Cheated by Bill Waiser

Author:Bill Waiser [Waiser, Bill]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ECW Press
Published: 2023-10-03T00:00:00+00:00

The June 1906 surrender of Alberta’s Michel reserve also required two meetings. In the fall of 1905, the settlers of Villeneuve, Alberta, petitioned the Laurier government for the removal of a strip of land along the eastern edge of the Michel reserve for a roadway. Oliver wanted to accede to the request, but when Indian agent Gibbons raised the matter with the band, he found that “they are unanimously opposed to it.”51

The sticking point was how little the Michel band had benefited from the previous surrender of twelve square miles in July 1903. Much of the land remained unsold and off the market. On November 23, 1905, Oliver wired Pedley from Edmonton, wanting to know the “price of [the] balance” of the surrendered Michel land.52 Pedley replied that same day by return telegraph that the average price was $3.84 per acre. Four days later, an Edmonton firm offered to buy all the unsold Michel land for an identical $3.84 per acre.

Indian Affairs gladly accepted the proposal. It’s not known who was behind the offer — the firm may have been acting on behalf of another party — but the timing was suspect. That the land was apparently sold might have convinced the department that another Michel partial surrender was viable. It wasn’t until July 1906 that the firm announced that it wouldn’t be proceeding with the purchase.53

The second surrender was taken on by inspector Markle as if it were a bit in his teeth. He used a mixture of familiarity and bluster to try to make the band agreeable to another surrender. At one point in January 1906, he told Chief Michel Callihoo that he was only acting as a friend in the negotiations. “It makes no difference to me whether the land is surrendered or not,” a disingenuous Markle wrote. “I did what I thought would be in your best interests, not my own interests.”54

By mid-May 1906, Gibbons had made a breakthrough. It appeared that the band was willing to surrender more of its reserve, provided that the land was sold for no less than $10 per acre and that the proceeds from the sale of both surrendered sections would be used to purchase individual farming outfits and agricultural implements. Markle encouraged the department to proceed with a surrender as quickly as possible. The necessary documents, specifying the taking of another 2,400 acres, were hurriedly drawn up and dispatched to Edmonton.

Gibbons held a formal surrender meeting at Michel’s reserve on June 2, 1906. The majority of those in attendance refused. In fact, the band used the opportunity to complain about returns from the first surrender and wanted “to know how much of the surrendered part has been sold and how much was realized from the sale.”55

Markle rejected the meeting results, despite his earlier claims about being on the side of the band, and stormed off with Gibbons in tow. When he returned a few weeks later, the Michel men approved the surrender. They only agreed, though, because Markle had

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.