Summary
Farmers in the west struggled following the events of the 1885 resistance, the dominion government accordingly cut their spending on food rations by $40,000 to allocate to farmers. Rations were cut to many bands, including cutting 'disloyal' bands off altogether as a form of punishment for resistance.
Implications
When bands most needed federal aid, the government ignored the requests that some could argue had also been failed to address prior to the resistance. As well, following the events of 1885, the government sought alternative measures to achieve a greater level of control of Aboriginal groups on the prairies. Cutting rations was one means of engaging in discipline to those who opposed the government, and was another form of violence that used hunger and famine to control Indigenous populations.
Sources
SAB, John A. Macdonald Papers, R-70, Macdonald to Dewdney, 5 July 1885, n. pag.
Date
1885-00-00
Theme(s)