Table Of ContentLiberalism, Surveillance,
and Resistance
Indigenous Communities in Western Canada,
1877–1927
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Liberalism, Surveillance,
and Resistance
Indigenous Communities in Western Canada,
1877–1927
by
Keith D. Smith
© 2009 Keith D. Smith
Published by AU Press, Athabasca University
1200, 10011 – 109 Street
Edmonton, AB T5J 3S8
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Smith, Keith D. (Keith Douglas), 1953-
Liberalism, surveillances and resistance : Indigenous communities
in Western Canada, 1877-1927 / Keith D. Smith.
(The West unbound : social and cultural studies series, 1915-8181)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Issued also in electronic format (978-1-897425-40-4).
ISBN 978-1-897425-39-8
1. Liberalism–Alberta–History. 2. Liberalism–British
Columbia–History. 3. Indians of North America–Alberta–History.
4. Indians of North America–British Columbia–History.
5. Marginality, Social–Alberta–History. 6. Marginality, Social–
British Columbia–History. 7. Northwest Territories–History–
1870-1905. 8. Alberta–History–1905-1945. 9. British Columbia–
History–1871-. I. Title. II. Series: West unbound, social and
cultural studies
E78.C2S622 2009 971.1004’97 C2009-901394-0
This book is part of The West Unbound: Social and Cultural
Studies series
ISSN 1915-8181 (print)
ISSN 1915-819X (electronic)
Cover and book design by Alex Chan
Maps by Dwight Allott
Map, p. x, adapted from The True Spirit and Original Intent
of Treaty 7 by Treaty 7 Elders and Tribal Council with
Walter Hildebrandt, Dorothy First Rider, and Sarah Carter,
McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1996.
Printed and bound in Canada by Marquis Book Printing
This publication is licensed under a Creative Commons License,
seewww.creativecommons.org. The text may be reproduced for
non-commercial purposes, provided that credit is given to the
original author.
Please contact AU Press, Athabasca University at
[email protected] for permission beyond the usage
outlined in the Creative Commons license.
To Leanne and Clayton
Contents
Acknowledgements iv
CHAPTER ONE
The Liberal Surveillance Complex 1
Imperialism and Colonial Expansion in Western Canada 7
Liberalism 11
Liberalism and Surveillance 16
Knowing Indians 18
The Homogenizing Impact of “National” History 21
The Agency/Coercion Binary 22
Investigating Colonialism as Cultural Formation and Concrete Experience 23
CHAPTER TWO
The Transformation of Indigenous Territory 29
The Peoples of Treaty 7 31
The Peoples of the Kamloops and Okanagan Regions 36
European Disruptions 42
Reserves as Reformatory Spaces 48
CHAPTER THREE
Churches, Police Forces, and the Department of Indian Affairs 51
Missionary Surveillance and the Surveillance of Missionaries 52
Police Surveillance 56
The Pass System 60
Restriction of Movement in British Columbia 73
Mounted Police and the DIA 77
The Visual Impact of the Mounted Police 81
Relations Between the NWMP and the BCPP 82
Force Strength and External Assistance 83
Police Forces and Indigenous Employees 84
Surveillance of Police 89
CHAPTER FOUR
Disciplinary Surveillance and the Department of Indian Affairs 93
The Department of Indian Affairs’ Hierarchy 96
The Permit System 99
DIA Employees and the Expense of Surveillance 103
Surveillance by and of Indian Agents 104
DIA Surveillance, Indigenous Employment, and Cooperation 123
VI
CHAPTER FIVE
The British Columbia Interior and the Treaty 7 Region to 1877 131
Indian Policy in Canada and the United States 132
Indigenous Lands and Settler Interests 133
Application of Scientific Geography in Western Canada 134
British Columbia Before 1877 138
Indigenous Resistance to 1877 in the British Columbia Interior 143
Establishment of the Joint Reserve Commission 144
The Treaty 7 Region Before 1877 145
Comparing Treaty 7 and the British Columbia Interior Before 1877 147
British Columbia in 1877 149
The Treaty 7 Region in 1877 152
Land Retained in the Text of Treaty 7 156
CHAPTER SIX
The British Columbia Interior, 1877 to 1927 161
Churches and Indigenous Lands in British Columbia 167
Indigenous Resistance in British Columbia Before World War I 170
Long Lake Surrender 173
The McKenna-McBride Commission 179
Indigenous Resistance and the Issue of Consent in British Columbia 188
