By Dorthea Horton CalverleyAn unknown number of years before fur traders reached the Indians of the Peace River country, the Indians had been in indirect contact with white man’s enterprise. The contact was through Cree middlemen who were not threatened by their own kinfolk on their way to the big forts on Hudson’s Bay. Knowing… Read More

 By Dorthea CalverleyWhen Mackenzie arrived at Fort Fork in 1792, he made gifts to the Indians of “four inches of Brazil tobacco and a dram of [rather weak] spirits, and lighted the pipe. As some of these Indians were believed to have given Peter Pond some trouble, Mackenzie lectured them, promising to treat them with… Read More

by Dorthea Calverley Dawson Creek never had a fur-trade post, much less a fort. The two nearest outlets for local trappers were Fort St. John and, later, Lake Saskatoon, on the shore of the lake of that name near present-day Grande Prairie. It is recorded that Pouce Coupe’s band traded at Dunvegan in the 1980’s…. Read More

 By Dorthea Calverley“Any one of these has been more valuable to commerce than all the gold the Spanish Conquistadors ever took from the (West) Indies.” That is the assessment of Dr. Z. Pohorecky of the Anthropology Department of the University of Saskatchewan. He was referring to tobacco, quinine, and rubber, and the foods maple syrup,… Read More

By Dorthea Calverley Frequently, headlines are loaded with stories of the grievances of the Indians against the Treaty conditions they agreed to, or in some cases even begged for, little more than a hundred years ago. Even that feared and redoubtable Indian warrior and prophet, Sitting Bull, brought his fierce Sioux band out of American territory… Read More

In 1899 the Canadian Government negotiated a Treaty with Indians of Northern Alberta and adjacent areas in British Columbia. Some parts of Saskatchewan and the North West Territories were also included in Treaty #8. The first negotiations were held near Lesser Slave Lake, about ten miles north of Sucker Creek reserve. The discussions were between… Read More

By Dorthea CalverleyOne June night in 1899 two parties of officials gathered around a campfire on the bank of the Lesser Slave River. Their camp was halfway between Willow point and Buffalo Point, now called Grouard. They had been traveling for days in two scows and a York Boat. Until July 12 each party had… Read More

 By Dorthea CalverleyBringing the Indians of the Peace River Block under Treaty No. 8 was a progressive affair stretching from 1899 to 1914. The late Jim Beattie and his young wife, Elizabeth, were there when the Hudson’s Hope natives took their first payment. Mrs. Beattie says that it took place shortly after her arrival in… Read More

By Dorthea CalverleyTreaty-party days may sound like ancient history but the last big group of Indians in the B. C. Peace surrendered their rights in the lifetime of many still living. One sprightly little lady, Elizabeth Beattie of Hudson’s Hope, was there to see it happen. The year was 1914. At that time both Finlay… Read More

[Courtesy of the Indian and Northern Affairs Department, November 1972]On July 6, 1899, a band of Beaver Indians met at Dunvegan and signed under Treaty 8. Signing this treaty were J. H. Ross and J. A. J. McKenna as Commissioners and representing the Indians, “Natooses” as Headman. They were first paid treaty at Dunvegan on… Read More