records aboriginal research fc.qxd … records of indian and northern affairs canada. 2. lack of...

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Family Chronicle • September/October 2009 37

SO YOU’RE LOOKING for an Aborig-inal ancestor in Ontario. Somepeople will tell you that findingAboriginal ancestors is impossible.Others say it’s no different fromfinding non-Aboriginals. Neither iscompletely correct, but both haverationales behind them.

I’ll tackle the issue in threestages. First, I’ll give you the badnews — the special challenges ofresearching Aboriginal ancestors.Next, I’ll discuss the sources thatapply to all residents of Ontario,with emphasis on thestrengths and weaknessesof these records for Aborig-inal research. Finally, I’lldescribe some uniquerecords that pertain espe-cially to Aboriginal people.

SPECIAL CHALLENGESWhile the process ofgenealogical research issimilar for all people,regardless of their ances-tors’ ethnic heritage, peopleresearching Aboriginalancestors may find them-selves facing unique chal-lenges. It is important to beaware of these potentialproblems, so that you canapproach the records with a crit-ical eye and, when necessary, seekthe guidance and expertise ofpeople with the requisite histor-ical, cultural, linguistic and geographic knowledge.

1. Lack of Official Records inEarly Time PeriodsIf your Aboriginal ancestors livedin Ontario, and did not join atreaty, you may find your researchmore difficult than non-AboriginalCanadians. This is because, histori-cally, your ancestors have fallenthrough the cracks of official gov-ernment record keeping. They gen-erally did not participate fully inthe institutions of white society, so

they are not consistently recordedin land, court or civil registrationrecords. As unregistered Aborigi-nals, they aren’t documented inthe records of Indian and NorthernAffairs Canada.

2. Lack of Aboriginal Categoriesin Older RecordsWhen people of mixed heritagewere recorded in early records,they frequently were not identifiedas such, so it may be difficult toverify their ethnic heritage.

3. Suppression of AboriginalIdentity Within FamiliesPeople of mixed heritage oftenfind that their relatives cannot orwill not tell them much about theirAboriginal ancestors, because ofthe stigma attached to their her-itage. The active suppression ofAboriginal identity, can, over time,result in lack of important infor-mation that most other Canadianstake for granted.

4. Language IssuesDifferences in language betweenthe registrar (enumerator, minister,etc.) and the person beingrecorded can result in many errors,from the misspellings of names, to

the complete inability to communi-cate information. This problemexists for many Canadians becauseCanada was settled by immigrantswho spoke many different lan-guages. However, the problem iseven worse for Aboriginal peoplebecause the difference betweenEuropean languages and Aborig-inal languages is much greaterthan that between European lan-guages. So errors in recordingnames and other information willbe greater and it will be more diffi-

cult to interpret writtenAboriginal names.

5. Cultural IssuesMany cultural differencesbetween Aboriginal peopleand those who created thedocumentary records aboutthem may create problemsfor you. For example, kin-ship patterns and termi-nology may be alien tonon-Aboriginal record cre-ators, so they might notrecord these relationshipsaccurately.

One example of this isthe confusion created whenEuropean record keeperstried to record the names of

Aboriginal people who tradition-ally passed family names andgroup membership throughwomen rather than men. Forexample, among the Six Nations,many people ended up beingrecorded with multiple familynames because European recordkeepers would sometimes recordthem under the family name oftheir fathers, instead of under thenames of their mothers.

6. Naming TraditionsThe identification of individualAboriginal people in early recordscan be difficult when traditionalnaming practices involved the useof more than one name for a

Janice Nickerson shows you where to find resources for Aboriginal research

Researching AboriginalAncestors in Ontario

Studio portrait taken in July 1882 of the surviving SixNations warriors who fought with the British in the War of

1812. (Library and Archives Canada, C-085127.)

