History of Saskatchewan encompasses the study of past human events and activities of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, the middle of Canada's three prairie provinces. Archaeological studies give some clues as to the history and lifestyles of the Palaeo-Indian, Taltheilei, and Shield Archaic traditions who were the first occupants of the prehistoric era of this geographical area. They evolved into the history of the First Nations people who kept their history alive in oral tradition. The First Nation bands that were a part of this area were the Chipewyan, Cree, Saulteaux, Assiniboine, Atsina, and Sioux.Sask Gen Web SGW First Nations Saskatchewan Genealogy Roots, URL accessed 26 November 2006
Henry Kelsey (1667–1724), was the first European (an Englishman) to visit this area, and arrived in 1690.Saskatchewan Gen Web Project – SGW – Canadian Migrations Saskatchewan Genealogy Roots URL accessed April 12, 2007 Other European explorers also soon arrived followed by fur traders such as the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay (Hudson's Bay Company) and North West Company. Clifford Sifton, Minister of the Interior in charge of immigration, (1896–1905) induced a variety of agriculturally inclined European emigrants to Canada to settle prairie land around the transcontinental railway. The political boundaries of this area have changed several times evolving through Rupert's Land, Provisional Districts of the North-West Territories, and finally a province. Saskatchewan has been a province of Canada since 1905.
Natural history The history of this plains area actually began 2,000–2,100 million years ago wherein there were two continents separated by an ocean. The "Churchill Continent" which would be Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and the "Superior Continent" which would comprise Manitoba and Ontario. 1,830 – 1,800 million years ago these two land masses collided. The Northern shield area and western Rockies formed higher land from the collision.TIME TUNNEL Royal Saskatchewan Museum, URL accessed 26 November 2006
The lower lands of today's parkland were covered by a shallow sea even in the Palaeozoic Era. It was not until the Cretaceous Period 144 – 66 million years ago that the inland sea began to drain. Here we begin to find the paleontological artifacts of various dinosaur species. The ice age of the Quaternary Period totally again re-shaped and re-shifted the landscape of Saskatchewan, occurring 2 million years ago.
Following these geological changes to this area, and the formation of the continent of North America as we know it, pre-history to the history of contemporary day can begin.
Pre-European
Archaeologists divide the time frame to study ancient findings into contemporary which would be from the 20th century on, Protohistoric archaeology from 1620 to contemporary, and Prehistoric archaeology is the study before early exploration to the area.
The prehistoric archaeology studies the findings and further classifies them according to traditions followed by the ancient peoples.
Palaeo-Indian Tradition of the Agate Basin finds date to as early as c. 6000 BC, Taltheilei Tradition c. 500 BC and Shield Archaic tradition c. 4000 BC.Human History of Northern Saskatchewan , URL accessed 26 November 2006
The Athapaskans, Dene, or Chipewyan First Nation lived in the shield area, and were caribou hunters. Their early archaeological history is documented around 1615.
Samuel Hearne was one of the first early explorers to make contact with the Dene. Algonkian or Woodland Cree (Kristinaux) lived above the treeline, whereas plains Cree lived in the open parkland area. Prairie buffalo hunters pre-dominated in southern Saskatchewan and were mainly of the first nation Siouan or Assiniboine (Nakota). Atsina or Dakota (Sioux) were living on the outskirts of the area now known as Saskatchewan.
Early explorers Some early explorers who made inroads to the West are: Louis de la Corne, Chevalier de la Corne Peter Fidler Samuel Hearne Anthony Henday Henry Kelsey Pierre La Vérendrye Peter Pond John Palliser David Thompson Philip TurnorGrade Four Social Studies Heritage Explorers, Fur Traders, Early Immigrants, and Treaties, URL accessed 26 November 2006
Fur trade era
In May 1670, King Charles II of England declared sovereignty over the lands which drained into the Hudson Bay watershed and granted those lands to "the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay", which later became the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). The lands became known as Rupert's Land after the founder of the company. In 1774, Cumberland House, the company's first trading post, was erected.
Travelling inland were the French Canadian voyageurs of the North West Company arriving from Eastern Canada, and from 1740 to about 1820 the Cree peoples were migrating westward as well, coming into contact with the Haaninin and Siksika nations already inhabiting the Saskatchewan river basins as they continued their role as intermediaries in the fur trade. Canadian, European, and American fur traders set up forts and trading posts and continued commerce with the indigenous people, however conflicts between the local Haaninin and the incoming Cree and Assiniboine were exacerbated because of the preference Europeans showed toward trading with the latter indigenous groups over the locals, culminating in attacks in 1794 against both North West Company and Hudson's Bay Company forts.
