Walpole Island First Nation - Chenail Ecarte Reserve (Sombra Township) Claim

Chenail Ecarte Reserve

In the 1790s, the land that is now called southwestern Ontario was the territory of the Three Fires Confederacy of Ojibwa, Ottawa and Potawatomi - our forefathers. This Confederacy was spread throughout much of the Great Lakes territory, but the area around Walpole Island was under the stewardship of regional Chiefs of the Detroit, the name for the strait between Lake Huron and Lake Erie. War Chiefs had fought the British in 1763, in the so-called Pontiac Uprising, and Village Chiefs had made peace with the British in its aftermath. The British recognized that the territory belonged to the First Nations, and agreed to negotiate treaties at public Council Meetings in order to purchase or transact any business affecting the land.

The 1790s also marked a period of significantly increased tension between the newly constituted United States of America and the British colony, which later became Canada. The British sought out Indian Nations to act as their military allies in various campaigns and skirmishes against the Americans who were intent on expanding their boundaries westward. At the time, the British occupied forts in Detroit and along the Miami River in Ohio.

On August 20, 1794, U.S. troops attacked an Aboriginal encampment at a place called Fallen Timbers, and killed a number of prominent Chiefs. According to various reports, the British soldiers at Fort Miami, located a short distance away provided no support to the Aboriginal warriors. Some reports suggested that the British had locked the gates to the Fort, and had refused to offer shelter to their fleeing Aboriginal allies.

In the aftermath of the battle of Fallen Timbers, the British Government recognized that it had taken a severe blow to its credibility with the Indian Nations to whom it was allied. It also recognized that it lacked the means to withstand American aggression without the significant military presence that the Indian Nations provided.

In September of 1794, Lord Simcoe, Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, wrote to confirm that he had instructed the Superintendent General of Indian Affairs to offer "asylum" to the western Indians, ie. the Indians who were fighting American troops at the urging of the British in Ohio and Kentucky. The Deputy Superintendent General, Alexander McKee, was instructed to negotiate the purchase of the lands in southwestern Ontario, which would serve as a resting place for all time for the western Indians.

On November 6, 1794, Alexander McKee reported to Simcoe on his progress regarding the proposed evacuation of the Aboriginal people from Swan Creek (south of Lake Erie), and their re-settlement within British territory. He wrote:

Agreeably to Your Excellency's desires, I have visited the Lands at Chenail Ecarte and prepared the Chiefs to meet you in the Spring whenever called upon, tho, I find they will be rather tenacious of admitting other Nations among them. The Lands near the mouth of this river are bad and unfit for any settlement, but a few miles higher up, on one of the branches, the Land is good and proper for an Indian settlement.

Negotiations then followed between McKee and the ancestors of this First Nation to allow the Crown to purchase the lands which now comprise Sombra Township (approximately 92,000 acres). In September 1795, a preliminary agreement was signed by which the Crown offered to pay £1,200 for these lands for the purpose of establishing an Indian Reserve. A final agreement was not reached because a number of Chiefs were absent at that time.

In August 1796, a final agreement was prepared and offered to the Chiefs for their approval. The offer was made by Alexander McKee, who was then acting as Superintendent General of Indian Affairs, at a Council Meeting on St. Anne Island. McKee's speech, given on August 30, 1796, confirmed that the intention of the Crown was to purchase the land in order to protect it as an Indian Reserve. McKee explained:

Children, you are not to consider this small strip of land as bought for the King's immediate use, but for the use of his Indian children and you, yourselves, will be as welcome as any others to come and live thereon.

The St. Anne Island Council Meeting constituted a treaty between the Crown and the First Nation. The treaty was a verbal understanding since none of the chiefs could read or write the English language. The Chiefs listened to McKee, and agreed to his proposal.

In September 1796, a written document was endorsed by the totem marks of the Chiefs who had attended the Council Meeting on St. Anne Island (see Treaty Map). That document did not mention the specific agreement that McKee had been careful to explain to the Chiefs. On its face value, the document appears to be a full and complete release of any right or interest in the land from that point forward by the First Nation. This is, however, contrary to the verbal agreement and understanding of the Chiefs at the time. It should be noted that the document was written in English, but none of the Chiefs signed their names in English. Rather, as customary, they affixed their totem marks in the Aboriginal style of drawing clan emblems. Since the Chiefs could not read or write English, the written document could not have been understood by them.

By the Fall of 1797, it was estimated that there were upwards of 500 Aboriginal people residing at the Reserve at Chenail Ecarte. Over a short period of time, those numbers dropped quickly with many of the inhabitants moving to the islands which now form part of the Walpole Island First Nation Territory. The reasons for moving varied, but in large part were due to the lack of food to support the community.

The Crown later sold the lands in Sombra Township, or pensioned off those lands to non-Aboriginal soldiers as a reward for their service to the Crown. No further consideration was given to the Aboriginal rights and interest in those lands, including the right of members of this First Nation to reside on those lands, which were established to be a Reserve for Indian Nations loyal to the Crown.

In 1801, a missionary, Christian Frederick Denke, visited Walpole Island. He observed that the Walpole Island people continued to use the Chenail Ecarte Reserve. He expressed concern that a proposed settlement of Scottish immigrants under a plan by Lord Selkirk would encroach on that Reserve. He also commented on the survey of the boundary of the Reserve that took place in the Winter of 1803-04.

The people of Walpole Island objected to the encroachments on their Reserve at Chenail Ecarte. For example, on May 24, 1804, Chief Wetawninse wrote to Thomas McKee (Alexander McKee's son):

Brother, As you always told me to let you know when any person or persons molested us in regard to our lands, and in compliance with your friendly request I now take the liberty to inform you of the same.

I went yesterday with Captain Harrow to Chenail Ecarte to see those people that are now settling there, and to observe whether they were encroaching on our Grant, which if you remember, you told me that it was allotted for us and our children, and to remain so. I found they had not encroached any as yet, but Captain Harrow then and there told me that we had not one inch of land in these parts, and that which belongs to us lies a great ways to the westward of this.

Such language as that, held forth, is not very agreeable to us, and hope my Brother will take it into consideration and if possible put a stop to such proceedings, and will much oblige your friend and brother, Wetawninse, a Chief of the Chippawa's…

The fact that the lands were set apart as a Reserve for Aboriginal people was confirmed by Thomas McKee in a letter dated August 12, 1804. Despite this, the Crown ignored the Aboriginal interest in these lands. Complaints by the First Nation were also ignored.

In summary, the Treaty of 1796 was intended to set apart a tract of land as a Reserve for Aboriginal peoples who were loyal to the Crown and who were migrating from what is now part of the United States, at the request and urging of the British Crown. Those lands were intended to be shared by the Aboriginal people of Walpole Island with those Indian Nations. The Walpole Island First Nation did not give away whatever rights they may have had in the lands; rather, they agreed to share them with those other Aboriginal Nations. A Reserve was created, but the lands were later sold or given away by the Crown without any further Surrender or Release by this First Nation.

The Walpole Island First Nation has never received any further compensation from the Crown for the loss of the Chenail Ecarte Reserve.