REPORT ON THE INDIAN SCHOOLS OF
MANITOBA AND THE NORTHWEST
TERRITORIES
BY
P. H. BRYCE, M. A., M. D.
_Chief Medical Officer, Department of Indian Affairs._
OTTAWA
GOVERNMENT PRINTING BUREAU
1907
Department of Indian Affairs,
Ottawa, June 19, 1907.
Frank Pedley, Esq.,
Deputy Supt. General of Indian Affairs,
Ottawa.
Sir,--I have the honour to submit my report on the Indian schools
of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories.
Your obedient servant,
P. H. BRYCE,
_Chief Medical Officer_.
SUMMARY.
Page 1–15--History of the Indian Schools.
Page 15–17--Present condition of the Indian Schools.
Page 17–19--Health of Pupils of the Indian Schools.
REPORT ON THE INDIAN SCHOOLS OF MANITOBA AND THE NORTHWEST
TERRITORIES.
The story of the early explorations and of the trading adventures of
the French and English on the plains of the great Northwest has ever
been one of exceeding interest to the people of Canada; but while
filled with romance and important as illustrating how the great
domain has gradually been brought under the dominion of the British
Crown, it nevertheless is largely lacking as a record of the more
silent, yet more potent, influences which for over a century have
been at work transforming the Indian aborigines into members of a
civilized society and loyal subjects of the King. Restrained through
diplomacy, force and the interests of trade by the great fur-trading
companies, the widely distributed and wandering bands of Indians
would still have been savages, had it not been for the heroic
devotion of those missionaries who, attaching themselves to some
band, moved with it in its wanderings, or travelled from post to post
where the Indians were assembled while bartering their furs.
The evolution of schools amongst the Indian population of the
Northwest naturally begins with the efforts of the early missionaries
to obtain an influence over the Indians through the education and
guidance of the children. The Roman Catholic Church as early as 1817
sent its first missionary into this extensive region and its work
has been extended to far within the Arctic Circle, reaching even to
the Northern Ocean. Co-incident with its work has been that of the
Church of England, whose missionaries, locating near some Hudson’s
Bay Company’s trading post, have covered, through the work of the
Church of England Missionary Society, the entire Northwest to Fort
McPherson and the Yukon. To illustrate--the first Anglican mission
was established at Winnipeg in 1820, Dynevor in 1833, Cumberland in
1840, Lac la Ronge in 1840, Battleford in 1876, the Blood Mission
in 1880, Fort Simpson in 1858, Fort McPherson in 1874, and Rampart
House in 1882. The British Methodist Church began its labours by
establishing missions on Lake Winnipeg at Norway House and Berens
River in 1856, gradually extending westward as far as the Stony
reserve in the foothills of the Rockies. The Presbyterian Church,
latest in the field, started a mission at Prince Albert in 1867. The
stories of hardship and of danger endured by these missionaries of
the Cross have been but incidentally told, but the results are shown
in the list of missions and of day schools in existence when this
enormous territory passed into the hands of the Dominion of Canada
in 1870. The lists are very incomplete, but a published report shows
that 20 Roman Catholic schools and 5 Church of England schools
received in 1877 some financial aid from the Dominion government. The
following statement, taken from a report published in 1897, gives the
total grants made by the government to the schools of the different
churches in the years 1877, 1886, 1896 and 1906:--
Table I--Showing the Government grants to the Schools of Manitoba and
the Northwest Territories in 1877, 1886, 1896 and 1906.