[2] His father was George Decimus Reed, an immigrant from Surrey, England, a registrar for the United Counties of Prescott and Russell, who had married Hayter's mother, Harriet McKay, a Canadian born.

[6] In April 1880, Hayter Reed was commissioned by the Department of the Interior as chief land guide in Winnipeg; he was responsible for the distribution of both immigrants and settlers with the aid of several agencies throughout Canada.

[8] In March 1881, Edgar Dewdney (then Commissioner of Indian Affairs) sought to settle Canada's Indigenous population on reserves.

[9] Accordingly, in 1882, Dewdney instructed Reed (then appointed to the North-West Territorial Council) minimize the expenditure of funds by (1) restricting the amount of food supplied to the reserves inhabited by Indigenous peoples (flour, bacon or beef and excluding luxury goods such as tea, sugar and tobacco) and (2) demanding manual labour from the Indigenous peoples as recompense.

[8] Reed was expected to reduce costs and to ensure smooth farming operations by dint of supervision (of instructors and employees) over the First Nations reserves.

[11] Using his position as deputy superintendent general, Reed implemented a policy which restricted indigenous peoples from using modern farming equipment.

[12] As head of the Indian Affairs Department, Reed was also instrumental in implementing a pass system which restricted Indigenous people from leaving their reserves without a temporary certificate from a government agent.