Council of Keewatin
[2] Shortly after the District of Keewatin was formed a large group of Icelanders arrived, infected with smallpox which quickly spread to the indigenous First Nation population.
Keewatin was an area extending north of the "postage stamp" province of Manitoba and the Canada–United States border, to the northern shores of Canada.
The Dominion Government granted free transportation within Canada and settlement rights for a reserve known as New Iceland (Nýja Ísland),[11] established by an Order in Council.
[15][F] Their local council was dissolved on April 12, 1876, when the District of Keewatin was established by the Dominion Government under the North-West Territories Act.
[4]: [701] Treaty 5 was not signed by the Sandy Bar Saulteaux until 1876, after all appeals to federal agents regarding land claims failed.
[4]: [698] The District of Keewatin had a severe epidemic of smallpox that started shortly after the territory's creation in the settlements of Gimli and Sandy Bar.
[16] The disease originated from a large group of Icelandic settlers who settled on the west shore of Lake Winnipeg.
[16] The Council of Keewatin was created and its first and only members were appointed and sworn in on November 25, 1876, by Lieutenant Governor Alexander Morris.
Morris determined during the creation of the territory that the affairs of the District of Keewatin should be administered from Fort Garry until November 7, 1876.
[18] This office was needed to put measures and people in place to control access by settlers in the territory to help quarantine the smallpox epidemic.
[23] Drs David Young, James S. Lynch, and A. Baldwin arrived at New Iceland and placed the area under quarantine as of November 27, 1876.
[26] The nearby Sandy Bar Band first nation community at Riverton[27] was reached by Lynch and Young, and had been abandoned.
[27] After the throne speech was read on November 30, 1876, the council of Keewatin got to work quickly and passed its first piece of legislation.
The Act defined penalties and provisions to enforce Morris' proclamation outlawing intercourse by people outside the infected zone who did not have permission from the Council.
[3] The Icelanders demonstrated to[clarification needed] Netley Creek, the southern border of New Island,[29] requesting an end to the quarantine, which had been lifted the previous day, June 19.
The Council invited people involved in the fur trade from Keewatin, Manitoba, and even the United States government to discuss the matter.
The purpose of the meeting was to solicit testimony and gain the support of the industry, so that the Council could effectively draft, implement and enforce legislation.
The measures adopted effectively quarantined furs from areas of the district deemed infected, and prevented their export.
[30] Before being exported from the district, all furs had to pass through depots manned by a quarantine officer appointed by the Board of Health.
Some people whose furs had been destroyed under these regulations applied to the Government for compensation, as no mechanism was put in place when the Act was drafted.
[31] The Hudson's Bay Company had lost a full year in the northern fur trade and pressed for further steps to be taken to prevent another smallpox outbreak.
[32] The board was established to confine and treat the smallpox epidemic in the territory, and had wide powers to carry out this mission.
[32] The Board of Health established vaccination programs among native populations in the District of Keewatin based on legislation that continued well after the Council was dissolved.
The entire council resigned and was effectively dissolved after being requested to do so on April 16, 1877, by Secretary of State James Aikins.
[28] Control of the District of Keewatin returned to the federal government under the management of the Department of the Interior in cooperation with the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba.
The Norway House Band (Kinosao Sipi Cree Nation) agreed to settle at Fisher River.
[41] Norway House Band was a Western Woods Cree community[4] of the Algonquian (Central) language group.
[41] Blood Vein River, Big Island, Sandy Bar, Thickfoot and Jack-Fish Head bands met with Messrs. Reid and Howard in October 1876 and requested lands for their reserves.
[42] The Blood Vein River Band was a Saulteaux (Ojibwa) first nation of the Algonquian (Central) language family.
[5] The Moose Lake (Big Island) band which signed Treaty 5 in 1875 was a Cree first nation of the Algonquian (Central) language group.
