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The territory known as Upper Canada was purchased by the Crown through a number of First Nations surrenders. Certain areas were set aside for continued use of Natives. As the number of European settlers increased, the Native population was increasingly confined to lands known as “Indian Reserves.”

The Royal Proclamation of 1763 addressed First Nations’ ownership of land and by so doing confirmed that First Nations did indeed hold title to land. This necessitated the purchase of various tracts of land by the government, land that was paid for at the rate of only a few cents an acre.

It was the beginning of massive immigration into Southern Ontario. Within 41 years (1781–1822), all of this land was surrendered to the British Crown; 8.5 million acres were surrendered by the Mississaugas, alone. This was land bordered by the River Thames on the west, Gananoque River to the east, Lake Simcoe to the north, and the Ottawa River to the northeast.

In 1784 an agreement was made with the Mississauga bands for the sale of land east of the Etobicoke River and west of the Trent River for the purpose of British settlement. At the time, the Natives from the Bay of Quinte, the Rice Lake and Lindsay area, the Toronto area, and the Thames district travelled to Carrying Place for the formal exchange of land for gifts and money. Sir John Johnson, superintendent general of Indian Affairs, was present and distributed arms, ammunition, and tobacco to the Native parties.

The lands, as they were negotiated, were known to be bordered by the Tobeka Creek (Etobicoke) on the west and the Crawford Purchase on the east, running from Lake Ontario as far back as Rice Lake; west of Rice Lake, as far back as a day’s journey, or more commonly “the distance at which a gunshot can be heard.” For this reason it became known as “The Gunshot Treaty.” Notably, the Gunshot Treaty was not ratified until the 1923 Williams Treaty, because no payment was ever made for the 1787 cession of parts of the counties of Northumberland, Durham, and York.

During the Toronto Purchase in 1805, Chief Quenepenon bitterly complained to British officials about the treatment of Natives by early settlers. He stated, “The inhabitants (of Toronto) drive us away instead of helping us and we want to know why we are served in that manner. Colonel Butler told us the farmers would help us, but instead of doing so, when we encamp on the shore, they drive us off and shoot our dogs and never give us any assistance as was promised to our chiefs.

“The farmers call us dogs and threaten to shoot us in the same manner when we go on their land. Our dogs, not knowing that they are doing wrong, run after sheep and pigs. When Sir John Johnson came up to purchase the Toronto lands we gave them without hesitation and were told we should always be taken care of and we made no bargain for the land but left it to himself (to determine the price). Now you want another piece of land. We cannot say no. But it is hard for us to give away any more land, the young men and women have found fault with so much having been sold; it is true we are poor and the women say it will be worse if we part with any more.”

Despite these misgivings, Quenepenon produced a map of birch bark representing the Burlington Bay tract. He then spoke, “We ask no price, but leave it to the generosity of our Father.”

The first missionary groups to begin work with Natives were the New England Company, formed in 1694 in the New England colonies. The New England Company, a non-commercial missionary society, moved to Upper Canada in 1822. Their goal was to work for and help settle the Natives. In 1829 the New England Company received a land grant for 1,600 acres in the north end of Smith Township, Peterborough County. The company’s mission was to settle those Natives living in the remote parts of Newcastle District. The Native community of Curve Lake, originally Mud Lake, was born.

The company was also responsible for sending missionaries to Rice, Mud, and Scugog Lakes, Bay of Quinte, and Grand River to establish missions. Since the missionary society was wholly-dependent on private donations, costs were always kept at a minimum.

The property at the Mud Lake settlement was a tax-free grant from the government to the North West Company. Ten to 12 families resided in the Mud Lake vicinity and wished to remain there. The company agent, Reverend Scott, attempted to persuade the group to relocate to Lake Scugog. Scott was well aware of costs and felt one teacher and one preacher would be sufficient — no need to establish yet another community. The Natives at Mud Lake refused to leave the high quality, year-round fishing, the abundant game and fowl, the plentiful sugar maples, the wild rice, and the cranberries.