ABORIGINAL RESEARCH FC.qxd 21/09/2009 9:40 AM

person, either at the same time, orover the course of their lives. Thiswas made worse by the adoptionof European names, so that oneperson might be referred to in therecords by several names.

Also, early record keepers,especially Christian missionaries,sometimes gave Christian namesto Aboriginal people and onlyrecorded those names in theirrecords. Other record creators,such as fur traders, often referredto individual Aboriginal people bynicknames. Matching these nick-named individuals to actual mem-bers of your own ancestral familymay well be impossible.

7. Reliance on Secondary InformationInformation in records pertainingto Aboriginal people was usuallyprovided by those who did nothave firsthand knowledge of thefacts or events. We rarely finddiaries, letters, deeds or other doc-uments that were created by Abo-riginal people in the 19th or earliercenturies. Most records are thereports of non-Aboriginals createdafter the fact, based on informationfrom a variety of sources. Thistype of evidence is much less reli-able than firsthand testimony.

8. Bias in Record Keeping Because the vast majority ofrecords were created by non-Abo-riginals, often with a particulargoal in mind, the problem of biascan distort the accuracy of therecords.

For example, where the goal ofan Indian census might be todetermine the number of individ-uals entitled to payments, it wouldbe to the benefit of the governmentto err on the side of recordingfewer, rather than more, people.This might result in some individ-uals not appearing on the lists.

Another effect of cultural biasis lack of identification of indi-vidual Aboriginal people, referringinstead only to vaguely describedgroups. This results in records thatare virtually useless from agenealogical point of view. A lessextreme situation results whencensus enumerators record onlythe name of the head of the house-

hold and list the remaining house-hold members as “wife”, “boy” or“girl”.

9. Ancestors’ Mistrust of RecordKeepersFor a variety of reasons, manyAboriginal groups and individualshave historically distrusted gov-ernment officials and other per-sons in authority, and thus, choseneither not to comply with record-keeping or to be less than fullycooperative.

10. Geographic Remoteness andDiffusionIn the case of historical Aboriginalcommunities that relied onhunting, trapping and trading fora large part of their livelihood,both the people and the recordsabout them are likely to be moregeographically scattered than forthose who belonged to settled agri-cultural communities.

Further, members of remotecommunities often had less accessto clergy, government officials andother record keepers, so their vitalevents were recorded less fre-quently. Also, families might usedifferent churches for differentevents, depending on which clergywere available at the relevant time.This makes the search for recordsmuch longer, requiring greaterpersistence and imagination.

BASIC SOURCES1. Oral HistoryVirtually all family historyresearch begins with oral sources— that is, the information we getfrom our parents, grandparentsand other relatives. This source isextremely valuable, as the memo-ries of living people include muchinformation that has never beenwritten down. However, as withany information source, oral his-tory is not a perfect source of cred-ible, reliable information.

The credibility of oral history

information should be assessedusing the same criteria as forwritten sources, by asking ques-tions about how the person cameto know the information, howmany degrees removed from theeyewitness they are, how muchtime has passed between the eventand when the source learned aboutit, in what context the sourcelearned the story, whether any ofthe parties involved had reason todistort the information, etc.

Keep in mind that, in additionto living people, anthropologists,historians and other researchershave collected oral history inter-views for many years, and youmay find recorded interviews inarchives, museums and special col-lections.

2. Civil RegistrationIn Ontario, registration of births,

Indian Families at Manitoulin, 1864. (Waters Sims fonds, Journal (RG24 J51 /R4176-0-0-E. Library and Archives Canada, Jabez)

38 Family Chronicle • September/October 2009

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marriages and deaths began mid-way through 1869. However,enforcement wasn’t thorough forthe early years, so many births,marriages and deaths wentunrecorded. Some areas werebetter than others. For example,people who lived in more remoteareas who had to travel further toreach government offices didn’tcomply as often.

Members of some religiousgroups were more compliant thanothers. For example, RomanCatholics tended to register lessfrequently, perhaps due to the mis-conception that they were exempt.

