The Indian Department was established in 1755 to oversee relations between the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

and the

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

of North America. The imperial government ceded control of the Indian Department to the

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on th ...

in 1860, thus setting the stage for the development of the present-day Department of Crown–Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. During its existence, the Indian Department served both a diplomatic and a military role. Its daily responsibilities were largely civil in nature, such as the administration of justice, the management of the fur trade, and the employment of blacksmiths, teachers, and missionaries. At the same time, the Department was expected to mobilize and lead Indigenous warriors in times of crisis and conflict. Theoretically, control over the Indian Department rested with the senior-most administrator in British America, initially the Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in North America, and later the

Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy ...

the Canadas The Canadas is the collective name for the provinces of Lower Canada and Upper Canada, two historical British colonies in present-day Canada. The two colonies were formed in 1791, when the British Parliament passed the '' Constitutional Act'', ...

. In practice, Indian Affairs were managed by the senior officers of the Indian Department themselves, upon whose advice the Governors General depended.

Mission

During the period 1755-1830, the mission of the Indian Department can be summarized as protecting the indigenous peoples from exploitation by traders and land speculators (one of the goals of the

Royal Proclamation of 1763 The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued by King George III on 7 October 1763. It followed the Treaty of Paris (1763), which formally ended the Seven Years' War and transferred French territory in North America to Great Britain. The Procla ...

; negotiations with the

about boundaries between their land and that of the agricultural colonists (such as the Treaty of Fort Stanwix 1768); distribute the gifts that the government gave to the indigenous people in order to create goodwill. First Nations who lived on American territory in the Midwest received gifts until 1830; in war, induce First Nations to support Britain with auxiliary troops (during the War of 1812, the Department acted in close cooperation with Chief Tecumseh).Kawashima, Yasuhide (1988). "Colonial Government Agencies." ''Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 4: History of Indian-White Relations.'' Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution, pp. 245-254. During the period 1830-1860, the Department’s major mission was to administrate the

Indian Reserves In Canada, an Indian reserve (french: réserve indienne) is specified by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." Ind ...

.Douglas Sanders, "Government Indian Agencies in Canada", ''Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 4: History of Indian-White Relations'' (Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1988): 276-283.

Organization

;Subordination During the period 1755-1796 the

Commander-in-Chief, North America The office of Commander-in-Chief, North America was a military position of the British Army. Established in 1755 in the early years of the Seven Years' War, holders of the post were generally responsible for land-based military personnel and ac ...

issued instructions for the Indian Department and maintained close connections with it. Yet, the Department was not directly subordinated to him, but to the Home Office in London. In 1796, the Indian Department of

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of th ...

became subordinated to the Lieutenant Governor of that province, while in 1800, the

became responsible for the Department in

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...

. In 1816, the Indian Department in both Canadas was subordinated to the British commander-in-chief. The Department was again in 1830 divided into two departments; one in Upper Canada under the Lieutenant Governor, one in Lower Canada under the Military Secretary to the Governor General. The two departments were again merged and coming under the Governor General in 1840. ;Internal organization In 1755, there were two departments, the Northern Department and the Southern Department; each having its own superintendent. The boundary between them ran along the Ohio River and the Potomac. During the American Revolutionary War, the Southern Department was divided into two; one in the west and one in the east. In 1782 the departments received a common superintendent. After the

Treaty of Paris Treaty of Paris may refer to one of many treaties signed in Paris, France: Treaties 1200s and 1300s * Treaty of Paris (1229), which ended the Albigensian Crusade * Treaty of Paris (1259), between Henry III of England and Louis IX of France * Trea ...

1783, the area of responsibility became limited to Canada and the departments were formally merged into one organization. The office of superintendent was abolished in 1844 and the direct leadership was taken over ''ex officio'' by the Civil Secretary to the Governor-General.

History

The early Indian Department, 1755-1774

Before 1755, responsibility for maintaining diplomatic relations with the Indigenous nations of North America rested with the individual British colonies. It was only the outbreak of the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...

that impelled the British Empire to centralize the management of Indian Affairs. Accordingly, Sir William Johnson was granted a special commission as Superintendent of Indian Affairs in 1755 in order to mobilize allied Indigenous warriors in the struggle against

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spa ...

