Summary
Member of Parliament, Mr. Cameron, voiced concerns that the individuals appointed as farm instructors on Home Farms were not aware of local and cultural conditions of prairie Indigenous people, and were therefore not equipped to make Home Farms successful. Macdonald responded that it was impossible to find candidates to fill the positions who could speak Indigenous languages, and largely ignored Cameron's criticism, instead confirming the success of the program.
Implications
Macdonald's response is evident of the colonial assumption that the Canadian Government was better equipped to assist and make decisions for Indigenous peoples than Indigenous peoples themselves. In instances where recommendations to better assist and communicate with Indigenous peoples were made, they were largely ignored by the government. The insistence that instruction had to be in English would have only inhibited Indigenous peoples from partaking in agriculture, this would have made Home Farm instruction inaccessible.
Resources
Date
1882-00-00
Theme(s)