THE INDIANS, INUIT, DENE, AND METIS PEOPLES
WERE HOPING THAT GOVERNMENT POLICY OF
GENOCIDE AND ASSIMILATION
WOULD BE ELIMINATED IN THE 2OTH CENTURY
METIS HISTORY Return to MAIN METIS index
1900
The Wild Cook Gang caused havoc from Texas to Colorado during the period 1893 to
1897 with some activity to 2000. Most of the gang members were
Metis. Bill Cook, Metis (1873-2000), Jim Cook, Metis, d-2000,
Crawford Golbsby alias Cherokee Bill, Metis (1876-1896), Thurman (Skeeter)
Blldwin, Sam McWilliams alias Verdigris Kid and Jim French. The gang is
not will known as they operated on a fairly loose basis. Some time only
two member, three, four and usually no more than 6 at a time. They also
allowed any other outlaw to join them on a caper.
1901
July: In the western U.S.A. a heat wave killed 9,500 people.
1902
Edouard Beaupre (1881-1902), Metis, born Bunch, Saskatchewan, he could speak Cree, English, Sious and French, was 8 feet 2 inches tall and weighted 308 lbs.
St. Paul, Minnesota was the head quarters of the Canadian North West. Amos Warner and Colonel Davidson were commissioned by Mr. C. W. Speers of Brandon, backed by Clifford Sifton, Minister of the Interior, to create the Saskatchewan Valley Land Company. This company acquired major blocks of land for a dollar and seventy cents per acre. Much of the land is between the Saskatchewan Rivers, and other land blocks are north west of Regina. A. D. McRae became Secretary of the Company and, eventually, a Canadian Senator. The Winnipeg Tribune said, "Those fool Yankees can have all of it- its not worth ten cents an acre." Only two Canadians joined in the investment: D. H. McDonald of Fort Qu'Appelle and A. J. Adamson. In four years the Company acquired and sold four million acres of land. Tracts of ten to twenty thousand acres changed hands before they were sold to individual settlers. Thirty years earlier, the Metis had requested the rights to much smaller tracts of land and were turned down as being absurd. Yet now it was all right to sell their lands to the Americans. Little wonder that the Native people still hold resentment against the English of Ontario, as they retreated northward before the inexorable advance of American land grabbers.
1903
"We left Manitoba because we were not free, and we came here to what was still a wild country in order to be be free, and still they do not leave us alone." Gabriel Dumont (1837-1906). Metis son Isidore Dumont.
June 16: Roald Amundsen (1872-1928) a Norwegian departed Oslo, Norway in the ship Gjoa with 5 years of provisions to sail the Northwest Passage. He departed under cover of darkness, escaping creditors who threatened to seize his ship and supplies. They would arrive Nome, Alaska in 1906 to a wildly cheering, jubilant crowd. See 1906:
1904
The Turtle Mountain band of Chippewa People of North Dakota were forced to accept 10 cents an acre for appropriated lands. This became know as the 10 cent treaty. The American Government in the 1800's attempted to avoid payment on 10 million acres appropriated claiming these Mixed Blood Peoples were Canadians in origin. The Metis claimed that the Ojibwa from Lake Superior has been in this region since the 1600's.
1905
March 2: A Sheriff's deed recorded against the (II)-John Salzl land in Zell, South Dakota, resulted in the land being sold for $2,000.00.
August 18: The Roald Engebreth Amundsen (1872-1928) expedition had been frozen in Gjoa Haven for 18 months living near the Netsilik Eskimo (Inuit). They lived in complete harmony during this time together.
1906
The last of the Vikings, Roald Engebreth Amundsen (1872-1928) became the first European to travel the long sought Northwest Passage from 1903 to 1906. He wrote that he was much attracted to Eskimo (Inuit) women. Luke Ikualleq claimed before his death to be the son of the Norwegian explorer.
January 31: A devastating offshore earthquake caused a tsunami that submerges part of Tumaco. Columbia and washes away every house on the coast from Rioverde, Ecuador and Micay, Columbia.
1909
A miller on the banks of Thunder Creek at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan , began to make an all-purpose flour. He named it Robin Hood, with an Adsolute Satisfaction or Your Money Back Plus 10% Premium.
