RCMP/NWMP

Panoramic photograph of Indigenous people in traditional dress outside of painted tipis. Some RCMP in dress uniform are speaking with individuals.

Confidential report gives background information on the Cypress Hills Massacre. On June 1, 1873 American wolf hunters and whisky traders attacked an Assiniboine camp and killed at least 20 men, women children. The event precipitated the formation of the North-West Mounted Police.

Photograph of Chief Big Bear taken during his trial outside the North West Mounted Police Barracks in Regina. From the book The Face Pullers: Photographing Native Canadians, 1871-1939 by Brock Silversides.

Photograph of two RCMP men, Constable Banks and Corporal Harper, in formal uniform examining a skull, half-buried in a mound of dirt, as two Indigenous men, Many Shots and Black Kettle, look on. From the book The Face Pullers: Photographing Native Canadians, 1871-1939 by Brock Silversides.

Photograph of two RCMP men, Constable Banks and Corporal Harper, in formal uniform examining a skull as two indigenous men, Many Shots and Black Kettle, in traditional costumes look on. From the book The Face Pullers: Photographing Native Canadians, 1871-1939 by Brock Silversides.

Photograph of an RCMP man, Corporal Johnson on horseback, and two indigenous men, Little Light and Charlie Cutter who are his scouts. One of the scouts is on horseback with another horse in background. From the book The Face Pullers: Photographing Native Canadians, 1871-1939 by Brock Silversides.

Looks at allegations by Inuit Elders of a mass slaughter or cull of Inuit sled dogs by the police between the 1950s and the 1970s.

Describes program and lists the names of the recruits.

Cecile Merasty from Pelican Narrows, Saskatchewan graduates as the first female R.C.M.P. Special Constable in March, 1977.

Series of images taken at Fort Pitt, Saskatchewan, during the Commemoration ceremonies of the signing of Treaty #6 in 1876. 1. Exterior of reconstruction of Fort Pitt; 2. Group of tipis; 3. Top of several tipis, with Union Jack and First Nations flags visible; 4. Large Treaty 6 medal in foreground, with a group of people in background; two non-Natives are wearing NWMP uniforms, and one Aboriginal man is wearing a headdress; 5.

Two slides showing exterior views of the NWMP Officers' Quarters and a corner post of the stockade at Fort Carlton, Saskatchewan. Also includes a large metal reproduction of the Treaty Six medal, and a group of Aboriginal men, some on horseback bearing flags and some walking while drumming.

A row of First Nations men by a tipi at the North-West Mounted Police Memorial opening at Battleford, SK. June 24, 1948.

Three First Nations men outside a tipi, at the unveiling of the North-West Mounted Police memorial on June 24, 1928.

Recalls historic events between First Nations peoples and the RCMP going back to the North West Resistance of 1885.

A brief guide to the history and buildings comprising Fort Battleford, located at Battleford, Saskatchewan.

Historical note:

Fort Battleford, built in 1876 and in use until 1924, was the sixth Northwest Mounted Police fort to be established in the Northwest Territories of Canada, and played a central role in the events of the Northwest Resistance of 1885.

A brief guide to the history and buildings comprising Fort Battleford, located in Battleford, SK.

Historical note:

A brief guide to Fort Carlton Historic Park, located near Duck Lake, SK, where an important scene of battle took place during the Northwest Resistance of 1885.

Historical note:

Fort Carlton was a Hudson's Bay Company fur trade post from 1810 until 1885. As a Company post it primarily dealt in provisions, namely pemmican and buffalo robes although other furs were traded as well.

A detailed guide to Fort Carlton Historic Park, located near Duck Lake, SK, and was an important scene of battle during the Northwest Resistance of 1885.

Newspaper clipping of image or sketch of Fort Carlton, located near Duck Lake, Saskatchewan.

File contains a programme of the dedication of a memorial cairn at Fort Dufferin, Manitoba on October 6, 1949. It was hosted by The Historical & Scientific Society of Manitoba in cooperation with the RCMP. "The Westward Trek of the North-West Mounted Police, July, 1874."

This folder contains original and photocopied newspaper clippings which cover the main passages of an address given by Commissioner A.B Perry of the North West Mounted Police as they were printed in the Regina Morning Leader. The topics include many reflecting Native-newcomer relations.

A photograph of four women in Indian clothing holding signs saying; "No RCMP for Newfoundland", "RCMP vs. Indians", "Dept. of Citizenship vs. Indians". Likely taken at Lester B. Pearson's nomination convention in Winnipeg.

