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Page 3
After having completed Treaty Nº1, Treaty Commissioner Wemyss Simpson set out for Manitoba Post(1) at the north end of Lake Manitoba to complete Treaty Nº2, also known as "the Manitoba Post Treaty". The Manitoba House was a Hudson's Bay Company fur trading post on the west shore of Lake Manitoba about fifteen miles up from the Narrows, today just south of the Ebb and Flow Reserve. Simpson wrote:
"The Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, having expressed a desire to be present at the negotiation of the Treaty at Manitoba Post, His Honour, accompanied by the Honorable James McKay, proceeded thither with me in company with Mr. Molyneaux St. John, the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, who had assisted me in the duties connected with the former, Treaty and payments. . .
"I left Winnipeg on the 13th August, but owing to adverse winds on Lake Manitoba, did not arrive until two days later after the time appointed. I found that, in the meanwhile, the officer in charge of the Hudson's Bay Company Post had been obliged to give some provisions to the Indians pending my arrival, but on my speaking to the leading men of the bands assembled, it was evident that the Indians of this part had no special demands to make, but having knowledge of the former Treaty, decided to be dealt with in the same manner and on the same terms as those adopted by the Indians of the Province of Manitoba.
"The negotiation with these bands therefore occupied little time, and on the 21st August 1871, a Treaty was concluded by which a tract of land three times as large as the Province of Manitoba was surrendered by the Indians to the Crown. Payment in full, that is to say, the gratuity and the first payment, was at once made, and I have since written to the officers in charge of the Hudson's Bay Company Posts within the tract above referred to, requesting them to procure for me a reliable census of the Indians parties to this Treaty.
"But it is to be remembered that a large number of Indians whose lands were ceded by the second Treaty, were not present. The distance from the hunting grounds of some to Manitoba Post is very great, but while their absence was to be regretted for some reasons, it affected a very considerable saving in the item of provisions. During the ensuing seasons, these persons will probably be found at the places where the payments will be made, and will then require their payments as if they had been present at the signing of the Treaty.
"Of the land ceded in the Province of Manitoba, it will be hardly necessary for me to speak, as His Excellency, the Governor General, is already in possession of accurate information touching its fertility and resources, but I may observe that, valuable as are these lands, they are fully equalled if not exceeded by the country of which the Government now comes into possession by virtue of the Treaty concluded at Manitoba Post.
"Already settlers from the Provinces in Canada and elsewhere are pushing their way beyond the limits of the Province of Manitoba, and there is nothing but the arbitrary limits of that province, and certain wood and water advantages found in the Territory beyond it, to distinguish one part of the country from the other. The fertility that is possessed by Manitoba is shared by this country, and its confines. The water courses of the Province are excelled by those of the Territory, and the want of wood which threatens serious difficulty in the one is by no means apparent in the other.
"The Indians of both parts have a firm belief in the honour and integrity of Her Majesty's representatives, and are fully impressed with the idea that the amelioration of their present condition is one of the objects of Her Majesty in making these treaties. Although many years will elapse before they can be regarded as a settled population, settled in the sense of following agricultural pursuits, the Indians have already shown a disposition to provide against the viscitudes of the chase by cultivating small patches of corn and potatoes. . .
"Although serious trouble has from time to time occurred across the boundary line [in the U.S.] with Indians of the same tribes, and indeed, of the same bands as those in Manitoba, there is no reason to fear any trouble with those who regarded themselves as subjects of Her Majesty.
"Their desire is to live at peace with the white man, to trade with him, and when they are disposed, to work for him, and I believe that nothing but gross injustice or oppression will induce them either to forget the allegiance which they now claim with pride, or molest the white subjects of the sovereign, whom they regard as their supreme chief.
"The system of annual payment in money I regard as a good one, because the recipient is enabled to purchase just what he requires when he can get it most cheaply, and it also enables him to buy articles at second hand from settlers and others that are quite as useful to him as are the same things when new. The sum of $3 does not appear to be large enough to enable an Indian to provide himself with many of his winter necessaries, but as he receives the same amount for his wife or wives and for each of his children, the aggregate sum is usually sufficient to procure many comforts for his family which he would otherwise be compelled to deny himself...(2)
Footnotes
1. The Manitoba House Fur Trading Post was on the west shore of Lake Manitoba about fifteen miles up from the Narrows. Just adjacent, and strung along the lake shore with its long and narrow lots was the Manitoba House Settlement, with its little Anglican Mission Church, log tower belfry, and parsonage at the centre. Nearby was the school house and post office named "Kinosoto". The people of this little community were all descendants of employees of the Hudson's Bay Company or North West Trading Company, of French, English and Scottish extraction, who had intermarried with the Indians. Nearby was the Ebb and Flow Indian Reserve would be created by Treaty Nº2. The Dog Creek Reserve was directly opposite on the east shore of the lake. Hebron Moar was the community patriarch, and considered to be the best interpreter of the area. The first Indian Agency was located here after the Treaty, and the agency building was later bought by J.J. Wilson, who was in charge of the Manitoba House Post for HBC.(back)
2. Report of the Indian Affairs Branch of the Department of the Secretary of State for the Provinces, 1871, pp. 27-32. Simpson to Secretary of State for the Provinces, November 3, 1871.(back)
