Summary
In the years following their signing to Treaty 4, White Bear (Wahpeemakwa) resisted residential schools and agricultural programs which were imposed by the Canadian Government. -------------- White Bear's expressions of self-determination brought him into conflict with Indian Agent J.J. Campbell. Campbell, claiming to speak for a majority of band members, stated that White Bear should be deposed. This occurred in 1889. The official report of the incident in the Annual Report of Indian Affairs for the year suggested that White Bear's unwillingness to adapt to Euro-Canadian economic structures and cultural practices turned his band members against him, as they sought to adapt to incoming settlers.
Implications
White Bear's acts of resistance and the government's retaliation through deposition did not end the community's assertions of autonomy. White Bear's son, Tom, continued to act in the interests of the community by asserting the community's rights of self-determination. White Bear was eventually reinstated as chief in 1897. ---------------- This case also demonstrates differences in the interpretations of treaty between Indigenous peoples and the Settler government. Many Indigenous peoples assert they had entered into a treaty agreement with the Crown guaranteeing them assistance, while maintaining their rights to autonomy and self-governance. However, the government both misunderstood and chose to ignore certain verbal agreements/negotiations by not recording them in treaty unbeknownst to Indigenous signatories.
Date
1889-01-04
Community
Theme(s)