Federal Governance

Agency office moved from Wynyard to Fort Qu'Appelle. Communities were promised that if this did not work out, the agency office could be moved back. The increased distance made it more difficult for bands near the Cypress Hills area to travel to agency offices. However, the office never returned, and instead remained at Fort Qu'Appelle

Walter Deiter was a Cree activist (from Peepeekisis Reserve) who became the leader of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations in 1966. In 1967 he sent a letter to Indian Affairs asking that the Pass System be removed. Indian Affairs responded that if individual bands asked to have it removed, it would be. As a result, many bands wrote to Indian Affairs to inform them that they were no longer abiding by the Pass System.

First Nations were prohibited from traveling between communities following the 1885 Resistance, in attempts to discourage collaboration between bands which could result in collective action. However, some band members continued to travel covertly. Those who were found to be traveling between reserves against the government's orders were punished by having their rations and annuity payments revoked.

Following the 1885 North-West Resistance, First Nations and Metis ownership of guns and knives was heavily restricted, Canada fearing another resistance in which they wouldn't be able to control. Even sharp knives were confiscated, and when authorities came to confiscate weapons, some people hid their knives so that they would not be taken away. Guns and knives were both integral to subsistence patterns, and a source of wealth. Many of these items had been procured in the west out of trade relationships during the fur trade, and were a form of a currency (trade good). This was especially true of guns and ammunition, which had become a staple trade good brought by European traders and which were highly valued by Plains-orientated Indigenous peoples for hunting. Inhibiting the ability to hunt resulted in a higher reliance on Government provided aid and welfare - such as rations - this was an intended result in Canada's genocide of Indigenous peoples. Hindering the ability to feed their community members, and then refusing to supply rations to starving bands was intended to weaken and "make room" for white settlers who would come to the west at the turn of the 19th c. 

Members of the Little Pine band traveled to Battleford where they were promised rations from Indian Affairs. Previously, Indian Affairs had been supplying them with rations because they were prohibited from leaving the Little Pine reserve to hunt as had been customary for generations. However, when their rations were suddenly denied, the younger members grew upset and protested vehemently. Chiefs Little Pine and Poundmaker urged their young men not to riot, but frustrations and hunger were high. 

In 1934, the Bennett government introduced legislation that made it necessary for political organizations to have permits to hold meetings. As a result, Métis organizations were held secretly to avoid government surveillance and control.

Indigenous people complained of the quality of tobacco, ammunition, and farming implements distributed to them. These were items that had been promised in treaty negotiations, and had been included in the written documents. The tobacco was of such bad quality that in some cases Aboriginal people simply threw it away. The shot distributed the previous year was all No. 5-8 shot, but should have been No. 2 shot instead. The wooden pitchforks that were distributed were of poor quality, and it was recommended that steel ones should be distributed instead, which would make work more efficient. Government officials like Angus Mackay who interacted with Indigenous people recognized the barriers presented by the distribution of improper goods to Indigenous people on the prairies.

By early 1951, the government and air force officials had appraised several locations and identified an expanse of "unoccupied" Crown land east of Lac La Biche, Alberta. The proposed air weapons range would affect natural resource exploitation, commercial fishing, and an estimated seventy-five traplines. On 19 April 1951, Defense Minister Brooke Claxton informed the House of Commons that the bombing and gunnery range, roughly centered at Primrose Lake, would extend approximately 115 miles from east to west and 40 miles from north to south, totaling almost 4,490 square miles.

Member of Parliament, Mr. Paterson, recommended a provision to the legislation which criminalized First Nations from purchasing or consuming alcohol. This was to be enforced by settlers who were given the authority to report a First Nations person who allegedly broke this new, egregious law, to the Superintendent of Indian Affairs. They could provide the names of witnesses to be called, but were not required to testify themselves, so as to avoid the possibility of being harassed by the accused. This provision was agreed to by the House of Commons.

In order to avoid the replication of annuity payments at multiple agencies, the government devised a plan by which people would receive annuities for the year in which they returned to the reserve, and the arrears for a single year at a time. For this year's annuity payments, this system resulted in a decrease of $14,000 on annuity payments for the department.