lecture 34: indian affairs in the 1920s & 1930s

we have already considered the changes to the indian act throughout this period, including the…

oliver act of 1920 - most of these changes made it easier for the indian department to expropriate reserve lands

1920s and 1930 also considered the doubling of…

the residential schools through this period and increase in the number of students attending

1913 marks what:

duncan campbell scott becomes deputy superintendent general and within two weeks issues a pamphlet with 70 points of instruction for the indian agents

• “it may he stated as a first principle that it is the policy of the department to promote self support among the indians and not to provide gratuitous assistance to those indians who can provide for themselves”

recall that welfare and relief was a…

provincial responsibility and there was much effort on scott’s part to try to get the provinces to end welfare to first nations

in the southern reserves, where they were less isolated, the indian agent…

was the primary administrator and could exercise control - the problem was that in the north, relief was offered through the HBC and sometimes the RCMP

beginning of WW1 what occurs affecting welfare?

fur prices crashed so HBC cut credit to FN meaning the department had to pick up slack on the welfare - and eligibility for relief remained the same despite the circumstances, those who were able-bodied were expected to provide for themselves and their families - never clear in remote areas where FN were to earn a living

welfare in remote areas:

local merchants were chosen through patronage to distribute welfare upon chits from the department - tried to avoid the costs of dealing with merchants by shipping relief supplies to the indian agents for distribution

the department never examined why…

FN might need relief other than the obvious ones of illness or age - attributed any other demands as due to “wanton idleness” - throughout the 1920s continually trying to reduce the amount of relief

the scale of food relief rations (1928): (9)

adult destitute ration for 1 month:

• 24lbs of flour

• 2lbs sugar

• 1lbs tea

• 1lbs baking powder

• 1lbs salt

• bacon, pork, beef, fish, beans to a value of $2 max 15lbs beef and 8lbs pork/bacon

• lard, rice, oatmeal, molasses, macaroni to a total value of $1.20

for the sick it includes above plus:

• milk, eggs, rice, oatmeal but milk & eggs allowed only for tubercular indians

for undernourished babies:

• additional fresh milk, condenses or powdered

department only relented on the refusal to give able-bodied FN relief once…

the same had been applied to whites

department further reduced expenditures for the sick…

now only allowing tubercular patients, undernourished nursing mothers and children under 5 were to get sick relief

1936 indian affairs transferred…

to the department of mines and resources indicating just how low FN were ranked on the gov. agenda

for northern FN: (3)

• increased competition among fur companies, rapid incursion of white trappers, depletion of fur bearing animals and resultant conservation measures led to decline in FN in fur trade

• at the same time relief payments declined 32%

• overall left the FN more impoverished and in worse health at the end of the depression than before

northern FN relief cuts:

• woodland belt/around hudsons bay: 1926 (2 million) to 1935 ($800,000) aka -60%

• northern AB, MB, SK: 1924 ($880,000) to 1935 ($300,000) aka -66%

• northern ontario: 1925 ($810,000) to 1935 ($500,000) aka -38%

hospitals: (3)

• originally mission-run hospitals with the intention of smoothing the path of the “dying race” - as tuberculosis epidemic emerged at the end of the 19th ce increasingly unable to handle the load

• after WW1 secular hospitals began to emerge but patients had to pay - indian affairs would only pay a minimal rate so hospitals would not take FN patients when they could make more from white patients

• racist segregationist ideology meant that FN patients were separated into separate wards - suggesting that TB was moving from the indigenous population into the white population - began to build separate hospital wings for FN TB patients

after Dr. Bryce’s damning report on residential schools…

he was fired and thus there was no medical officer in indian affairs for 14 years until 1927 - when the department of health was established in 1919 it did not include FN health

to get hospitals first nations had to…

pay to build their own - siksika reserve outside of calgary invested the money that they got for the surrender of ½ of their reserve to build a hospital in 1924 - six nations built a 2 story 20 bed hospital in 1927 out of band funds

when indian department was transferred to…

mines and resources in 1936, indian agents were instructed to remove FN TB patients from hospitals and to quarantine them on reserves

indian hospitals: (2 ex)

• taking advantage of gov depression era public works program indian affairs built the fort qu’appelle indian hospital in 1936 - had TB patients along with maternity care, paediatrics and medical cases

• st. peters dynevor indian hospital - originally the rectory built in 1870s became infirmary in the 1890s and sold to indian department in 1939 - very high death rate due to TB gave it an awful reputation