MA thesis

"The historical and ideological context of Indian white relations provides the analytical framework for examining St. Michael’s Indian Residential School in Duck Lake, Saskatchewan during the period of 1894-1926. Using primary and secondary sources, this study examines the doctrines of racial superiority implicit within the ideology of “Christianizing” and “civilizing” Indian people through education. From the perspective of “an Aboriginal way of knowing”, this study examines the history of Indian-white relations on the Prairies.

"The study of alcohol use among Native peoples in North America has been a popular academic pursuit among scholars for the better part of this century. Most have focussed [sic] on the variety of drinking styles that exist within the First Nations, often emphasizing the negative effects of alcohol consumption on both individuals and cultural groups in general. Few focus on the liquor control legislation itself and the various ancillary functions it serves (Conn, 1986).

"Recently there has been more critical attention given to the violent role of the North West Mounted Police (NWMP) in the unfolding of settlement and colonial laws in western Canada. However, few have offered a comprehensive analysis of the violent encounters that are recorded (and missing) in the archival records and correspondence of the NWMP, and other secondary sources.

"This thesis explores the history of Mounted Police and Cree relations on two Saskatchewan Reserves: Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation in the north-east of the province, and Poundmaker Cree Nation in the central south-western portion of Saskatchewan. Sources include oral interviews of elders from each reserve as well as a wide variety of primary and secondary sources, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police records.

"It is widely-held that Indian reserves were peripheral to Canada's economy from the time of their establishment, and that reserve economic conditions in Saskatchewan from the 1870s to the 1930s remained unchanged or worsened over the entire period. However, statistical, archival and other sources, showed that Indians were pivotal to the development of markets and the monetization of Saskatchewan's economy.

"It is evident from the past forty years of research, debate and literature that the New World was far more populated in 1492 than was previously thought. However, despite the expanding field of study most works omit the effects that epidemics had on the tribes of the Great Plains, particularly those located in present-day Canada, and the works that have been published deal mainly with demographics and fail to delve into how disease affected intertribal relations.

"The purpose of this historical study is to examine the development and effect of educational policies that established, supported, and closed Industrial Schools for Indians and, in particular, the Battleford Industrial School which existed in the North-West Territories from 1883 to 1905 and continued in the Province of Saskatchewan to 1914...