Cheated
The Laurier Liberals and the Theft of First Nations Reserve Land
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
"Canadians and politicians have a common responsibility: to learn from the mistakes inherited from a colonialist legacy; and to not repeat the wrongs, corruption, and injustices our people suffered in the hands of government officials, politicians, and their oppressive laws. Reading and learning from Cheated would be a good place to start reconciliation and reparation." — Ovide Mercredi, former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations
The story of how Laurier Liberals took hold of the Department of Indian Affairs in 1896 and transformed it into a machine for expropriating Indigenous land.
You won't find the Ocean Man and Pheasant Rump reserves on a map of southeastern Saskatchewan. In 1901, the two Nakoda bands reluctantly surrendered the 70 square miles granted to them under treaty. It's just one of more than two dozen surrenders aggressively pursued by the Laurier Liberal government over a fifteen-year period. One in five acres was taken from First Nations.
This confiscation was justified on the grounds that prairie bands had too much land and that it would be better used by white settlers. In reality, the surrendered land was largely scooped up by Liberal speculators — including three senior civil servants and a Liberal cabinet minister —and flipped for a tidy profit. None were held to account.
Cheated is a gripping story of single-minded politicians, uncompromising Indian Affairs officials, grasping government appointees, and well-connected Liberal speculators, set against a backdrop of politics, power, patronage, and profit. The Laurier government's settlement of western Canada can never be looked at the same way again.
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Information
Table of contents
- Epigraphs
- First Nations Reserve Surrenders
- Prologue: You Are Not Being Cheated
- One: No One Will Interfere with You
- Two: Political Boss
- Three: The New Minister Has Gone Too Far
- Four: Speculators and Boodlers
- Five: Ample Land Left
- Six: Little Patches Known as Reserves
- Seven: The Indian Got What Was Owing to Him
- Eight: Men with Special Qualifications
- Nine: Favouritism
- Ten: A Great Deal of Mischief
- Eleven: Hired Thug
- Epilogue: The Honour of Canada Was Involved
- Acknowledgements
- Index
- About the Author
- Copyright