the treaty, the NWMP escorted witnesses from Lesser Slave Lake for Edmonton, 3 July 1899. Mair, Through the Mackenzie Basin, 76. Wetherell and Kmet, Alberta's North: A History, 51–2 emphasise the anxiety surrounding the treaty for the emergence of the wîhtikôw.

133 Ray, Miller, and Tough, Bounty and Benevolence, 156–9; Ray, “Treaty 8: A British Columbian Anomaly,” 24–34; Daniel, “The Spirit and Terms of Treaty Eight,” 62–6.

134 OC 1703, 27 June 1898, LAC, RG10, v. 3848, f. 75236-1.

135 Herchmer to Superintendent General of Indian Affairs, 2 December 1897, RG10, v. 3848, f. 75236-1.

136 Annual Report of the Department of Indian Affairs, 1899 (Ottawa: 1900), xix.

137 Mair, Through the Mackenzie Basin, 56–7, 59.

138 Benton, A Search for Sovereignty, 288–9.