The Special Joint Committee of 1927 192
CHAPTER SEVEN
The Treaty 7 Region After 1877 197
Nakoda 198
Tsuu T’ina 200
Kainai 203
Piikani 210
Siksika 213
Reserve Reductions and the Nature of Consent 219
CHAPTER EIGHT
Exclusionary Liberalism in World War I and Beyond 223
Conclusion 231
Notes 237
Bibliography 290
Index 316
VII
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Having the opportunity to create a book is indeed a privilege and I feel truly
honoured to have been able to make this journey. Along the way from this
work’s inception as my doctoral dissertation through to this publication, I
have made many friends and accrued many debts. I apologize in advance
to those whose contribution I have neglected to recognize specifically or
adequately below, but I am fully aware that this book could never have
become a reality without the assistance and support of a great many people.
I hope some can recognize their influence here. Many others are likely not
even aware of the impact they have had. Any errors or omissions in the work
that follows are of course my own.
I would first like to extend thanks to the members my Ph.D. examining
committee Cora Voyageur, Alan Smart, Arthur Ray, and Doug Peers for
their thorough engagement with my writing and for their perceptive and
constructive suggestions. I am particularly grateful to my doctoral supervi-
sor, Sarah Carter, who consistently offered extraordinary patience, insightful
comments and suggestions, and crucial guidance and encouragement at all
stages of my doctoral program.
I would also like to acknowledge the generous support of the Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Their doctoral fel-
lowship made my initial research and writing, and graduate student life in
general, a great deal less complicated.
My teachers, colleagues, and friends at Vancouver Island University (for-
merly Malaspina University-College), the University of Victoria, the Univer-
sity of Calgary, and Camosun College, played important roles in many stages
of this work, from supplying employment to providing necessary intellectual
stimulation. Special thanks to Helen Brown who introduced me to the joys
of doing history.
Numerous librarians at each of these institutions helped in countless and
varied ways as well, often well beyond their job descriptions, and seemed
always to do so quickly, happily, and with an expertise that often startled
me. Archivists at Libraries and Archives Canada, British Columbia Archives,
Glenbow Museum, and Kamloops Museum and Archives patiently helped
me gain access to and then navigate the collections under their jurisdiction.
My students in History and First Nations Studies over the past few years
may, at no fault of their own, have slowed down the pace at which this work
progressed, but their interest, their encouragement and humour, and the
unselfish way they shared their own experiences were instrumental in helping
me shape and reshape much of what is presented here.
VIII
Shawn Cafferky, who is sadly no longer with us, and other friends, con-
tributed to the completion of this work in many ways that included knowing
when I should take a break and understanding when I could not. Thanks to
all of you.
I would further like to thank Walter Hildebrandt and everyone at AU Press
for their generous support and guidance in turning my dissertation into this
book. Scott Anderson and the anonymous reviewers provided useful com-
ments and suggestions.
I would be remiss indeed if I did not mention my parents Kathleen and
Bernard Smith who put up with a precocious child and an argumentative
teenager, but unfortunately did not survive to see the product of their for-
bearance, good and bad, decades later.
Finally, I offer my love and appreciation to Leanne Schultz, my partner
in life, who put up with my long shifts at the archives, eclectic hours
at my computer, and who did without several years of family vacations
without resentment. She constantly provided sustenance for body and
spirit without restraint. I extend loving gratitude too, to my son Clayton,
who was born in the middle of this project and has now embarked on an
academic adventure of his own. He continues to be the most effective teacher
that has ever been part of my life.
IX
