CHAPTER III

THE MANITOULIN ISLAND TREATY


Some years after the completion of the Robinson Treaties, the then
Government of the old Province of Canada deemed it desirable to
effect a treaty with the Indians dwelling upon the Great Manitoulin
Island in Lake Huron, as a complement to the former treaties, and
with the object of rendering available for settlement the large
tract of good land upon the Island. The duty was entrusted to the
Honorable William McDougall, then Superintendent-General of Indian
Affairs, who, in the month of October, 1862, proceeded to the
Island, accompanied by the late William Spragge, Esq., Deputy
Superintendent of Indian Affairs, and Mr. F. Assicknack, of the
Indian Office, Toronto, as interpreter. Mr. McDougall encountered
considerable difficulties, but by firmness and decision eventually
succeeded in obtaining a surrender from the Indians of the Island,
excluding however from the surrender that portion of it easterly of
Heywood Island and the Manitoulin Gulf.

The terms of the treaty, which will be found in the Appendix, were
adapted to the peculiar circumstances of the Indians and were well
and wisely framed. The result has been to render available for
settlement a large tract of land on the Island, much of which is
now occupied by a prosperous and thriving population. I conclude
this brief notice of an important treaty by submitting, to the
attention of the reader, the report of the Hon. W. McDougall, to