1910
May: (II)-Vilhjalmur Stefansson (1879-1962) born Manitoba, Canada of Icelandic parents journeyed to Victoria Island in the Arctic to investigate reports of Viking descendents living there. He reports the natives were fair-skinned, and one very light maid sang and danced for Stefansson to the rhythms of what he called the ancient Norse scaldic poetry. He said nothing conclusive was discovered about the origins of these strange peoples. He later concluded that they might be of Scandinavian origin.
1911
March 14: Albert J. Monkman, secretary to Louis Riel of Red River Rebellion of 1870 died in Edmonton, Alberta. He was also a great friend of Chief Pound Maker. Most of his family live in Rosseau, Minnesota.
1912
Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec expanded their borders to include their Northern Territories.
Reverend Louis Laronde, a Metis and clerical educator, was to be put in charge of a Residential School. The officials felt it was a high risk to put a Half-Breed (Metis) in charge of a school. Besides, the school will be a success and we don't want a Half-breed (Metis) getting the credit.
A tornado ripped through Regina, Saskatchewan, lasted only three minutes, killed 40 people, injured 300 and left 25% of the population homeless.
1918
The First Nations and Metis military personnel returning from service in WW-I, WW-II and the Korean War were not granted veterans benefits.
1920
The Metis of Fort Resolution, Fort Smith and Fort Chipewyan presented Prime Minister Arthur Meighen with a petition asking for the Royal Commission to investigate their grievances with the scrip scandal. Their request is refused and it was suggested that if any frauds were perpetrated with script, they should take ordinary proceedings before the court. Following this advice, they charged Richard Secord ,a wealthy businessman in Edmonton, with fraud. He had obtained hundreds of thousands of acres of land which he sold for profit. Panic struck the business and political communities, for many family fortunes were built from the script of the Metis and Indians.
Few Albertans are aware of the emergence of the Alberta Ku Klux Klan this decade as an offshoot of the Ontario Orange Order. The Ontario Orange Order was a offshoot of the Protestant Orange Order of Ireland founded in 1795. The original mandate was to further Protestantism and loyalty to the English Crown. The Canadian version targeted the Indians, Metis, French, Catholics and, in general, the suppression of non Anglo-Saxon immigration into Canada. The American version targeted the Blacks. Other groups affiliated with or supportive of the KKK ideals were the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire. This Red Necked view of Canada was encouraged and fueled by George Exton Lloyd, the Anglican Bishop, who worried about the Mongrelization of Canada and urged to keep Western Canada British.
1921
May 30: Federal Legislation is passed stating that prosecutions for an offense concerning half-breed (Metis) script must be brought forward within three years of the date of its commission. Subsequently the charges against Richard Secord are dropped. The clear message, after years of petitions, is that Anglo-Saxon Common Law provides protection to the rich and powerful but no recourse to the poor. The law is repealed in 1922 but the charges against Secord and many others are not re-filed. The Metis had now completely lost faith in the Canadian System. It takes a long time to understand you can't win at Chinese baseball when your basic historical nature is trusting and forgiving.
1926
August 9: Scotch, French and Indian races, with their mixtures, were compared briefly in Thursday session of the half-breeds (Metis) investigation commission. "Have you found any difference in the living conditions of the Scotch half-breeds (Metis) and the French half-breeds (Metis)?" asked James M. Douglas, commissioner. Felix Callihoo, of St. Paul de Metis, member of the Metis executive, smiled, "As I had it explained to me," he said, "The Scotch half-breed (Metis) is considered a big improvement on the Scotsman himself, but it made an awful mess of the Indian."
1930
The Metis are only one of several protest movements that developed in Western Canada. Some prominent leaders of the Metis movement are: (II)-James Brady, Metis, (1908-1967), Secretary Treasurer, Malcolm Norris, Metis, (1900-1967), first Vice-President of the protest, Peter Tomkins Jr.Metis, (1899-1970) and Joe Dion, Metis, leader of the protest, a school teacher from Frog Lake, born on the Keehewin Reserve near St. Paul des Metis, he was the nephew of Big Bear.