File contains hand written and typed notes of historian George Shepherd, dated from 1937-1974. The notes include several pages on Aboriginal history in the North-West, that were scanned for this database. This includes a wide variety of material: from copy of a letter written by Louis Riel, to a list of the reserves in Saskatchewan in 1962 and their estimated landbase and populations.

Historical note:

Police Studies Thesis (M.A.)--University of Regina, 2012.

A photographic portrait of "Gentleman" Joe McKay of Prince Albert. McKay was a Metis North West Mounted Police Scout, and held by some to have fired the first shots in the Northwest Uprising of 1885 at Duck Lake. This is a studio portrait with McKay posed in costume.

Comments on a visit from a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer to a protest organizer with the intent to hopefully silence critical commentaries against the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) at the People's Summit in Québec City.

Seven graduate from the Special Indian Constable program of the RCMP in March 1975.

Image of exterior of the guardhouse at the North West Mounted Police post in Regina, where Louis Riel was held.

Outlines work of the Commission and provides synopsis of each of the documents produced for it.

Commission looked into the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's killing of sled dogs during the 1950s and 1960s. Focuses on how the inquiry combined written research with oral testimony to produce its final report.

Mr. Shepherd was a farmer, author and curator of the Western Development Museum, Saskatoon. His papers consist of personal correspondence, 1938-1977, subject files, 1933-1977; books, 1961-1977 and newspapers. Among the subject files are ones on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Cypress Hills area, Sioux Indians, and the Western Development Museum. The Books section is mainly about books he wrote.

Includes text of numerous primary documents.

Discusses how the North West Mounted Police (NWMP) confined and isolated First Nations peoples to reserves in an attempt to suppress their independence and culture.

Makes recommendations organized around six priorities to begin a process that will foster positive relationships between the RCMP and citizens.

Collection of Dr. Peter Purdue, College of Education, University of Saskatchewan. Published in The Graphic, November 5, 1881, [Page] 464-465. No article associated with this image in the newspaper. Sketch by Mr. Sydney P. Hall

Photograph of a line of Indigenous men on horseback in traditional garb flanking RCMP men in uniform, also on horseback. Sign on side says "C.W. William Photographer"

Describes the incident on the Crooked Lakes Reserves in the lower Qu’Appelle valley in which several First Nations participated in a confrontation of the local Indian Agent over the Department of Indian Affairs’ food rationing policies and their enforcement. Entire issue on one pdf file, scroll to page 41.

Provides information on a community safety initiative between Indigenous communities and the local RCMP.

English Philology Thesis (M.A.)--University of Turku, 2015.

A typed copy of Inspector Francis Dickens's North West Mounted Police journal from Fort Pitt in 1885. Recounts the events of the Resistance, the skirmish and subsequent abandonment of Fort Pitt by Dickens who was in command of the installation when hostilities broke out.

Historical note:

Article provides a description and interpretation of the cooperation between the NWMP and the Metis auxiliaries.

Group photo taken on the grounds of Fort Pitt, NWT. Numbered from L to R: 1. Fire Sky Thunder; 2. Sky Bird (Big Bear's son); 3. Natoose; 4. Napasis; 5. Big Bear; 6. Angus McKay (HBC); 7. Dufrain (HBC cook); 8. L. Goulet; 9. Stanley Simpson (HBC); 10. Alex McDonald; 11. Rowley; 12. Corp. Sleigh (NWMP); 13. Edmond; 14. Henry Dufrain.

Criminology Thesis (M.A.)--Simon Fraser University, 2018.

Reactions to the guilty verdict for Reform MP and former RCMP corporal Jack Ramsay.

This folder contains a brief journal with descriptions of the behaviour and activities of the North West Mounted Police detachment that travelled from Ottawa to Stone Fort (Lower Fort Garry), Manitoba.

Historical note:

James Morrow Walsh, (22 May 1840 - 25 July 1905) was a North West Mounted Police (NWMP) officer and the first Commissioner of the Yukon Territory. Born in Prescott, Ontario, James Walsh was one of the original officers of the NWMP.

This folder contains a typescript of a letter from Walsh to his daughter Cora written in 1890, in which he describes his meetings with Sitting Bull and other aboriginal peoples in the late 1870s; and Walsh's account of how he 'succeeded in undoing' what Louis Riel had done to form a federation of the Indians and half-breeds of the prairies in 1877-1879.

This account by James Walsh is a brief description of how he 'succeeded in undoing' what Louis Riel had done to form a federation of the Indians and Metis of the Canadian prairies in 1877-1879.

Historical note:

James Morrow Walsh (22 May 1840 - 25 July 1905) was a North West Mounted Police (NWMP) officer and the first Commissioner of the Yukon Territory. Born in Prescott, Ontario, James Walsh was one of the original officers of the NWMP.