lecture 35: first nations resistance

during the entire period that we have been talking about FN were not…

passive simple accepting the imposition of restrictive laws on them, but actively resisted

FN resistance: (3)

• want to get a sense of indigenous political organizations so they do not appear as a surprise in the 1960s

• emergence of structured non violent opposition that remains

• modern archival research has shown that one of the key strategies was by petition to the indian affairs dept / many petitions most largely ignored

grand general indian council of ontario: (5)

• in the 1870s council met in 2 year intervals - allowed for the discussion of current issues and forwarded resolutions to the dept of indian affairs

• largely the anishinaabe of ontario with some support from the six nations

• accepted by indian affairs which allowed them to pay for delegate travels out of band funds and tried to restrict the number of delegates

• council asked for dept to send an official but dept reluctant to suggest anything close to recognition

• largely supportive and affirming of the dept and loyalty - in 1904 even passed a resolution supporting the ban on dancing

grand general indian council of ontario: in later times… (6)

• gradually became more critical - in 1906 criticized dept handling of band monies and demanded that the bands have the power to hire teachers on the reserves

• 1912 objected to revision that allowed the dept to remove reserves from close to towns of 8000 or more

• 1919 - asked what happened to the liberties that FN had fought for in WW1 - hunting, fishing, trapping rights being trampled on by provinces - attacked ability of the dept to lease ‘unused’ reserve lands

• dept granted unofficial support so long as they continued to just hold meetings and pass resolutions - losing support on the reserves to the more radical and outspoken league of indians

• in 1924 passed a resolution to investigate treaties and rights of indians that have been violated by the gov at any time and hired a lawyer - dept refused to provide info or pay for lawyers fees

• after 1927 law refusing money for organizations the council collapsed

allied tribes of BC: (3)

• BC FN opposed the mckenna-mcbride commission and in 1916 formed the allied tribes of BC to fight it

• 1926 the allied tribes took their petition to the privy council but were intercepted by the canadian high commissioner who promised to deliver the documents to the privy council but never did

• allied tribes collapsed in 1927 with the legislation disallowing the raising of monies to fight land claims

andrew paull: (6)

• leader of the allied tribes of BC

• born 1892 on squamish reserve near north vancouver - activist, journalist, involved in sports, longshoreman’s union

• 1927 presented land claims to joint committee of senate and house of commons

• 1942 secretary for native brotherhood of BC which was concerned with economic matters and spread tue brotherhood throughout southern BC

• 1944 helped form the north american indian brotherhood and became president - after WW2 pressured gov to form joint committee on indian affairs and presented to it

• north american indian brotherhood survived until paull’s death in 1959 but never really gained national traction

frederick olgivie loft: (7)

• kanien’keha:ka chief and officer in the forestry corps during WW1

• born 1862 at six nations and hd a secondary education - was a clerk/accountant at an insane asylum in toronto - although he was too old he volunteered in WW1

• met with other FN men from all over canada and discovered they shared experiences and problems

• met with privy council on his way home and was told they could not hear from individuals but that he should bring an organization that would speak for FN

• 1921 dept tried compulsory enfranchisement which he strongly resisted - later dropped

• dept begins to systematically spy on loft through the 1920s

• 1924 moves to chicago to look after his wife - one more attempt in 1931 to take land claims to privy council but lack of support means its over

league of indians of canada: historical context (4)

• motion in 1918 by grand council of ontario indians meeting at six nations to establish a league of indians of canada

• first congress held in garden hill near sault ste marie in 1911, MB in 1920, SK in 1921, AB 1922 (1500 delegates show up), ON 1926 and 1928 also in SK

• league took root in the west - 1931 met at saddle lake AB (1344 delegates from the west)

• seems to have split into SK and AB chapters at this point - SK branch disappears in 1942 while the AB branch became the indian association of AB in 1939 (still exists)

league of indians of canada: 3 goals of the league + lofts recognization

loft recognized:

1. league needed to be a collective organization based on the model of labour unions and united farm workers (winnipeg 1919 general strike)

2. needed to be a national organization

goals of league:

1. claim and protect the rights of indians in canada by legitimate and just means - aboriginal rights

2. absolute control in retaining possession or dispensation of out lands - land rights/claims, protection of land base

3. all questions and matters relative to individual and national wellbeing of indians shall rest with their people and the dealing with the gov shall be by and through their respective band councils at all times - self determination

league of indians of canada: Loft (4)

• congresses, circulars and letters from loft stirred up a considerable unrest among various FN communities across the country

• various band councils began drawing up lists of demands and grievances

• very clear that there was a need for an organization to represent the grievances of the bands

• initially, loft was able to represent specific grievances from bands to the dept but quickly the dept refused to recognize him as a spokesperson

league of indians of canada: surveillance & action (6)

• dept had placed loft under surveillance by having league meetings carefully watched

• loft had already worked out that the way to circumvent the dept was by appealing directly to parliament

• appeared before the committee of the house of commons on indian affairs in 1920

• requested the establishment of a standing committee - rejected by the dept

• loft failed to find leaders in ontario who could replace him and with the 1927 legislation the league was under extreme pressure and ultimately collapsed

• could not handle the diverse agendas of status and non status indians and metis

concluding thoughts: (3)

• these early organizations are extremely important because they trace the origins of political organizations among FN

• while they were largely failures they spawned later regional organizations such as indian association of AB in 1939 and feseration of SK indians in 1944, also north american indian brotherhood in 1945

• showed the need for a national organization to represent FN interests across the country