James Andrew Joseph McKenna

James Andrew Joseph McKenna (born January 1, 1862 in Charlottetown , Prince Edward Island , † May 30, 1919 in Victoria , British Columbia ) was a lawyer, chief inspector of Indian agencies in the Canadian province of Manitoba and in the Northwest Territories , inspector of the Roman Catholic schools of the Prairie Provinces and negotiated several treaties with the First Nations and the Métis . He was considered a keen advocate of a strict policy of assimilation .

Employee at the Ministry of Indian Affairs

McKenna's parents were the merchant James McKenna and Rose Ann Duffy. From 1887 he worked for the Department of Indian Affairs and in 1888 became private secretary to Superintendent General Sir John A. McDonald . During this time he studied law, which predestined him for the later contract negotiations, of which he conducted numerous. On August 7, 1888, he married Mary Joanna Josephine Ryan in Ottawa , who had five daughters and two sons.

education

McKenna attended St Patrick's School , designed for Catholics , and St Dunstan's College . For a short time he worked on the Prince Edward Island Railway and tried his hand at journalism . On March 11, 1886 he was a simple clerk (third-class clerk) in the Privy Council Office , the Canadian Privy Council .

Ministry of Indian Affairs

On May 23, 1887, he moved to the Department of Indian Affairs . There he became private secretary of the later Prime Minister John A. Macdonald and rose to the second-class clerk .

In 1897, McDonald’s successor, Clifford Sifton , took over McKenna as private secretary. McKenna increasingly took over the negotiations with British Columbia in connection with the railway construction and the Indians affected by it . During this time he rose from second-class to first-class clerk in 1898 , an employee in a higher position.

The following year, he accompanied Indian Commissioners David Laird and James Hamilton Ross from the Northwest Territories to negotiate in the Athabasca District in Alberta and northwestern British Columbia, where gold miners on the Klondike River caused legitimate unrest among the indigenous groups there . While McKenna largely adhered to the draft contracts of earlier negotiations, he proposed here to negotiate individual property rights (severalties) and less reservations that collectively belonged to an ethnically defined group ( tribe or band ). However, with his suggestion that the Indians should no longer pay the Indians annual payments, but instead settle them with a one-off sum, he met with rejection from Sifton. Contract No. 8 of the Numbered Contracts was negotiated and signed, with McKenna visiting Fort St. John , British Columbia, Fort Dunvegan , Alberta, and Fort Chipewyan and Fort McMurray to oversee the implementation of the contracts. Similar negotiations followed in the next few years with the Métis (1901 to 1904), most of whom McKenna led alone.

Sifton suggested to McKenna to represent the Indian Commissioner Laird in the west, as he was too old for the grueling journeys. McKenna became Assistant Indian Commissioner and Chief Inspector of Indian Agencies in Manitoba and the Northwest Territories. His headquarters were now Winnipeg .

When Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905, Ottawa had to reorganize its relationship with the indigenous people . H. especially to those who did not yet have a contract. In 1906 McKenna negotiated with Cree and Ojibwa (Contract No. 10) as well as with the Métis, but left in August for fear of the onset of winter before the end of the negotiations.

He was one of the sharpest representatives of the boarding system with its tough regulations and its goal to re-educate the Indians (see Residential Schools (Canada) ). He also fought traditional dance performances and the appearance of indigenous people at exhibitions.

McKenna saw himself as Laird's successor at this time, and demanded more autonomy for the authority, but he was passed over in 1909, or the office was simply closed. Instead, he became an inspector of the Roman Catholic schools of the Prairie Provinces and stayed in Winnipeg, with an annual salary of $ 2,600 one of the highest-paid employees of the Indian Ministry.

Royal Commission (McKenna-McBride Commission)

From May 24, 1912 he became the leading head of the McKenna-McBride Commission , which negotiated with the Indians of British Columbia in the following years. At the same time he negotiated with the province, which demanded that every piece of the reserve that was withdrawn should fall to the province. The commission submitted a report in 1916 with proposals that were largely accepted in 1923, but with the restriction that the consensus of the Indians did not have to be obtained.

McKenna, who often complained about his annual salary of $ 4,000 a year , and who demanded a suitable position in the westernmost province, apparently offended his superiors. Nevertheless, he was given the task of organizing the reports and preparing them for publication . Duncan Campbell Scott , the Deputy Superintendent General and thus the superior of McKenna, resigned him on April 1, 1917. Apparently he had held his hand over him for a long time because of his large family.

Privatier

McKenna resigned from his post, but continued to interfere in Indian politics by publishing articles in newspapers containing suggestions that made it difficult for Scott to negotiate. B. in the Daily Colonist . McKenna died of a heart attack in 1919.

Remarks

1. ↑ The contract text (PDF,): TREATY No. 8 MADE JUNE 21, 1899 AND ADHESIONS, REPORTS, ETC  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .  

Additional information

swell

• James Andrew Joseph McKenna: Are Canadian Catholics priest-ridden? In: Catholic World. New York 52 (October 1890-March 1891) 541-545

literature

• E. Brian Titley: A narrow vision: Duncan Campbell Scott and the administration of Indian Affairs in Canada. Vancouver 1986

Web links

• James Andrew Joseph McKenna . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . 24 volumes, 1966–2018. University of Toronto Press, Toronto ( English , French ).