In addition, because the gover-nance of treaty or registered Abo-riginal people has been considereda federal responsibility since 1876,there has been much confusionover the responsibility for civil reg-istration of Aboriginal people. Insome cases, local Indian Agentsdidn’t realize that the births, mar-riages and deaths of all people,regardless of status, were sup-posed to be registered with theprovince, and thus, many Aborig-inal people are not recorded in thecivil records.

3. CensusesFull every-name censuses weretaken in Canada every 10 yearsstarting in 1851-52 (when Ontariowas called Canada West). Themost recent census available is the1911.

Most Canadian census recordsrecorded the “color” and ethnic“origin” of each individual. How-ever, this piece of information isparticularly problematic. If aperson was recorded as Aborig-inal, the precise nation was rarelyidentified. Furthermore, Métis wasnot a recognized category, so the“color” of individuals wasrecorded as “red”, “white” or“black”, and their “origin” as“Indian” or whichever Europeancategory might apply. Only in 1901was specific instruction given as tohow people of “mixed” ancestryought to be recorded — only“pure” whites were supposed tobe recorded as such. Anyone ofmixed ancestry was supposed tobe recorded as “red”, “black” or“yellow” (Chinese/Japanese).

Under ethnic origin, Aboriginalpeople were supposed to berecorded by their “tribe”, such as“Cree” or “Chippewa” and peopleof mixed ancestry were to berecorded as “Cree e.b.” for “CreeEnglish breed”, “Chippewa f.b.”for “Chippewa French breed”.

The accuracy of census recordsdepends a great deal on the censustaker. Some were more diligentand competent than others. In

cases of reserves, usually thecensus taker was the Indian Agent,who ought to have had somefamiliarity with the names of thepeople and their relationships. Itshould be noted, however, thatAboriginal communities were fre-quently under-enumerated, due toboth lack of thoroughness on thepart of enumerators and lack ofcooperation on the part of Aborig-inal people.

All of the surviving censusrecords from 1851 to 1911 havenow been digitized and indexedby Ancestry.ca, so are availableonline to those with subscriptions.By the end of 2009, they shouldalso be available free through theCanadian Genealogy Centre,www.genealogy.gc.ca.

4. Church RecordsThe amount and type of informa-tion provided by church recordsvaries enormously by religiousdenomination and time period.

Generally speaking, RomanCatholic records provide moredetailed information and are morecomplete and well-preserved thanthe records of other denomina-tions. In the case of baptisms,Roman Catholic records generallyprovide both the birth date and thebaptism date of the child, and theyprovide the names of both parents(including the maiden name of themother). In the case of marriages,

Roman Catholic records generallyprovide the full names of the par-ents of both the bride and thegroom, and if any of the four par-ents were deceased at the time ofthe wedding, this is noted as well.

Records of Protestant denomi-nations vary, but most baptismrecords do not provide more thanthe mother’s first name, and mostmarriage records provide only thenames of the bride and groom andthe witnesses. And some denomi-nations, such as Baptists, do notpractice infant baptism, so theremay be no birth-related records inthe church registers.

Earlier records of all denomi-nations tend to provide less infor-mation than more recent records.When neither the birth date northe age of the child is recorded, abaptism record cannot be assumedto provide evidence of the date ofbirth, however, it is still evidenceof the relationship betweenparent(s) and child.

Baptisms at Manitowanning, 1839. Samuel Peters Jarvis Indian Papers (S125) Baldwin Room, Toronto Public Library.


Some church records alsoinclude lists of church members,which can prove residence, and inthe case of Aboriginal people, theycan provide key information aboutclan and band membership. Some-times both Christian and Aborig-inal names are given.

Many early schools wereestablished and run by churches,so records of these schools can alsobe found in church archives.School records might, for example,include the name of the child, hisor her birth date and parents’names.

