The Expansion of Settlement in the West

•The Canadian Government wanted to move people and supplies into the West, but there was no easy way to do this.

•A railway would solve many of the problems involved with settlement of the West.

•The Government had to consider the First Nations who were already living there, and the Metis were also sending petitions to the Government, without much response.

The Land Treaties and Settlement• Settlers were beginning to move into First

Nations land as settlement edged West.• There were many conflicts between the two

groups over who the land belonged to. • The Canadian Government decided that in order

to solve the problem, Land Claims would be purchased and written.

The Canadian Government would ‘buy’ the land, take the First Nations off it, and then divide it for settlement.

a) Land Treaties• Treaties: legal documents outlining

agreements between nations• In the Land Treaties, First Nations agreed to

give up their rights to land upon which they had lived for centuries. In return, the Government promised several things.

• Gov’t would : Recognize right to live, hunt and fish on

individual reserves Provide payments for the land given up Supply farm equipment, livestock, etc. for farm

production Build schools on reserves

•Between 1871 and 1877, there were seven major treaties signed.

•First Nations, like the Blackfoot, were now restricted to reserves, and no longer had the freedom to live wherever they wanted.

THE PROBLEM•First Nations peoples could no longer

take care of themselves without help. They did not know how to farm, and they were unable to hunt across the prairies.

Indian Act- 1876• This act created the idea of an Indian Status

Status: term that identified people as First Nations▫Only “full blooded” first nations could have status –

metis not eligible▫F.N. Women who married non-First Nations lost

status and the right to live on a reserve▫Non-status women who married status men gained

status▫Companies could have a license to access wood on

reserves▫F. N. people who committed crimes would be tried in

a Canadian Court▫Had to give up Indian Status to have full Canadian

Citizenship

Indian Act Cont.

•It began a process to move all First Nations onto reserves and set up a way of governing them. The idea was to have First Nations give up their traditions, and accept the culture, customs and language of ‘Canada’. ▫Children were taken away and moved to

Residential Schools▫Those who did not sign the agreement,

were ‘non-status’ and technically had no rights.

b) Settlement of the West

•In 1871, the population in the West was very small.

•There were not enough people in the rest of Canada to simply move out West; the government needed people from outside of Canada.

The Immigration Act -1869

•The main purpose of the Immigration Act was to manage the flow of immigrants to Canada, and to keep people with contagious diseases out.

Limits were put on the number of people per ship

Ships had to show passenger lists to government officials on arrival

The Dominion Lands Act- 1872Set up rules about how western land would be used.

Land Distribution• The Prairies were divided into townships, and

each township was divided into 36 sections. 2 for schools, 2 for HBC, 16 of the sections were Homesteads, 16 for sale to pay for the railway.

• Homesteads were purchased for $10, if a house was built or some land was worked within 3 years.▫Failure to this meant the land was given back

to the government

•People who successfully broke up the land and began to farm were known as SODBUSTERSHeritage Minute Clip

•The ‘Road Allowance People’▫The Metis tried to ‘homestead’ but found it

difficult▫They were not treated the same as

immigrant settlers, and they could not get modern steam-driven equipment, and had to rely on hand tools.

How might this have affected the relationship between the Metis and the Government?

Think about it… and let’s talk!

•1) What was the purpose behind expanding Canada westward?

•2)How did decisions made in Confederation affect Western expansion?