1931
Four men, (II)-James Brady (1908-1967), Malcolm Norris (1900-1967), Peter Tomkins (1899-1970) and Joe Dion (*) created a petition that addressed the issue of Metis land tenure and the Alberta Government is surprised that over five hundred people had signed the petition. The Roman Catholic Church jumped in response to warnings of radicals among them, an obvious attempt to discredit their activity, it is true, after all they are all radicals. Any Socialist is considered a radical no better than a Communist and this church fed belief would prevail into the 1980's. The Church had failed to remember that Jesus Christ was a radical in his time. (*)Some suggest Felix Callihoo was involved and they were called the 'fabulous five'. Together they helped form the Metis Association of Alberta.
1932
December
28: St. Albert, Alberta, L'Association des Metis de
L'Alberta et les Territories du Nord Ouest is formed by Joseph Dion, President,
Malcolm Norris, 1st Vice-President, and Jim Brady Secretary. Peter Tompkins
and Adrian Hope, as well as others, were in attendance. Malcolm Norris
tabled the first formal plea to adopt the name Metis and reject the term
Half-breed (Metis). This association would become known as the Metis Association of
Alberta. It is noteworthy that children born of Anglo-Saxon and Indian
were known as Half-breed (Metis) whereas children born of French and Indian were known as
Metis. The Metis greatly outnumbered the Anglo-Saxon Half-breed (Metis) so it is
not surprising that the motion carried and is now accepted.
1934
As a result of the Alberta Metis Association's intense lobbying, the Half-breed (Metis) Commission (Ewing Commission) was appointed to begin hearings and consultations with the Metis. Some believe Jim Brady was the political strategist during the commission hearings.
The Ewing Commission finally admitted the St. Paul de Metis experiment of Father Lacombe was a success in the transition of Metis to agriculture, mixed farming, raising cattle and some commercial ventures. Nevertheless, a good proportion of these people had been prevented from developing their interests by government policies which favored white settlers. The Ewing Commission bias is exemplified by the belief if a Metis could pass or disguise the presence of Indian features he was not to be classified as a Metis. It is interesting to note that no attempt was made to define who is a white person. Some tried to establish the European strategy of divide and conquer by dividing Metis into different sub groups, these include Bishop Breynat, Father Coudert and F. Falkener, M.L.A. Stony Plain and Inspector Christianson of Indian Affairs. The church position was to secure day-to-day supervision of the Metis through religious organizations, this the Metis firmly rejected.
1935
The A.F. Ewing Commission heard the Metis grievances this year but wanted first to define who was a Metis. Malcolm Norris maintained that if a person has a drop of Indian blood in his veins and has not assimilated in the social fabric of our civilization then he is a Metis. The commission decided that to be a Metis, a person had to either look like an Indian or be able to establish Indian ancestry. They also had to live the life of an ordinary Indian and non-treaty Indians would be included. They believed they had focused on the most destitute of the Native population. But if we applied this same logic to European races in Canada, for example, there would be few British people in Canada.
Rev. Father Falher and Rev. Bishop Guy wanted Federal control of the Metis and wanted the Church to be responsible for their education. Malcolm Norris and (II)-Jim Brady are adamantly opposed to this because they know the Church, especially the Roman Catholic Church, is part of the problem, not the solution. Three hundred years of Church controlled education has only resulted in disaster for the Native peoples. It is noted that ninety percent of the Metis had tuberculosis and fifty to sixty per cent suffered some form of communicable disease. The controlling majority of the Commission, however, did not want to upset the general public in any way in reaching a solution. They therefore concluded the Metis problem is their failure to adapt to White ways, their inability to handle money and it was suggested that they be kept away from White Society. This is the historic position of the Church. Best to sweep it under the rug and it will go away in time.
1950
The First Nations and Metis military personnel returning from service in WW-I, WW-II and the Korean War were not granted veterans benefits.
1950
Anti-Semitism is mainstream in Canada. It is respectable, no one apologized for being anti-Jewish. It was heard in Parliament, read in the press and taught in the schools and churches. It has existed in Canada for the past 400 years. Anti-Indian and anti-Metis attitudes are also mainstream, as is anti-Asian.
