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150 Years Ago in North America

The Seneca prophet and religious leader Ganidayo (Handsome Lake) lives between 1735 and 1815. After a vision in 1799, Ganidayo leads a spiritual revival among the Six Nations. His "Gai'wiu" or "good message" forms the basis of the Longhouse religion currently practised by many Six Nations people. While it includes some elements of Christianity, the Gai'wiu is founded in native traditions. Ganidayo taught universal spiritual values, including toleration of other beliefs. Although the Gai'wiu religion replaced many of the old beliefs of the Six Nations, some traditional ceremonies were kept, including the very ancient Ostowa-gowa, or the Great Feather Dance. This became a prime religious dance of the Longhouse people.

Among the most powerful Indian nations left on the east coast of the United States after 1815, was the Creek or Muskhogee confederacy. The confederacy was made up of semi-independent townships, a region centered on a main town. Called a talwal, each township was run by an elected council. Although their lands were guaranteed by treaty with the United States, American settlers make an undeclared war on the Creek nation. Most were forced to move west of the Mississippi, the fate of the majority of the Indian nations still living east of the river. This was called the Trail of Tears, one of the great refugee movements of all time, and many thousands of people died, due to lack of food, the cold, exhaustion or disease.

Some Creek clans move into Florida. Here there were diverse communities. There were villages of escaped African slaves, villages of mixed African-native peoples called maroons, and villages of smaller groups of native peoples, such as the Miccosukee. The most important group was the Seminole nation, a unique culture resulting from the mixture of the few remaining original Florida natives, Africans and recently arrived Creeks. But American attacks into Florida (still a Spanish colony at this time) soon followed. In what are called the three Seminole Wars, in 1818, 1835-42 and 1855-58, most of the Seminoles were forced to move west. Florida was also taken by the USA from Spain. A few Seminole and Miccosukee villages survived deep in the Florida swamps, where they still exist.

The population of the United States grew from 9.6 million in 1820 to 31.3 million in 1860. As the American settlers moved ever westward, crossing the Mississippi they come into conflict with the natives they have so recently forced to move west, as well as the plains peoples who had originally lived here. The Cheyenne experience is typical of most plains nations. Originally farmers, the Cheyenne began to use horses by 1700 and turned to hunting the herds of bison. Like other plains people, the Cheyenne used military "societies". These societies were groups of veteran warriors. They acted as distinct military units in wartime, but also served as community leaders, as a kind of police force as well as serving many other functions. The Cheyenne Hotamitanio (Dog Soldiers) were possibly the best native soldiers on the plains. They wore a long sash in battle, which would be pinned to the ground with an arrow to show they would stay and fight to death at that spot. The Cheyenne were victims of the Sand Creek Massacre, described as one of most planned brutal acts in American history, and the unprovoked attack on Black Kettle's camp by Custer. The Northern Cheyenne suffered their final retreat and defeat in 1878.

The abolitionist or anti-slavery movement gains strength in the United States. Harriet Beecher Stowe writes the book Uncle Tom's Cabin in 1852. Many white people for the first time are brought face-to-face with the horrible living conditions of the slaves.

150 Years Ago in Canada

Slavery is abolished in the most of the British Empire in 1833. Some like the Dutch, had abolished slavery in 1818, while others, like the Spanish, would not do so until 1883. In Canada, slaves are still mentioned a few years after 1833.

The 1837 Rebellions break out in both Upper Canada (Ontario) and Lower Canada (Quebec). The rebels call for independence from Britain and a more democratic form of government, which was then controlled by a small group of wealthy families, called the Family Compact in Ontario and the Chateau Clique in Quebec (both groups mostly British and Anglican). An economic depression had increased poverty and unrest during the 1830s, and in Quebec, the rebels were also motivated by French nationalism (the conquest of Quebec had only happened 75 years before, still within the living memory of some of the grand parents). The rebels in Ontario under Mackenzie (first mayor of Toronto) are defeated without too much fighting. In Quebec, there are full- scale battles at St. Denis, St. Charles and St. Eustache before the rebellion here, led by Papineau, is put down.

In 1840, the Durham Report is put into effect. This report was based on a study of the causes of the rebellion, made in 1838 and '39. A major part of the report was the reunification of Upper and Lower Canada into one colony. The original French colony of Canada had been split in two in 1791 to give the then small number of English settlers their own colony. By 1840, the total number of English settlers in the two Canadas outnumbered the French. So instead of two colonies, one with an English majority and the other with a French one, there was now a single colony in which the French formed a minority. This, it was hoped, would lead to their assimilation and the disappearance of the distinct French-Canadian society. The Durham Report also brought in a more democratic form of government, called responsible government, which limited the power of the colonial governor. But the dominant economic position of the rich Family Compact and Chateau Clique families was not changed.

Anna Brownell Jameson (born 1794, died 1860), a famous writer and feminist, visits Canada between 1836 and 1838. She published her experiences in a book called Winter Studies and Summer Rambles in Canada.

The Dutch-German artist (born 1815, died 1872), Cornelius Krieghoff, lives and works in Canada for much of his adult life. He becomes well known for his paintings of rural life in Quebec.

The boundry dispute between Britain and the United States, which could have resulted in a war, is settled in the 1846 Oregon Treaty. This set the 49th parallel as the border between the USA and the British territories west of the Great Lakes (except the whole of Vancouver Island, then a separate colony, remained British).

By 1800, a distinct society develops along the Red River in Manitoba. Called the Metis, these people were descendents of European fur traders (mostly French, but some Scottish) and native Americans. French was the most common language spoken, but the Metis way of life combined European and native elements. They lived in fairly permanent settlements building wood cabins, but were still partly nomadic travelling in two-wheeled "Red River" carts. Like the neighbouring plains people, the Metis relied heavily on hunting bison.

Conflict over prime hunting grounds occurred from time to time. Long time enemies of the Metis were the Sioux. This was a large nation, living west and south of the Great Lakes, which called themselves the Dakota, Lakota or Nakota depending on region. The Sioux were composed of four major divisions, each in turn made up of a number of bands or clans. The band, based on a large extended family, was the most important political and social unit. The largest of the four divisions was the Teton Sioux, including the Oglala, Brule, Sans Arc, Hunkpapa and Miniconju bands. The Santee Sioux was made up of the Sisseton, Wahpeton, Mdwekanton and Wahpekute bands. The two smaller divisions were the Yankton and Yanktonai.

In 1851, the battle of Grand Coteau is fought between the Metis and the Sioux. Although outnumbered, the Metis had better guns and fought from behind a barricade made from their over-turned carts. The Sioux charged three times, but each time were turned back with heavy losses by the Metis gunfire, and then finally retreated.

This was one of the last wars between two groups of native peoples in the Canadian West.

The rebels in Ontario under Mackenzie (first mayor of Toronto)

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