Abstract
Before British, American, Northern European, and Scandinavian settlers (Dominion Lands Act) came to Canada, the First Nations peoples lived in peace and harmony with the land and all of Creation. The settlers came with the hope and desire of the free land promised by the Canadian government through the campaign, The Last Best West. The Canadian government strived for the expansion of the West, and the only way to do so was to get settlers to do what the West was best known for: farming on the rich soil under their feet. It was the perfect plan. Everyone would live a rich life with the booming Canadian economy. However, certain groups were disregarded from this plan. The groups you would think should have the most prominent positions in the plan: the First Nations.
This paper delves into the division of the land in North America, and the neglect and disrespect toward First Nations because of it. Similarly, the negative treatment towards black peoples by certain agents is explored in context to the glorious promise of The Last Best West. The Métis Scrip is also introduced, which was not exactly an “offer” from the government. A questionable comparison from the laws in the past compared to today is made, and we see that the government has possibly learned from their mistakes—or maybe everything isn’t as it seems.
Throughout this paper, you will get a look into how the Original Peoples were given the short end of the stick in all aspects of life in association to the Crown. From the invasions of different Nations’ land to the apparent must to slice a railway through the rich grounds of the People’s, Western expansion and settlement in Canada aimed to divide the land, but rather divided the people instead.
Western Expansion and Settlement in Canada
The Canadian government had a plan. A plan to bring in settlers with an agricultural background into the West to fuel the economy. “It was a beautiful idea; the promise of free, fertile land in Western Canada” (The Last Best West). Settlers from all over were intrigued by starting a new life on free land in the West. But that wasn’t the case for everyone.
On April 14, 1872, the Dominion Lands Act was put in place to allow the granting of land in Western Canada to individuals, colonization groups, the Hudson’s Bay Company, railway construction, municipalities, and religious groups. There was also land set aside for First Nation reserves (Dominion Lands Act). This Act was a carefully thought out plan with homestead policies to encourage settlement in the West (Dominion Lands Act). However, according to the “Dominion Lands Act” article, there were many rules that came along with the settlement: people must pay a ten dollar administrative fee, were given three years to build a home, clear their land, and then farm this land—this was to ensure there was no land speculation (Dominion Lands Act). I believe that these are a lot of strict rules that people had to follow in order to simply live their life in Canada. Living their lives from stolen land. Stolen from the Original peoples who believe that nobody can own the land. The land belongs to everyone just as much as everyone belongs to the land. There was no private properties, strict policies of owning land that must be abided by, etc. So as the government enforced these rules upon settles in the West, the Métis and First Nations people as a whole, were at peace on their land that was set aside for them. This didn’t last long, however.
Following 1885, “the federal government offered Métis families what was called scrip in exchange for their land title” (Dominion Lands Act). I was informed through the “Dominion Lands Act” article that Métis scrip was a written document in which Métis peoples could trade in for money (in the value of $160 or $240), or for a quarter section of land. Although the government claims they “offered” the Métis peoples this scrip, they were truly forced into it, once again taking away something that belongs to the First Nations peoples, and what belongs to the land: the First Nation-land relationship. By forcing Métis peoples into the scrip “offer,” the Canadian government was making more room for the coming of the white settlers.
The Canadian Pacific Railway was seen as a necessity to bring in settlers into Western Canada. Land was granted to colonization companies who were believed to bring in more settlers, and assist in what mattered most to the economy at the time: agriculture companies. There was slow settlement from 1870-1900 due to a natural collapse in the economy; until Clifford Sifton stepped up as the Minister of the Interior and put in place “an aggressive advertising campaign for free homestead lands in “The Last Best West’” (Dominion Lands Act).
As British, American, Northern Europeans, and Scandinavians settled to Canada for a new life, Italians, South Slavs, Greeks, Syrians, Jews, Asians, Roma people and Black peoples were being denied at the same time—the government wasn’t exactly welcome to all (Dominion Lands Act). Black Oklahomans were thrilled to have a chance to start a new life in the West, fleeing racial violence inflicted on them in the United States of America, but were instead denied and mislead with false information, basically informing them that they would not survive the Canadian climate and environment (The Last Best West). Agents worked to ensure that black peoples would not get into Canada. They would spread horror stories of Canada, and spread misinformation to scare the black peoples and other denied groups away from the country (The Last Best West). This just shows us that although Canada was eager for Western expansion, they obviously weren’t eager enough due to the denial of certain races and ethnicities. Not only did these agents inflict racist actions upon these peoples, but also forged the signatures of Métis peoples when it came to the “offer” of the scrip during negotiations between the Crown and Métis peoples (Dominion Lands Act).
With the Western land being handed to the settlers, the prairie politicians seen it as unfair that the federal government was controlling their land. The federal government then passed on the power of their land to the provincial governments of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba (Teaching Treaties in the Classroom). However, is this not exactly how the Métis and First Nation peoples felt? The government completely disregarded the First Nations peoples relationship with the land and gave it away to settlers for agricultural purposes—the economy’s purposes. Instead of giving the land to the Original Peoples, it was given to settlers to farm, and no care was given to how the First Nations felt about it; yet when the Western Provinces complained to the federal government about controlling their land, the government gave them authority to it with little to no question asked. This is just another example of how the Original Peoples have been stripped by the government of what has been given to them by the Creator.
Not only was the Canadian Pacific Railway thought to be a necessity to bring in settlers, but also essential to creating the Confederation (Teaching Treaties in the Classroom). As Canada pleased the wishes of British Columbia and Ontario to join them, the First Nations people’s ways of life were disregarded. The beginning of the transcontinental expansion did not go so smoothly as the government had planned. To get British Columbia to join their confederacy, the government was to build a railway from British Columbia to Ontario for transporting goods (Teaching Treaties in the Classroom). As the government had already inflicted many times before, doing this would disrespect the First Nation peoples as the railway would be trespassing on their land. Several different Nations like the Métis, Cree, Saulteaux, and Ojibwa had experienced trespassers that they had not consented to. Some Nations were able to kick them out off their land; others simply restricted their rights (Teaching Treaties in the Classroom). I heard on the news a couple days ago that Saskatchewan has passed a new law that if someone is caught trespassing on private property, they will face heavy fines—if not, jail time. Reading “Teaching Treaties in the Classroom” made me think: if trespassing has such heavy consequences throughout Saskatchewan today, then why was it so okay for foreign settlers to trespass freely across First Nations territory in the past? I guess one could maybe say that the government has learned from its mistakes and created heavy laws and consequences today to make up for it. Or, it could just be the fact that there was no respect for the relationship that the First Nation peoples had with the land. That is up for debate.
I now have an understanding on how the Original Peoples had to watch their land get ripped away from them and then given to people who were foreign to the land and lacked the knowledge that the First Nations did, and how they were invaded by the settlers. I couldn’t imagine having something so important taken away from me and given to others who know nothing about it so effortlessly. Although the Last Best West sounded like it would be a life changing and prominent opportunity for some, it would mean that others, such as the Original Peoples, would vulnerably be ripped away from their biggest physical connection to the Creator: the land.
References
N.d. (n.d.). Teaching treaties in the classroom. ITSEYERIS.com. Retrieved November 7, 2021, from https://www.itseyeris.com/book/teaching-treaties-in-the-classroom.
Yarhi, E., & Regehr, T. D. (2006). Dominion lands act. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved November 7, 2021, from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/dominion-lands-policy.
YouTube. (2019). The Last Best West. YouTube. Retrieved November 7, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9h51JxiC6U&t=66s.