In 1872 the
government passed the Dominion Lands Act to encourage the settlement of the
Canadian prairies. In order to settle the area, Canada
invited mass emigration by European and American pioneers and settlers from
eastern Canada. It echoed the American homestead system by offering ownership
of 160 acres of land free (except for a small $10.00 registration fee) to any
man over 18 or any woman heading a household. They did not need to be British
subjects, but had to live on the plot and improve it. Within 3 years at least
40 acres had to be cultivated and a permanent dwelling built. An additional 160
acres could also be purchased for an additional $10.00 fee. First Nations people however were not permitted to buy the land.
The
Canadian government in collaboration with the CPR (which had been given 25
million acres of land on either side of the railway) launched advertising
campaigns in many countries to attract potential immigrants to Canada. There
was money to be made transporting eager young men and women and their belongings
to their new homes in the West and the CPR was also in the business of selling
land.
And come they did. Between 1896 and 1914, more than two
million settlers from Europe and the United States poured into the prairies in
the greatest wave of immigration in Canadian history. By 1901, of the more than
five million people in Canada, almost 700,000 (12 percent) were immigrants (not
born in Canada).
From 1896-1911 Canada had the world's fastest-growing economy. Immigration from Eastern Europe and the Eastern parts of the former Austro-Hungarian empire brought many old-world farmers to settle the West and, despite their lack of knowledge of the English language, many adapted quickly to the farming environment which was somewhat similar to their original homelands.
On July 1st 1873 Prince
Edward Island joined Confederation and the North-West Mounted Police (later
changed to the R.C.M.P.) was established to maintain order in the North-West
Territories. This was following the Cypress Hills massacre where a group of
drunken American buffalo and wolf hunters attacked a camp of Assiniboine, who they
thought had stolen their horses. The resulting massacre left over 30 men, women, and children dead, not counting those injured and raped, and the country outraged. A realization that law and order needed to be
maintained along with stricter control over the border, otherwise the American
military might invade and not leave, led to its formation and gave the NWMP
military, police, and judicial functions.
On September 1st, 1880 the British Arctic Islands were transferred to Canada and added to the North-West Territories.
Since 1871 when British Columbia was promised a railway connecting it to the rest of Canada there was fierce competition for a contract that ended up being mired in politics and corruption. But by 1881 the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) was incorporated and the contract awarded.
The difficulties of construction and demand for early completion of the rail line ensured generous provisions to the company, including $25 million in cash, 25 million acres of land in a belt along the railway, the cost of surveys totalling $37 million, and a monopoly over transportation south to the United States for 20 years.
The
government also transferred to the new company those sections of the railway it
had constructed under government ownership, on which it had already spent at
least $25 million, and exempted the railway from property taxes for 20 years.
Due to the high cost of construction, the CPR would later receive an additional
$22.5 million in loans under the Railway Relief Act of 1884.
The C.P.R. began its westward expansion from Bonfield, Ontario in 1881 where the first
spike was driven into a sunken railway tie. Bonfield was the point where
the Canada Central Railway extension ended.
Under
the management of W.C. Van Horne,
construction rapidly progressed across the plains. Originally the railway
was to follow a route through the Yellowhead Pass, but
a more southerly route through Kicking Horse Pass was
eventually decided upon. Construction through the rock and muskeg of the
Canadian Shield almost
equalled in difficulty the engineering feats
required to build a route through the mountains of British Columbia.
The
difficulty in obtaining an adequate work force in British Columbia led to the
controversial employment of thousands of Chinese workers.
Upwards of 15,000 Chinese labourers helped to build the Canadian Pacific
Railway. Working in harsh conditions for little pay ($1.00 per day which was half the rate paid to white workers) these workers suffered
greatly and historians estimate that at least 600 died working on the railway.
The employment of Chinese workers caused controversy, particularly in British
Columbia, where politicians worried about the potential economic and cultural
impact of these workers.
When
the CPR was finished in 1885, the government passed the Chinese Immigration
Act, which established a head tax for anyone of Chinese origin entering the
country. Starting at $50 it rose to $100 and eventually $500 by 1903. The government also passed the Electoral Franchise Act, which excluded
“persons of Mongolian or Chinese race” from voting.
In
four years the line through to the Pacific coast was completed on November 7, 1885 with the driving of the "Last Spike"
at Craigellachie in Eagle Pass,
British Columbia. The first through passenger train left Montreal on
June 28, 1886 and arrived at Port Moody,
British Columbia, on July 4th.
While there were no full-scale Indian wars (such as those fought in the United States) as Canada expanded into First Nations territory in the Prairies, there was the armed 1885 North-West rebellion. The North-West Rebellion was a rebellion by the Metis people under Louis Riel and an associated uprising by First Nations Cree and Assiniboine of the District of Saskatchewan against the Canadian government. Many Métis who had settled in Saskatchewan felt that Canada was not protecting their rights, their land, and their survival as a distinct people.
