David D. Plain
In the 1830s, the United States complained bitterly to the Government of Upper Canada about payments it was making to “Indians” living in the U.S. for their service to the British in the War of 1812.
The Americans believed Upper Canada was using the annuities to pay in exchange for loyalty to the Crown, and the idea caused great consternation south of the border.
Finally, the Colonial government acquiesced and changed the rules of eligibility by adding a residency clause. As a result, recipients had to reside in Canada to collect the payment.
At the same time, the U.S. was fully enforcing the ‘Indian Removal Act,’ legislation whose purpose was to relocate every “Indian” to land west of the Mississippi River.
Between them, the two policies caused a huge influx of people. And although the government extended an invitation to these “American Indians,” it made no provisions for accepting them. Nevertheless, between 1836 and 1846, many people moved north of the border to Canada.
One band that lost its reservation but refused to relocate to the western U.S. was in Saginaw, Michigan, about 105 miles (170 kilometres) from what is now the Aamjiwnaang First Nation.
The Chippewas of St. Clair, which at the time included Walpole Island and Stony and Kettle Point, held a special meeting to discuss the issue. The band voted to send the U.S. band a wampum inviting them to relocate here to become permanent members, and share in the treaty annuities.
About 300 individuals accepted, and a tract of land one-half mile wide by four miles deep was allocated for them along the southern edge of the Upper St. Clair reserve.
Over the next two decades, the newcomers intermarried with St. Clair band members and incorporated themselves into the band.
However, tension continued to simmer among some members and in 1870 the schism came to a head.
That year, Joshua Wawanosh, a former chief, and interpreter William N. Fisher of Walpole Island, petitioned the Superintendent General of Indian Affairs to have the newer members removed from the band list, and their portion of the annuities revoked.
They argued these “Foreign Indians” had only been allowed to settle on the reserve temporarily, and because the Saginaw band had regained a reservation in the 1860s they should return to it.
That idea was countered by a Memorial instituted by Nicholas Plain, who was both the elected chief and a traditional chief. (He was also my grandfather).
The Memorial was signed by 50 other traditional chiefs and councillors from the Upper St. Clair, Walpole, Kettle Point and Stony Point reserves. It invited the “Saginaw Indians” to be permanently incorporated into our band, to receive a portion of our annuities, and allotted two square miles of the Upper St. Clair reserve by a Special Act of Council in 1837.
Sworn oaths in the Memorial characterized Wawanosh as a liar and a scoundrel, and Fisher as a drunk.
The dispute was settled in favour of the Memorial and the “Foreign Indians” have long since been incorporated into Aamjiwnaang.
David D. Plain is an award-winning author and historian from the Aamjiwnaang First Nation