Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-03-31
The Spanish Minister.



INDIANS OF THE DOMINION.
Nearly 100, 900 on the Canadian Reser-
vatfOns.
| From the Springfield Republican.
According to the report OF the superan-
tendent general OF Indian affairs there in
throughout the Dominion Of Canada an In
dian population OF 81, 1894 living upon the
| reservations of the eastern provinces and
Manitoba, and scattered over parts Of
British Columbia and the unorganized ter
ritory Of the far northwest. Almost three
centuries have passed since the whites
| first settled in the northern part of the
| American continent, and today Of the alb
| original population there does not remain
| as many souls as would make up one-third
of the population of Montreal. That rem
| nant Of the Indian tribes, all wards of the
government. costs the Canadian treasury
annually many thousands of dollars spent
Tor food, clothing, schools, police and gen.
eral administration. Still. it is money well
expended, for on the whole the Canadian
administration of Indian affairs has been
successful and in the best interests not
only of the red man, but also of law and
order throughout the land
The largest Indian population of any
province is that Of British Columbia, whose
| territory incll des a large part of the Rocky
mountains and long stretch Of Pacific
L Soe1SS
kon. Here live "A 996 Indians Conditions
| still favor their mode of life. Every lake
and river abounds with fish, and land game
| Is still plentiful. 1t is rather remarkable
that the next largest Indian population is
| IN Ontario, the most highly developed PROV
ince in Canada. It numbers 20 .2O6. These
Indians are all on reservations. In most
| cases their land is good and they are fairly
| weli-to-do farmers. living after the man.
ner OF their white nefghbors. In Quebec
| there are 1862 Indians; in the three mari
L iY,o mr. q m. q
| the northwest territories, 14.655; in the in
terror OF Labrador, 1000. with the remain
der scattered over the vast districts about
| the Great Slave lake and reaching away
to the north along the Mackenzie river
ana to the east to the shores of Hudson
| bay. The religion OF this population Is given
as follows: Roman Catholics. 41.s13: Angl.-
can. 16, 129; Methodist. 1923: Presbyterian.
SO7: other Christian bodies. 1 1852, and pa
gans. 1851. The Catholics. therefore.
| lead, with pagans second. The simple and
ism do not seem to have found favor with
the Indians.
| The most interesting reservations are
those OF eastern Canada. containing the
prominently in the early history of this
continent-the tribes who ruled over the
dark forests before Champlain had landed
at Quebec or the Pilgrim Fathers on New
England's coast There are two Iroquois
| reservations in Quebec. One fs at Caueh-
| nawaga. on the south bank Of the st. Law
1
| old settlement. established under the
| French regime by the Jesuits. They had
missionaries among the Iroquois. who lived
IN what Is now the state Of New York.
and Whene yer they made a convert he was
| brought up to Caughnawaga SO as to re-
move him from the influence of the Eng
lish A large grant Of land was given and
subsequently confirmed by the British
| crown. There the Indians live today The
| line OF the Canadian Pacific railway that
leads to Boston crosses the st. Lawrence
L md 10 rIa6<
| lage on a viaduct The reservation in
ciudes 1000 acres. Of which one-thfrd is
under cultivation and one-third in timber.
The population is 1000. The village con-
| tains q fine Catholic church. and its two
| schools, a Methodist meeting house and a
| school, council hall. &c. Some of the In
dams are engaged in farming. others take
RATS down the river. some sell medicine in
| the United States and elsewhere. The
home industries are beadwork, the max
| Ing OF lacrosses and snowshoes and work
| are regulated by themselves through a
| council elected like the other municipal
| bodies OF the province This however, the
| Indians do not like, and are DESTROYS OF re-
| turning to the tribal system of government.
| Al st Regis, where the international
boundary between Quebec and New York
| touches the st Lawrence. fs another Iro-
Quois reservation. In fact. there is one on
each side Of the line. The Canadian part
| &C mprtses 1850 acres, with q population Of
1877 souls. These Indians are nearly all
The Mohawk tribe OF the Iroquois have
large reservation near the town Of Brant-
ford. In the very best part OF Ontario. This
was the tribe Of the Six Nations that in
the American revolution took sidos with
the crown and helped to fight its battles.
Their great chief. Brant gave his name to
the town: ana in its puhliS square stands
These Indians are excellent farmers and
are well7to-do. The town market Il crowd
ed with their wagons loaded with farm
t10xy fvoD H.
try people. but their features and speech
tell their race. Just outside the city they
| have an institute. whose appearance N an
educational establishment would do credit
to any people The head of the Canadian
Order OF Foresters 10 q full-blood Indian
Of this nation. and q doctor Of medicine
with @ British degree.
The old-ttme hereditary enemies OF the
IroQuois were the Hurons. who had to
nee from their country about the lake to
which they gave their name and found
were the allies Of the French, as the Iro-
Quots were OF the English. The remnant OF
the proud Huron nation live at the village
All told, they Lumber but 4s2. the census
showing an increase OF ten over that OF
last year. Besides their village here they
COUNTY the ef issncsy q S,n Rocnon in the
teen square miles. The land q leased
through the department and the tribe re-
ceiyes the revenue. 1t may be uo.sA- Eat
as have been mentioned here, have the
uen5 20 vote in parllamentary eiections
rev always do so. but many never 60
pear ne poll. Believing that politics IL q
ming BY Wishing to stand well with an par-
tea They are the friends Of the Queens
government. but are not greatly concerned
Of liberals or conservatires They are
keene In their municipal cuntesta- vh1ch
can 6orth many meesinEs and uuch elo-