The story of the early explorations and of the trading adventures of the French and English on the plains of the great Northwest has ever been one of exceeding interest to the people of Canada; but while filled with romance and important as illustrating how the great domain has gradually been brought under the dominion of the British Crown, it nevertheless is largely lacking as a record of the more silent, yet more potent, influences which for over a century have been at work transforming the Indian aborigines into members of a civilized society and loyal subjects of the King. Restrained through diplomacy, force and the interests of trade by the great fur-trading companies, the widely distributed and wandering bands of Indians would still have been savages, had it not been for the heroic devotion of those missionaries who, attaching themselves to some band, moved with it in its wanderings, or travelled from post to post where the Indians were assembled while bartering their furs.

The evolution of schools amongst the Indian population of the Northwest naturally begins with the efforts of the early missionaries to obtain an influence over the Indians through the education and guidance of the children. The Roman Catholic Church as early as 1817 sent its first missionary into this extensive region and its work has been extended to far within the Arctic Circle, reaching even to the Northern Ocean. Co-incident with its work has been that of the Church of England, whose missionaries, locating near some Hudson’s Bay Company’s trading post, have covered, through the work of the Church of England Missionary Society, the entire Northwest to Fort McPherson and the Yukon. To illustrate—the first Anglican mission was established at Winnipeg in 1820, Dynevor in 1833, Cumberland in 1840, Lac la Ronge in 1840, Battleford in 1876, the Blood Mission in 1880, Fort Simpson in 1858, Fort McPherson in 1874, and Rampart House in 1882. The British Methodist Church began its labours by establishing missions on Lake Winnipeg at Norway House and Berens River in 1856, gradually extending westward as far as the Stony reserve in the foothills of the Rockies. The Presbyterian Church, latest in the field, started a mission at Prince Albert in 1867. The stories of hardship and of danger endured by these missionaries of the Cross have been but incidentally told, but the results are shown in the list of missions and of day schools in existence when this enormous territory passed into the hands of the Dominion of Canada in 1870. The lists are very incomplete, but a published report shows that 20 Roman Catholic schools and 5 Church of England schools received in 1877 some financial aid from the Dominion government. The following statement, taken from a report published in 1897, gives the total grants made by the government to the schools of the different churches in the years 1877, 1886, 1896 and 1906:—

Table I—Showing the Government grants to the Schools of Manitoba andthe Northwest Territories in 1877, 1886, 1896 and 1906.
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.
District.Kind of School.1877.1886.1896.1905–6.
Building.Maintenance.Building.Maintenance.Building.Maintenance.Building.Maintenance.
$ cts.$ cts.$ cts.$ cts.$ cts.$ cts.$ cts.$ cts.
ManitobaDay268 452,711 873,145 131,800 00
"Boarding1,620 0012,480 00
"Industrial2,000 0012,764 39
N. W. TerritoriesDay150 00300 00236 001,077 393,969 05900 00
" "Boarding536 202,938 1514,762 572,152 5042,406 06
" "Industrial2,661 6226,489 7443,344 328,676 0735,761 16
150 00568 452,897 6230,815 204,938 1579,605 1610,828 5793,347 22
CHURCH OF ENGLAND.
ManitobaDay274 50325 976,447 229,634 688,930 00
"Boarding
"Industrial28,027 7516,488 90
N. W. TerritoriesDay130 001,761 414,326 174,500 00
" "Boarding15,336 55134 0012,567 48
" "Industrial10,179 577,430 0019,260 861,369 2017,102 09
274 50455 9718,488 507,430 0076,586 011,503 2059,588 47
METHODIST CHURCH.
ManitobaDay1,637 711,902 221,500 00
"Boarding5,500 00
"Industrial13,526 742,952 3912,000 00
N. W. TerritoriesDay407 872,480 771,800 00
" "Boarding358 541,725 602,271 80
" "Industrial6,664 351,963 649,648 16
2,404 1226,299 684,916 0332,719 96
PRESBYTERIAN.
ManitobaDay600 00
"Boarding1,464 156,720 60
"Industrial
N. W. TerritoriesDay457 601,270 47950 15900 00
" "Boarding6,063 136,261 65
" "Industrial17,336 837,525 72
457 601,270 4725,814 2622,007 97
UNDENOMINATIONAL—$600 00

The following is a summary of the expenditures set forth in the former table:—

Class of School.1877.1886.1896.1906.
BuildingMaint’nceBuildingMaint’nceBuildingMaint’nceBuildingMaint’nce
$ cts.$ cts.$ cts.$ cts.$ cts.$ cts.$ cts.$ cts.
R. Catholic Schools150 00568 452,897 6230,815 204,938 1576,605 4610,828 5993,347 22
Church of England274 50455 9718,488 507,430 0076,588 011,503 3059,588 47
Methodist Church2,404 1226,299 684,916 0332,719 96
Presbyterian457 601,270 4724,350 1122,007 97
Undenominational600 00
150 00842 953,811 1952,978 2912,368 15206,843 2617,247 92208,263 62

Thus the connection of the Dominion government with the Indian schools of the Northwest began in 1871, when on August 3, the first treaty, extinguishing the Indians’ title to the lands within the boundaries of southeastern Manitoba, was signed. The dates of the several treaties were:—

ISoutheastern ManitobaAugust 3, 1871.
IILake Manitoba (south)August 21, 1871.
IIINorthwest AngleOctober 3, 1873.
IVQu’Appelle DistrictSeptember 5, 1874.
VLake WinnipegSeptember 24, 1875.
VIFort PittSeptember 9, 1876.
VIIBlackfoot DistrictSeptember 22, 1877.

As the terms of all these treaties were much the same, some of the particulars may be quoted;

They provided:—