This binder contains the work of A.W. Vowell. Box 6 of the original collection contains only the work of Vowell, During his tenure as Indian Reserve Commissioner, Vowell was also the Indian Superintendent The two positions were given to Vowell upon the retirement of O'Reilly.
This binder continues with the work of O'Reilly as Indian Reserve Commissioner up to his retirement in March 1898. After that date, A.W. Vowell acts as Indian Superintendent and Indian Reserve Commissioner. O'Reilly's last submission of Minutes of decision appears to be those for the Douglas Indians dated October 12,1897 [Corr. No. 6317/98].
This binder continues with the work of O'Reilly as Indian Reserve Commissioner, but it also contains correspondence related to settler incursion upon lands set aside as Indian reserves. Like the other binders/boxes in the collection, the correspondence is one-sided. Although reference is made to correspondence from the Chief Commissioner of Lands & Works (CCLW), this correspondence is not found in the collection.
The correspondence in this binder continues with O'Reilly's work on the west coast of Vancouver Island and into parts of the north. If any one theme becomes evident during these years, it is the ongoing attempts by the provincial government to alienate lands set aside as reserves. At Port Simpson, Kincolith, Vancouver Island, Vancouver at Capilano and in the Similkameen, settlers made claims which encroached either upon lands set aside as reserves, or upon lands used and occupied by the Indians which had not yet been dealt with by the Indian Reserve Commissioner. In each instance, O'Reilly writes to the CCLW advising him of the inappropriate action of the provincial officials in allowing pre-emptions and/or Crown Grants. Because the collection contains only O'Reilly's letters and not the responses from the CCLW, those responses can only be inferred based upon O'Reilly's letters
This binder continues with O'Reilly's work. Interestingly, there are some minor differences between the Minutes of decision found in the provincial and federal collections. Notably, O'Reilly's allotment of Kish-neelt 25 allotted to Metlakatla and Port Simpson [Corr. No. 2332/88] is not included in the federal collection. O'Reilly ultimately rescinded this allotment as he became convinced that the Indians did not have a valid claim to the land. Although the correspondence related to this appears in the provincial collection, there does not appear to be any reference to this land in the federal collection. On the other hand, O'Reilly's allotments of Lower Shawniken 4A and Spatsum 11A for the Cook's Ferry Indians do not appear in the provincial collection with the Cook's Ferry allotments [Corr. No. 3198/89].
This binder commences with correspondence dated February 1884. More than a year elapsed between the work found at the end of Binder 7 and the commencement of this binder. O'Reilly did not work the 1883 season. It is unclear why, perhaps his health, perhaps for personal reasons, or perhaps because certain aspects of the work of the Indian Commissioner were still being vetted by Ottawa and Victoria. Notably after the 1883 absence, O'Reilly no longer allocates the "right to" fish, nor exclusive fisheries. The first Minutes of decision submitted by O'Reilly in 1884 were the amended Minutes for Port Simpson and Metlakatla.
This binder is a continuation of O'Reilly's work in 1882. Virtually every piece of correspondence in this volume is addressed to the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works. At Correspondence No. 1385/82, the signature on the sketches changes from George A. Walkem to Wm. Smithe
This binder consists of the initial work of Peter O'Reilly as Indian Reserve Commissioner. O'Reilly's covering letters for his Minutes of decision to the federal and provincial governments differed significantly. This is apparent in O'Reilly's first reporting letter dated May 14,1881. In his letter to the CCLW, O'Reilly wrote only about issues affecting provincial interests, in this case the abandonment of a pre-emption [Corr. No. 435/81 ]. In his letter to Superintendent General of Indian Affairs [Federal Collection, vl. 8, pp. 270-75], O'Reilly outlined his planned itinerary, provided a description of the living conditions of the Indians, population figures, traditional and agricultural pursuits and did not even mention the cancellation of the pre-emption record.
This binder consists primarily of two sets of Minutes of decision and sketches. The first set is submitted by Powell to the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works in April 1880.
This binder consists primarily of two sets of Minutes of decision and sketches. The first set is submitted by Powell to the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works in April 1880. This set provides the Minutes of decision for Sproat's work with the Nicola, Nicomen, Coldwater, Similkameen and Cook's Ferry Indians. Although "maps" are referred to in these minutes, none are included. Sproat's work in this area was undertaken in the summer of 1878. It is noteworthy that Powell did not receive the Minutes until 1880, approximately 18 months after the work had been done.
This binder primarily contains correspondence between Sproat and the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works (CCLW). The only Minutes of decision found in this volume are Sproats re-submission of some of the work done by the JIRC [Corr. No. 369/79, 368/79]. Based upon a comparison with the federal collection, it would appear that some of Sproat's work is not included in the provincial collection. For example, Sproat's allotments for the Upper Similkameen, which occurred during this time frame, can be found in the federal collection (see, vl. 6, pp. 115-129), but these Minutes of decision are not found in the provincial collection.
The second binder of material consists almost entirely of Sproat correspondence. The exception to this is the Minutes of decision found at the beginning of the volume which are the work of the Joint Indian Reserve Commission. The JIRC was disbanded at the end of the 1877 season, however, the work they had done to that date was submitted by Sproat to the federal and provincial governments. Curiously, the covering letter for the Minutes of decision for the JIRC found in this volume is not signed; it may be incomplete. It is likely that both Sproat and McKinlay would have signed the covering letter as this appears to have been the practice with respect to the JIRC submitting correspondence to the province [Corr. Nos. 1084/78, 1081/78],
This first volume consists of minutes of decision, correspondence and sketches related to the work of the Joint Indian Reserve Commission, which was formally established in 1876 through federal and provincial Orders-in-Council. Each of the Commissioners was also separately appointed through provincial and federal Orders-in-Council. Interestingly, the first piece of correspondence is a letter from Gilbert Malcolm Sproat offering his services on the Joint Indian Reserve Commission. The inside address says: "Sproat & Co."
