Indian Statistics
On June 10, 1857, an act was assented to providing for the gradual civilization of the Indians, and the removal of all legal distinctions between them and other subjects.
Expenditures by Province
The expenditures on account of Indians in 1886-7 amounted to:
$53,604.90 for Ontario and Quebec
$6,038.01 for Nova Scotia
$6,049.08 for New Brunswick
$2,135.26 for Prince Edward Island
$61,076.40 for British Columbia
$1,072,397.67 for Manitoba and the Northwest
Expenditures by Tribe
The tribes represented now in Quebec and Ontario, with the receipts credited up to June 30, 1886, are given as follows:
Otchipwas of Sarnia, $200,755.87
Otchipwas of Thames, $77,332.61
Munceys of Thames, $2,805.09
Oneidas of Thames, $662.89
Moravians of Thames, $167,018.70
Pottawattamies of Walpole Island, $6,806.90
Otchipwas of Walpole Island, $74,648.60
Batchewana Indians, $4,468.40
Otchipwas of Beausoleil, $59,748.80
Otchipwas of Nawash, $367,753.08
Otchipwas of Kand, $54,895.44
Otchipwas of Saugeen, $289,852.91
Otchipwas of Snake Island, $25,972.61
Fort William band, $14,148.28
French River band, $928.67
Garden River Indians, $36,761.85
Henvey’s Inlet Indians, $7,561.05
Lake Nippissing Indians, $29,829.50
Manitoulin Indians (unceded), $2,530.36
Maganetewans, $582.57
Mississaugas of Alnwick, $80,033.84
Mississaugas of Credit, $120,423.49
Mississaugas of Eice Lake, $22,831.04
Mississaugas of Mud Lake, $38,231.38
Mississaugas of Scugog, $11,895.69
Mississaugas of Bay of Quinte, $134,924.98
Ojibbewas and Ottawas of Manitoulin, $117,794.94
Ojibbewas of Lake Huron, $61,357.59
Ojibbewas of Lake Superior, $50,917.64
Ojibbewas of the Mississauga River, $4,695.49
Parry Island Indians, $45,365.26
Serpent River Indians, $3,004
Six Nations, $915,988.30
Shawanaga band, $8,691
Spanish River Indians, $3,058
Thessalon River Indians, $13,278.91
Tootoomenai and band, $963.30
Whitefish River Indians, $3,939.46
Wyandots of Anderdon, $24,969.17
Abenakis of St. Francis, $4,158.36
Abenakis of Becancour, $1,279
Amalecites of Isle Vest and Viger, $5,799
Golden Lake Indians, $21
Hurons of Lorette, $26
Iroquois of Caughnawaga, $8,271
Iroquois of St. Eegis, $31,271
Lake St. John Indians, $1,397
Lake of Two Mountains Indians, $1,260
Mississaugas of Upper Ottawa, $3,041
River Desert Indians, $40,379
The territory over which the supervision of Indian affairs extended in 1862 consisted of what is now embraced in the Provinces of Ontario, and Quebec, which then composed the old Province of Canada. The Department now exercises control of Indian matters from the Provinces of Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, on the Atlantic, to British Columbia, on the Pacific Ocean.
The number of Indians who, according to the Report for the year 1863, were then under the care of the Department, was 19,181. The census returns published with this report show that the Indians of the Dominion of Canada number approximately 128,000 souls. The number of reserves occupied by the various bands of Indians of the old Province of Canada in 1862 was fifty-six. In the seven provinces, and in the Northwest Territories, and in the district of Keewatin, there are at the present time 1,147 Indian reserves; while in British Columbia additional reserves are being assigned to the Indians of that province, as the work of the Commissioner appointed to allot the same proceeds.
According to the report for the year 1863, there were thirty schools in operation for the instruction of the Indian children. In 1887 there were 198 schools in operation.