When Through the Mackenzie Basin was published in 1908, it
marked the culmination of the literary career of one of Canada's most
passionately nationalist writers, Charles Mair. Then an official with the
federal immigration service, Mair had accompanied the Treaty 8
Commission and the Half-Breed Scrip Commission throughout what is now
Northern Alberta as one of its official secretaries during the summer of
1899. Notes compiled while on this excursion were used as the basis of his
subsequent account, which is a lively and detailed description of the
people, events and scenery witnessed at the time. The work is presented
from the perspective of a lover of the wilderness and a strong apologist
for the British Empire, whose reputation and expressed world view could
warrant his designation as the Rudyard Kipling of Canada.
As a documentary source Mair's book was special. It was written by a
first-hand witness to some of the most significant events in the history
of Northwest Canada, namely the signing of Treaty 8 at Lesser Slave
Lake, and certain other adhesions that followed. Mair was also a direct
participant in the details of the initial distribution of scrip in the
region that summer. In addition to the official documents, his account has
come to constitute the most detailed published source for the
interpretation of these events, although obviously written by a decided
government apologist.
At the time of publication the full ramifications of the Treaty signing
and scrip allotment were not readily apparent, for the land in the
Unorganized District of Athabasca remained largely unsettled. The Klondike
Gold Rush had petered out, mineral resources along the lower Athabasca
River had yet to be tapped, and the Peace River Country was still awaiting
the settlement rush long predicted for it. Reserves had been surveyed for
several of the native bands who had taken Treaty, including certain
parcels in severalty. A number of holdings had also been marked out for
those who had preferred settlement by land scrip. Most of those who had
opted for money scrip had chosen to sell their entitlement, but were
living off the land anyway. In 1908, most northerners lived pretty much as
they had prior to the time of the settlement, either within or outside
their assigned holdings. The most pronounced change in the region was in
the economy, where, by now, cash had replaced barter as the standard of exchange.
Through the Mackenzie Basin contains no prognosis of any future
conflict or misinterpretation of the events of 1899. Throughout the
narrative, Mair's tone is decidedly one of optimism. The settlement
process was seen as peaceful, with the natives basically satisfied having
resisted certain disruptive elements bent on scuttling the negotiations,
described by Mair as "half-breeds.from Edmonton, who had been vitiated
by contact with a low class of white man there." That Mair should have
presented such a picture is not surprising. He was a passionate Canadian
and an advocate of the benevolence of the British Empire. His poems and
other writings also reveal a strong affinity for the wilderness and an
empathy for the plight of the North American Indian.
Reprinted from Through the Mackenzie Basin: An Account of
the Signing of Treaty No. 8 and the Scrip Commission, 1899, by Charles Mair. |
Heritage Community Foundation Presents
The Treaty