, and to win over or neutralize the Indigenous allies of the French. Initially, the administration of Indian Affairs in British America was divided into two geographical departments. The superintendent of the northern department, responsible for negotiations with the Indians living north of the Ohio River, was Sir William Johnson who held the position until his death in 1774. Sir William was succeeded by his son-in-law,

Guy Johnson Guy Johnson ( 1740 – 5 March 1788) was an Irish military officer and diplomat. He served on the side of the British during the Revolutionary War, having migrated to the Province of New York as a young man and worked with his uncle, Sir Wi ...

, who served as superintendent of Indian Affairs for the northern department until 1782. The first superintendent for the Southern Department was Edmond Atkins, starting in 1756. John Stuart became the Superintendent for the Southern Department in 1762, serving until his death in 1779.

The American Revolution, 1775-1782

During the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, the Indian Department proved to be one of the most effective military forces at the disposal of the British Empire. Many Indigenous communities were bitterly opposed to the American settlers who had risen in rebellion, and therefore they made natural allies to the Loyalist cause. Joseph Brant rose to prominence as a leader of the Mohawk during the American Revolutionary War, during which he was appointed as a captain in the Indian Department. His sister

Molly Brant Molly Brant ( – April 16, 1796), also known as Mary Brant, Konwatsi'tsiaienni, and Degonwadonti, was a Mohawk leader in British New York and Upper Canada in the era of the American Revolution. Living in the Province of New York, she was the c ...

also played a critical role in the Indian Department during this time, and was afterwards granted a pension from the British government for her services during the Revolution. ;Northern Frontier Fighting was particularly brutal in northern New York, where the homeland of the Six Nations was located. Sir John Johnson and

John Butler John Butler may refer to: Arts and entertainment *John "Picayune" Butler (died 1864), American performer * John Butler (artist) (1890–1976), American artist *John Butler (author) (born 1937), British author and YouTuber *John Butler (born 1954), ...

were among the most active members of the Indian Department on this front. After the major British defeat at the Battles of Saratoga in 1777, warfare in this region consisted mostly of violent raids and counter raids. In 1778, The British Indian Department and its allies secured important victories at the

Battle of Wyoming The Battle of Wyoming, also known as the Wyoming Massacre, was a military engagement during the American Revolutionary War between Patriot militiamen and a mixed force of Loyalist soldiers and Iroquois raiders. The clash took place in the Wyom ...

and the Raid on Cherry Valley. In the autumn of 1779, the American

Sullivan Expedition The 1779 Sullivan Expedition (also known as the Sullivan-Clinton Expedition, the Sullivan Campaign, and the Sullivan-Clinton Genocide) was a United States military campaign during the American Revolutionary War, lasting from June to October 1779 ...

was largely successful in destroying the corn fields and villages of the Six Nations. In revenge, Sir John Johnson and his Indigenous allies carried out a substantial raid against the settlements of upstate New York in 1780, known as the Burning of the Valleys. ;Ohio Country The Indian Department also saw extensive fighting in the

Ohio Valley The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

region, where

Alexander McKee Alexander McKee ( – 15 January 1799) was an American-born military officer and colonial official in the British Indian Department during the French and Indian War, the American Revolutionary War, and the Northwest Indian War. He achieved the ...

, Matthew Elliott, and

Simon Girty Simon Girty (November 14, 1741 – February 18, 1818) was an American-born frontiersman, soldier and interpreter from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, who served as a liaison between the British and their Indian allies during the American Revolution. H ...

were among the most effective Loyalist partisans of the war. Major engagements involving the Indian Department on this front included Captain Bird's Invasion of Kentucky, Crawford's Defeat, and the

Battle of Blue Licks The Battle of Blue Licks, fought on August 19, 1782, was one of the last battles of the American Revolutionary War. The battle occurred ten months after Lord Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown, which had effectively ended the war in the east. ...

. The British Indian Department was particularly successful mobilizing warriors against the Americans in the Ohio Country following the massacre at Gnadenhutten of 96 pacifist

Christian Munsee The Christian Munsee are a group of Lenape (also known as ''Delaware''), an Indigenous people in the United States, that primarily speak Munsee and have converted to Christianity, following the teachings of Moravian missionaries. The Christian M ...

by Pennsylvania militiamen on March 8, 1782.