Special mention should also bemade of the writings of early mis-sionaries, especially the Jesuits.These writings, including journalsand correspondence, often providemuch information about the Abo-riginal people with whom the mis-sionaries interacted, sometimesnaming specific individuals andgiving details of ceremonies, con-versions, etc.

One of the greatest strengthsof church records is the fact thatthese are often the earliest writtenrecords of individual Aboriginalpeople. This is because mission-aries frequently visited people incommunities that did not have anycontact with civil authorities. Themain limitation is that frequentlyonly Christian names are recorded,even when the people in questiongenerally were known by theirAboriginal names.

Most protestant church recordshave not been microfilmed or digi-tized. They must be searched atthe archives of the relevant reli-gious denomination. Many RomanCatholic registers are availablethrough Ancestry.ca or on micro-film through the Family HistoryLibrary of the LDS Church.

5. DNA TestingDNA testing for genealogists hasbecome popular recently, withtests becoming more accurate.DNA testing can help a man learnabout his exclusively male-lineancestry or anyone to learn abouttheir exclusively female-lineancestry. However, it is nearly use-less for learning about your ances-tors to whom you are linkedthrough a mixed line of males and

females. Male-line (Y chromosome)

tests can tell you the probabilitythat two men (you have to com-pare two people) have a commonancestor in the exclusively maleline, and approximately how manygenerations ago your most recentcommon ancestor lived. The moststringent tests can tell you thatwithin a 95 percent probabilitywhether two men share a commonmale-line ancestor within the lastsix generations.

The female-line tests (mito-chondrial DNA) generally can tellyou with a 50 percent probabilitywhether two people have acommon ancestor in the exclu-sively female line within the last

28 generations.Neither type of test can tell

you specifically who your ancestorwas.

There is another type of DNAtest, the autosomal test, that usesparts of a person’s DNA that areinherited from both parents. Thistest can show approximately whatpercentage of a person’s geneticmake-up is Aboriginal. Whileinteresting, it won’t show fromwhich branch of the family theAboriginal heritage came. Also,lack of Aboriginal markers in yourgenetic make-up does not provethat you have no Aboriginalancestry. It only proves that youdidn’t inherit any of the relevant

markers from your Aboriginalancestors.

UNIQUE SOURCESNow, let’s consider a few sourcesthat pertain especially to Aborig-inal people.

1. Pay Lists, Band MembershipLists, the Indian Register andIndian Censuses The records of Indian andNorthern Affairs Canada (INAC)and its predecessor units of gov-ernment (until recently, classifiedtogether as Record Group 10 atLibrary and Archives Canada) area valuable resource for peopleresearching Aboriginal peoplefrom the mid-18th century to the

present. However, the vastmajority of the records are morerecent, with most being createdsince 1900.

You will need lots of patienceto conduct research in theserecords, since they are not filed orindexed by name, but rather byband, agency (field office) or dis-trict, and relevant records can bescattered throughout many sub-departments and agencies. Becauseof the amount of information andlack of indexing, it is almostalways necessary to identify therelevant band first, before begin-ning research in these records.

Two types of pay lists providevaluable information: treaty

40 Family Chronicle • September/October 2009

“Indian” genealogy collected by Jesuit Missionaries regarding the SainteCroix Mission on Manitoulin Island and other bands on Lake Huron and Lake

Superior. Genealogies Collection (F277), Archives of Ontario.

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annuity pay lists and interest dis-tribution pay lists. Treaty annuitypay lists begin in 1850 and includeonly those bands that participatedin treaties. Interest distributionpay lists begin in 1856 and includeonly members of bands that hadfunds held in trust by the Depart-ment of Indian Affairs (theseinclude most bands in Ontario).The early lists give only the namesof the heads of families (or theirrepresentatives) with the numberof men, women, boys and girlsnoted for each family.

