Peasant Farming Policy

Hayter Reed distributed a circular to Indian Agents introducing his new farming policy. This policy put in place restrictions on Aboriginal farming wherein they could only cultivate smaller plots of land using only a few inferior tools modelled after the practices of farming peasants in medieval Europe. Reed's personal philosophy of agriculture and economic development was based on a social Darwinian model which posited that communities needed to progress through various stages of technological evolution. As such, communities with no prior agricultural experience were required to begin at one of the earliest stages, known colloquially in the DIA (Department of Indian Affairs) as "peasant farming." Families were required to produce the majority of their tools, which were quite rudimentary. It was extremely difficult to farm large plots of land with these simple tools - quite a bit more time and energy consuming than using modern machinery. This policy would stay in place until 1896.