After the Revolution, 1782-1812

file:Thayendanegea (Joseph Brant) by William Berczy - 1802-1812.jpg, upright=1.1, Joseph Brant, a leading force in the Department from the era of the American Revolution until his death in 1807 After the end of the Revolutionary War, Guy Johnson was removed from his position as Superintendent General of the Indian Department on suspicion of corruption. He was replaced by his brother-in-law Sir John Johnson, who held the position for nearly half a century until his death in 1830. ;Northwest War and Jay's Treaty During much of the period after the Revolution, the Indian Department was deeply concerned with the ongoing struggle between the Indigenous communities of the Ohio Valley and the young American republic. In the 1790s, this conflict flared into the Northwest Indian War. Despite tacit support from the Indian Department, the British Empire never openly sided with the Indigenous warriors. At the

Battle of Fallen Timbers The Battle of Fallen Timbers (20 August 1794) was the final battle of the Northwest Indian War, a struggle between Native American tribes affiliated with the Northwestern Confederacy and their British allies, against the nascent United State ...

in 1794 the

Northwestern Confederacy The Northwestern Confederacy, or Northwestern Indian Confederacy, was a loose confederacy of Native Americans in the Great Lakes region of the United States created after the American Revolutionary War. Formally, the confederacy referred to it ...

was defeated, leading the

Treaty of Greenville The Treaty of Greenville, formally titled Treaty with the Wyandots, etc., was a 1795 treaty between the United States and indigenous nations of the Northwest Territory (now Midwestern United States), including the Wyandot and Delaware peoples ...

in 1795. American victory in the Northwest War was followed by the

Jay Treaty The Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, Between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, commonly known as the Jay Treaty, and also as Jay's Treaty, was a 1794 treaty between the United States and Great Britain that averted ...

between the United States and the British Empire in 1796. While this treaty stipulated that the British, including the Indian Department, had to withdraw from the posts on American territory that the Empire had continued to occupy in defiance of the

of 1783, it also contained a clause allowing Indigenous peoples to freely cross back and forth across the newly established international border. This clause allowed the Indian Department to continue to maintain close connections with Indigenous communities living in U.S. territory, such as the Shawnee, the Odawa, the Potawatomi, and the Dakota. ;Removal to Canada Following the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, and again after the signing of Jay's Treaty, many members of the Indian Department removed themselves from their homes in what is today the United States and established themselves in Canada as

Loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

. Sir John Johnson became one of the leading men of the Montreal region, while Alexander McKee was one of the founding settlers in western

. The migration of the Six Nations of the Grand River with Joseph Brant and the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte with

John Deseronto Captain John Deserontyon (alt. Captain John, Deseronto, (Odeserundiye)), U.E.L (c. 1740s - 1811) was a Mohawk war chief allied with the British during the American Revolutionary War. He led his people to Upper Canada after the war, settling on la ...

to the

Province of Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen p ...

was part of this movement. A separate head of the Indian Department in Upper Canada, called the Deputy Superintendent General, was created in 1794.

was the first Deputy Superintendent General of Upper Canada, from 1794 until his death in 1799. He was succeeded by

William Claus William Claus (1765–1826) was a member of the Executive Council of Upper Canada, a colonel of the Colonial militia in Canada, Canadian militia during the War of 1812, and the head of the British Indian Department, Indian Department in Upper Can ...

, who served from 1799 until his death in 1826.

The War of 1812-1815

The Indian Department again played an important part in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

, mobilizing warriors to defeat the United States in a number of important battles from Montreal to the Mississippi River. The Indian Department was particularly important in supporting the revival movement led by

Tenskwatawa Tenskwatawa (also called Tenskatawa, Tenskwatawah, Tensquatawa or Lalawethika) (January 1775 – November 1836) was a Native American religious and political leader of the Shawnee tribe, known as the Prophet or the Shawnee Prophet. He was a ...