Starting about 1893, the treatyannuity lists and interest distribu-tion lists began including thenames of all band members. Somelists also include birth dates andrelationships between familymembers. To locate treaty annuitypay lists, you must know thenumber of the treaty to which theband adhered. Interest distributionlists are listed by band name oragency.

Band membership lists mayalso be available depending on thetime period and location.

Enfranchisement lists, whichrecord the names and former bandaffiliation of Status Indians wholost their status (either by mar-rying a white or non-status manfor women, or in order to pur-chase reserve lands or gain theright to vote in federal elections)from 1920 to 1945 are open to thepublic. Individual case files forenfranchised individuals can besearched for by name in the onlineGovernment of Canada inventory.

Starting in 1951, a list of allregistered Status Indians has beenkept. The Indian Register includesthe person’s name, vital events,familial relationships, religion andband membership.

Special censuses of Aboriginalcommunities were also taken byIndian Agents, starting in 1871. Inmost cases, the detailed enumera-tions that listed every household,or even every individual, were notpreserved and only the aggregatecensus reports were retained.However, some did survive andcan be found in the INAC records.

There were also very early“censuses”, which were actuallylists of Aboriginal people

receiving “presents”, in UpperCanada (now Ontario). These listsmostly cover the 1830s to 1860s.

Remember, these records gen-erally deal only with StatusIndians or members of recognizedbands.

Most pre-1910 LAC RG 10records are available on microfilmand can be borrowed through theinter-institutional loan system.Records more recent than 1910 arerestricted due to privacy laws andthus require special applicationand proof of next-of-kin status.

2. Government Correspondenceand Administration RecordsThe correspondence and adminis-trative records of governments inCanada (colonial, federal andprovincial) include vast amountsof information about Aboriginalpeople. Topics include the devel-opment and administration ofreserves, social service provisions,individual requests for assistanceand legal disputes of variouskinds. All of these records havethe potential to identify particularindividuals and their relationshipswith others, and thus be genealog-ically valuable.

The main drawback of theserecords is their size and lack ofindex. This means a great deal oftime and effort is required to usethese records.

3. Publications and ResearchNotes of Historians and Anthro-pologistsIn the late 19th and 20th centuries,many historians and anthropolo-gists studied the history and cul-tures of Aboriginal groups. Theirpublished studies, and especiallytheir research notes, can be ofgreat value to researchers lookingfor information about their Abo-riginal ancestors.

Published studies can befound in anthropological and his-torical journals; unpublishedresearch notes can often be foundin the archives of universities andmuseums. Obviously the formerare easier to access, but the latteroften provide the greatest benefit.

One excellent example is theLyman Draper Collection. Draperwas a historian who visited the Six

Nations people in Brantford andthe Bay of Quinte and gatheredmany documents and notes inpreparation for a book aboutMohawk Chief Joseph Brant (a.k.a.Thayendinaga) and his family(which was never published).These records are found in theState Historical Society of Wis-consin. Microfilmed copies areavailable at Library and ArchivesCanada.

4. Private PapersPrivate papers of people who haddealings with Aboriginal peoplecan also be helpful for researchers.These records vary widely fromthe private papers of governmentofficials, which may include offi-cial or quasi-official records, to thepersonal diaries and letters oftravelers. Their potential is enor-mous, but so is the effort requiredto locate and examine them.

The papers of Rev. John Stra-chan are an excellent example.During his long career, Rev. Stra-chan was very involved with Abo-riginal people, both as agovernment representative and asa leader in the church. His papersinclude many references to Abo-riginal people, including educa-tion records for Indian missions inManitowaning on ManitoulinIsland and Sault Ste. Marie, orga-nized in the 1830s and 1840s.These papers are found at theArchives of Ontario.

CONCLUSIONI hope I’ve convinced you thatAboriginal research in Ontario,while challenging, is not impos-sible. If you are diligent in yourresearch, and critical in your per-spective, you may be surprised atwhat you can learn.


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Janice Nickerson is a regularcontributor to Family Chronicle magazine.


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