1953
The Canadian policy of assimilation was applied to the Indians and Metis for 400 years then: The Government began enforcing their assimilation policy this year against the European Sons of Freedom. About 170 children are hunted down like wild animals and forced into a Residential School in New Denver. These children are imprisoned in a type of concentration camp until 1959. Making the children wards of the state justified this Nazi type of internment in the Governments mind. Law suites would eventually be filed in 2001. No one complained. Don't be surprised when they come for you! New politically correct tactics will be used and you will not even be aware of their social engineering methods, until its too late.
The Metis were illegally forced from their lands in northwestern Saskatchewan. The Metis of Jans Bay, Cole Bay, Ill-a-la-Crosse and Beauvel received 19.5 million in March 2005 as way of compensation.
The First Nations and Metis military personnel returning from service in WW-I, WW-II and the Korean War were not granted veterans benefits.
1960
July 1: Canadian treaty Indians are given the right to vote.
1973
September 7: The N.W.T. Supreme Court permitted the Indian Brotherhood of the N.W.T. to file claim for approximately 1/3 on the land in the Territories.
1984
The Federal Government concluded that Metis unlike Indians and Inuit were not under federal legislative jurisdiction. Some provincial laws however do make special provisions for Metis communities within their boundaries. As a result the term Metis has uncertain application, used to describe everyone of a mixed native/non-native blood, or those who took land script rather than treaty. Those falling into this definition range from 100,000 to one million members.
December 5: Citizens of the Baffin Island community of Frobisher Bay voted to change the name of the town back to Iqaluit (where the fish are). The Natives of the north want all landmarks, roads, public buildings and places, named after the English, to be renamed in native languages.
1988
September 5: The Federal Conservative Government gave 15,000 Dene, and Metis 3, 860 sq. miles of land in the N.W.T., including subsurface mineral right, as well as special management rights and interest in a total of 38,600 sq miles. Such issues as aboriginal title and self-government were not included.
1991
Alberta's Attorney General Ken Rostad requested a full pardon from Justice Minister Kim Campbell for Louis Riel, on behalf of the Metis Nation of Alberta Association. Some consider Louis Riel, not only as the founding father of Manitoba, but also the Metis Nation. This is absurd unless it refers to the Canadian Prairie Metis of the nineteen-century. However, he has become a symbol of the Metis and a martyr in the truest sense.
The Canadian Metis population by their own admission is:
Newfoundland
- 4,685
Prince Edward Island - 120
Nova
Scotia
-
860
New Brunswick -
975
Quebec
- 16,075
Ontario
- 22,790
Manitoba
- 46,195
Saskatchewan
- 36,535
Alberta
- 50,745
British Columbia -
26,750
North West Territories - 565
TOTAL CANADA 210,190
1992
Canadian Parliament passed a motion recognizing for the first time Louis Riel's contribution to Canada. Alberta Premier Don Getty said, however, Metis rebel Louis Riel must be recognized as a Canadian hero and pardoned for his crimes. This is not likely to happen under a Red Necked Liberal Government. I learned this year that Ontario people are a stiff necked people.
2001
About 300,000 people are self-identified as Metis in Canada. In Alberta there was 66,000. The actual numbers exceed 50%.
2003
September 23: The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Metis are in fact a Distinct People with significant Rights. It is important to keep in mind this is a European perspective. First Nation Peoples and Metis tradition would not speak of Rights without also speaking of Responsibilities. The Supreme Court of Canada does not follow First Nation Convention (Law).
2006
April 3: Manitoba, the Metis Federation is finally having it's day in court for a land lawsuit filed in 1980 concerning 1.4 million acres of the Red River Valley along the Red River and Assiniboine Rivers that were granted to Metis descendents of the Red River des Metis Settlement's when Manitoba entered Confederation in 1870. Sir John A. MacDonald and the Canadian Government promised that lands along the rivers already occupied by the Metis would not be taken away even though the Metis did not have official Canadian deeds. It is noteworthy that no one in the Northwest had official First Nation or Canadian land deeds. It is noteworthy that the Northwest was an independent Nation, governed by the First Nation Peoples and the Metis Peoples under a Provisional Government. It is also significant that the majority of Canadians in the Northwest have a Metis ancestry. This issue will most likely be sent to the Supreme Court of Canada for final resolution and/or to the House of Lords in England and the United Nations.
METIS HISTORY: Return
to METIS 1850-1899 index