Local indigenous peoples including the Métis, Haaninin, and Siksika were accustomed to the buffalo hunt, however, some Métis had arrived from the Red River Valley in the 1840s-60 precisely because the hunt was declining in that region, a sign of things to come further west. When Manitoba was established in 1870, many Métis were disappointed with what they felt was a disenfranchisement of their laws and way of life in the new province and migrated into the Saskatchewan River basin, establishing a settlement there and electing Gabriel Dumont as the first president of the council of St Laurent in 1872, charged with governing the annual buffalo hunts and other local laws.
In 1875 local Métis hunters led by an HBC employee broke the hunting laws established by this council to protect the buffalo by hunting ahead of the main caravan. A fine was imposed by the local council on the hunters, who appealed to the local magistrate, Lawrence Clarke. Clarke was, in fact, an officer of the HBC, so in siding with the hunters, he appealed for assistance from the North-West Mounted Police, who sent fifty officers to intimidate and undermine the authority of the local councils in favour of the HBC. Soon after, the seat of the government of the North-West Territories was transferred to Battleford and a North-West Mounted Police fort was established at Duck Lake.
In 1876 a treaty was concluded between the Government of Canada and the local Cree peoples (Treaty 6), and though restrictions on the buffalo hunt and land ownership were tabled by some, they ultimately failed to materialize in the written version of the treaty.
The North-West Rebellion
In 1877, at the first council meeting in the new seat of government in Battleford, many of the laws of the previous council of St Laurent were adopted to protect the buffalo,LAC, MG26, A, vol. 104, "Petition des Metis de la rivier Qu'Appelle, 1874" pp. 41996-41999. however these hunting restrictions did not apply to non-Métis indigenous people as per the arrangement of Treaty 6, nor were they an effective means to reduce hunting by and for American markets. According to Gabriel Dumont, the leader of the South Saskatchewan River caravan, bison had become extinct in the region by 1878.SABS, Department of Agriculture (Saskatchewan), Lands Branch Files, Ag II, southwest quarter of section 20 (river-front lots 21 and 22), township 42-1-3, Dumont's Declaration.
In the late 1870s and early 1880s, several appeals were made by Métis people to be better represented in government. The treaties established with aboriginal groups in the area gave a sense of voice at that time, and territorial government was dominated by the euro-Canadian minority, referring to themselves as 'white' in contrast to the Métis majority in many regions. In April 1883, a local council voted against a proposition to send a delegation to Ottawa to demand their rights, and instead supported an effort to bring Louis Riel back to Canada.
Before the arrival of Louis Riel, a petition was sent from Bishop Gardin to Prime Minister Macdonald that presented all of the grievances and demands of the Métis in the South Saskatchewan river basin including the establishment of the province of Saskatchewan, proper surveying of the traditional river lots of the Métis, and the appointment of Riel as a member of the Territorial Council or Canadian Senate.
Louis Riel arrived in Saskatchewan in July 1884. A feast day was established on September 24 (later moved to July 24) along with the establishment of a patron saint of the Métis and Riel met with many councils and individuals before declaring the establishment of the Provisional Government of Saskatchewan on March 19, 1885. On March 26 Gabriel Dumont, adjunct-general of this provisional government captured Duck Lake with a small army, forcing back the North-West Mounted Police, thus began the North-West Rebellion.
Political boundaries Rupert's Land became the first western area under English control in 1670 when King Charles II of England granted the lands draining into Hudson's Bay to The Governor and Company of Adventurers Trading into Hudson's Bay (i.e., the Hudson's Bay Company). This area of land became known as "Rupert's Land" after King Charles' cousin, Prince Rupert of the Rhine, who was the first governor of the company.
The North-West Territories was divided into districts in 1870. The Provisional Districts of Alberta, Assiniboia, Athabasca, and Saskatchewan were districts of the Northwest Territories created in 1882. They were named provisional districts to distinguish them from the District of Keewatin which had a more autonomous relationship from the NWT administration. Due to the vastness of the NWT, it was divided into more administrative districts. 1895 saw the formation of the District of Franklin, District of Ungava and the District of Mackenzie which were all part of the NWT. By this date, the Provisional District of Athabasca had extended as far west as the first meridian.
Immigration and settlement era
The settlements patterns were closely tied to the availability of transportation (especially railways) and the fertility of the soil. Ethnic groups tended to settle together, so they could build support networks for religion, language, customs, and finding marriage partners.W. A. Mackintosh, Prairie Settlement, the Geographical Setting (Toronto, 1934). p 81
Travel routes