Riel had been
invited to lead the movement of protest and he turned it into a military action
with a heavily religious tone. While he alienated many he had the allegiance of
200 armed Metis and a
smaller number of other Indigenous warriors who confronted 900 Canadian militia
and some armed local residents. About 91 people would die in the fighting that
occurred that spring before the rebellion's collapse.
Despite some
notable early victories at Duck Lake, Fish Creek and Cut Knife, the rebellion was quashed when overwhelming
government forces and a critical shortage of supplies brought about the Métis'
defeat in the four-day Battle of Batoche. The
remaining Aboriginal allies scattered. Several chiefs were captured including
Big Bear and Poundmaker, who had participated in raids on Battleford and Frog
Lake to obtain food, and were sentenced to serve prison time. Eight men were hanged in Canada's largest
mass hanging, for murders deemed to be performed outside the military conflict.
Riel was captured, put on trial, and convicted of treason. Despite many pleas across Canada for clemency, he was hanged while his general, Gabriel Dumont who had escaped to the U.S. was eventually pardoned. As a result, Riel became a heroic martyr to Francophone Canada. The rebellion's suppression contributed to the Prairie Provinces being controlled by English Protestants, and the marginalization of French speaking Catholics who ended up living in shantytowns and on undesirable land such as road allowances.
With the annihilation of the buffalo, First Nations people living in the Prairies were encouraged by the government to become farmers. After the signing of the Plains treaties families began moving on to the land that had been allotted to them which, according to the text of the treaty, was 640 acres (one square mile) of land for each family of five. This was in keeping with the average size of farms at the time. The treaties also stipulated that each family that cultivated the soil would receive seeds and tools and farming implements, the specific types and number of which depended on the treaty.
For example, Treaty 6 supplied “four hoes for every family, two spades per family, one plough for every three families, one harrow for every three families, two scythes and one whetstone, and two hay forks, for every family, and one grindstone and one auger for each Band.”
Indian agents and farm instructors also worked with the First Nations to teach them how to farm, although raising crops such as corn or rice was not new to some cultures. In Saskatchewan in particular, some of the First Nation farmers were very successful, and grew crops and produce as good or better as that produced by the settlers. They also formed collectives to share the costs of new equipment and labour.
Aboriginal farming success in the 1880’s soon led to settler animosity over what they viewed as unfair competition and they complained to the Indian Commissioner Hayter Reed. Completely ignoring the fact that providing seeds, farming implements, and supplies in case of crop failure were all part of the treaty settlement, in exchange for all the land the First Nations had surrendered, the settlers demanded change. They had a sympathetic ear with Hayter Reed who felt that the Indigenous peoples should only produce enough for themselves to be self-sufficient, and not be competing with outside farmers. This of course was completely contrary to the government’s original intent.
Nonetheless in 1889 the government brought in the Peasant Farm Policy for First Nations people. Built on the racist belief that Indigenous people were at an earlier stage of evolution than white people and had to gradually evolve into modern farmers, the Act severely restricted the types of tools First Nations could use, how much they could grow, and what they were allowed to sell. Reed implemented three policy initiatives that would change the lives of First Nations people and effectively sabotage most of the agricultural practices that had resulted in creating successful Aboriginal farmers. These were;
1. Severality – Reserve farmland was now divided into 40-acre plots and no one farmer could own more than 160 acres. The intention was to promote "individualism", directly undermining successful collective efforts. Also, any "left over" land would be surrendered and made available for sale to non-natives.
2. Peasant farming – Peasant farming refers to the use of only basic tools to grow crops and raise animals. It involves seeding and doing other tasks by hand, without the help of machines. The purpose was to reduce output to subsistence levels, essentially just enough to support a single family. Thus, expensive large-scale machinery would be unnecessary, and aboriginal farmers would become "more self-sufficient" by using peasant-methods of production instead of the more advanced techniques they’d been using.
3. The pass and permit system which required First Nations to obtain a permit from an Indian agent before they could legally sell their products off-reserve and a pass if they wanted to leave the reserve for any reason. Local businesses were prohibited from purchasing products from any First Nations person who did not have a permit and if caught off reserve without a pass an Indigenous person could be arrested.
With farms too small to support any profitable production and farmers unable to purchase or use machinery or work collectively, as well as being forbidden to sell their crops, these policies soon put most of the Indigenous farmers out of business and their unused land ended up being sold to settlers by the Indian agent who could now claim the farmland wasn’t being used properly. By the time the government abandoned the Peasant Farm Policy in 1897 Aboriginal farming was severely damaged. Having already signed away all their land in exchange for reserves they now lost part of these as well to the settlers who completely took over the Prairies.