, the Shawnee Prophet, and his brother Tecumseh. Indeed, many members of the Department, like George Ironside Sr. and Matthew Elliott, had family connections to the Shawnee. Other prominent members of the Department during the War of 1812 include Joseph Brant's son, John Brant, Joseph Brant's adopted heir, John Norton, and Sir Willian Johnson's grandson,

. During the War of 1812, a uniform was established for the Indian Department for the first time, consisting of a red jacket faced with green on the collar and cuffs. One of the primary objectives of the British Indian Department and its First Nations allies was the establishment of an Indian barrier state in American territory that would be both an Indigenous homeland free of American settlers and an extra line of defence for British Canada. The defeat of Tecumseh's confederacy at the

Battle of the Thames The Battle of the Thames , also known as the Battle of Moraviantown, was an American victory in the War of 1812 against Tecumseh's Confederacy and their British allies. It took place on October 5, 1813, in Upper Canada, near Chatham. The Britis ...

in 1813 was a heavy blow to this project. However, even after this setback the Indian Department won a number of important victories alongside its Indigenous allies, including the Battle of Michilimackinac and the

Siege of Prairie du Chien The siege of Prairie du Chien was a British victory in the far western theater of the War of 1812. During the war, Prairie du Chien was a small frontier settlement with residents loyal to both American and British causes. By 1814, both nations w ...

in the summer of 1814. ;Treaty of Ghent During the war, the British Indian Department made repeated promises that the First Nations would not be abandoned in any peace treaty made with the United States. Despite these assurances, the

Treaty of Ghent The Treaty of Ghent () was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom. It took effect in February 1815. Both sides signed it on December 24, 1814, in the city of Ghent, United Netherlands (now in ...

that ended the war in 1815 did not contain any provision for an Indian barrier state. Similar to the situation after the

in 1783, the Indigenous communities that had taken up arms as allies of the British were once again abandoned. There is substantial evidence that this betrayal deeply disturbed the members of the British Indian Department. Lieutenant Colonel

Robert McDouall Major-General Robert McDouall, CB (March 1774 – 15 November 1848) was a Scottish-born officer in the British Army, who saw much action during the Napoleonic Wars and the Anglo-American War of 1812. He is best known for serving as the command ...

, temporarily in charge of the Indian Department at

Michilimackinac Michilimackinac ( ) is derived from an Ottawa Ojibwe name for present-day Mackinac Island and the region around the Straits of Mackinac between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.. Early settlers of North America applied the term to the entire region ...

, wrote many lengthy dispatches decrying the abandonment of Great Britain's Indigenous allies.

Post-war period, 1815-1860

The Red Lake Chief making a speech to the Governor of Red River at Fort Douglas

Given the increased military importance of the Indian Department following the War of 1812, the separate branches in Upper and Lower Canada were reunified under the military control of the Commander of the Forces in 1816. In 1830, the Indian Department was again divided into separate Upper and Lower Canadian branches. In the upper province, Lieutenant Governor

Sir John Colborne Field Marshal John Colborne, 1st Baron Seaton, (16 February 1778 – 17 April 1863) was a British Army officer and colonial governor. After taking part as a junior officer in the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland, Sir Ralph Abercromby's expedi ...

appointed veteran agent James Givins as Chief Superintendent to oversee the Upper Canadian branch. After Givins retired in 1837, he was replaced by Smauel Peters Jarvis. In Lower Canada, Duncan Campbell Napier became the senior member of the Indian Department following the death of Sir John Johnson in 1830. Napier remained at the head of the Indian Department in what is today Quebec until his retirement in 1857. During the Rebellions of 1837–1838, the Indian Department again mobilized warriors to put down the internal insurrections and the numerous Patriot invasions from American territory.

Transfer to Canadian government

In 1841, the Canadas were amalgamated into the

, and the Governor General assumed direct oversight of the Indian Department. In practice, his secretary handled most of the day-to-day operations of the department. This situation continued until 1860, when the British government transferred responsibility for the Indian Department to the government of the Province of Canada. During the fifteen years leading up to the transfer of the Indian Department, many of its old practises were discarded, including most prominently the annual giving of presents to those Indigenous communities who were in alliance with the British Crown.

Gallery of prominent members

Rank structure

The Indian Department did not belong to the army but was organized along military lines.Chartrand, Renee (2008). ''American Loyalist Troops 1775-1784.'' Osprey Publishing, pp. 18-19, 22, 24, 43. During wars, the Department's officers in the field acted as instructors and advisers to the auxiliary forces made available by the First Nations.Homfray Irving, L. (1908). ''Officers of the British Forces in Canada during the War of 1812.'' Welland Tribune Print, p. 208-216.

References

{{Reflist British Indian Department History of Indigenous peoples in Canada Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Development Canada Indigenous affairs ministries Ministries established in 1755 Defunct departments of the Government of the United Kingdom 1755 establishments in the British Empire Canadian military units and formations of the War of 1812 War of 1812