The Native village of Mud Lake came into being in 1830. Reverend Scott described his goals at this time by stating, “I had the greatest satisfaction of taking the Indians from their scattered wigwams and gave each family a strong and comfortable habitation with a cellar where a good supply of potatoes is laid in for the winter.”

Further change was in the offing even after a number of buildings had been erected. Missionaries and government officials felt it would be in the Natives’ best interest to move the group to Chemong Lake. There the water was so low that year that a canoe could scarcely be paddled through the lake. If the Natives remained in such a swampy tract, there would be great suffering in the summer months from fever. The next year the situation improved as the water level rose and a dam was built at Buckhorn.

By 1857 the village was growing. Each family had a parcel of land, from one to four acres, and the community numbered 96 individuals. Public property consisted of a log church, a few farm implements, and some stock. The settlement was composed of 17 houses and six barns.

In 1865 Reverend Gilmour recorded a conversation he had had with John Irons, a band member there. Irons protested that although the Mud Lake people had land, it was not really their own, as in actuality it belonged to the New England Company. The Natives were discouraged because they could never call it their own. In 1889 Daniel Whetung wrote, “Our agent calls this place New England Company’s Estate not Indian Reserve. He tells us that the company could sell the place.” In this case both Irons and Whetung were of the first generation of men educated in the ways of the non-native. They felt the New England Company was harmful to the community as a whole because it held the deed to the land. The people of Mud Lake had merely the status of tenant or lessee. If they did not abide by company bylaws they could be evicted.

The Department of Indian Affairs proposed that the company convey the lands to the Crown in trust, and on June 4, 1898, the land granted to the New England Company in 1837 was transferred to the Dominion Government in trust for the First Nations people. In 1913 the Mud Lake reserve was purchased by the government from the company and the monies came from the Mud Lake annuity. It was ironic that the Natives had to buy back their land in order to have a home, when they once owned and occupied thousands of acres.

Curve Lake Reserve still reveals the signs of the New England Company planning. In 1893 the land was surveyed and sub-divided into lots, with location tickets given to the occupant of each lot. Many of the two-storey frame houses built by the company still remain on these lots. Location tickets for a 50-acre farm lot were given to occupants who had cleared 20 acres for agriculture. Only six of these were ever handed out.

During the depression years, the Curve Lake band council supported relief measures such as lending $5 from the band capital to each individual requesting it. Certain measures were necessary in the 1930s, as cash was scarce when the basket market disappeared, tourism declined, and the price of pelts hit rock bottom. Eventually, the Department of Indian Affairs refused to permit loans from Mud Lake funds. As an alternative the government began a two-month work program to construct a road into the village and paid each worker 20 cents an hour. Although the Natives were poor, no one starved.

In 1966 Clifford and Eleanor Whetung opened a new outlet, called Whetung’s Ojibwa Crafts, for crafts in Curve Lake. This heralded a prosperous business in that field and for the area. From the outlet’s humble beginnings, the Whetungs have built a business in aboriginal arts and crafts that is now famous across the country. Traditional and contemporary artistic expressions of Canada’s First Peoples have been gathered from reserves across the country and housed in an attractive building guarded by huge totem poles at the front entrance. Ritual masks from the Pacific Northwest, pottery of the Mohawks, and baskets of the Mi’kmaq from eastern Canada are among the items for sale. Handsomely, traditionally dressed fur and leather dolls, handcrafted moccasins, clothing, jewellery, and keepsakes are abundant in the building. Paintings and sculptures from a people who have always been known for their unique and beautiful art are found in a gallery equal to any city gallery in its layout, security, and atmospheric controls. Warmed in winter by a huge stone fireplace that reaches five metres (15 feet) to the ceiling, their art gallery houses the work of many well-known Native artists, and it is well-attended year round.

The traditions are also alive and well there. The local band have their Medicine People and use their purification lodges regularly. They are also open to sharing some of their culture with non-natives, which is a gesture truly to be treasured, given their past experiences with non-natives.

Curve Lake is certainly one Indian Reservation that has recovered some of the Native pride that is inherent in Natives — true to nature and a close relationship to this earth. We need to be grateful for the survival of this heritage in a time when our earth is threatened by our unwillingness to accept and celebrate the differences we see in others.