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Tales from the Vault: B.C.'s worst lieutenant-governor?

A few years ago, The Beaver magazine asked a panel of historians to name the worst Canadians in history. Amongst this hall of infamy, there was one name that caught my eye.

A few years ago, The Beaver magazine asked a panel of historians to name the worst Canadians in history. Amongst this hall of infamy, there was one name that caught my eye. Joseph Trutch, a leading politician in 19th-century British Columbia, was nominated by Daniel Francis. Since I had barely heard of Trutch, I was intrigued. Who was this most infamous of British Columbians?

Joseph Trutch was born in England in 1826. He lived his early years in Jamaica, where his father owned land. Moving back to England, he graduated from a grammar school and apprenticed as a railway engineer. But he was looking for greater opportunities, and so headed to California. He wound up in Illinois, where he was the assistant superintendent of the Illinois and Michigan Canal.

Trutch was always an Englishman at heart, so when he heard of the Fraser River gold rush, he headed to British Columbia. He arrived in 1859, and became involved in surveying and road construction. He won many government contracts, and was becoming a wealthy man.

Trutch became involved in politics, winning a seat in the colonial legislature in 1861. He became well-known to those who ran the colony. In 1864, the governor, James Douglas, decided to retire. The position of chief commissioner of lands and works was vacant, and Douglas, as a parting gesture, recommended Trutch for this post. It was controversial, because Trutch was so heavily involved with government contracts. But he took the position anyway.

Douglas had recommended Trutch because of his experience with surveying and public works. But part of the job was handling native land policy. Trutch was definitely unsuited for that.

His attitude to native people can only be described as racist. He referred to some native people as "the ugliest and laziest creatures I ever saw." He considered them to be "bestial rather than human" and "uncivilized savages."

Trutch was hardly alone in his sentiments. Settlers were coming to British Columbia, from Britain and elsewhere, to establish farms and create a new life for themselves. The natives who had previously occupied the land were a nuisance to them.

James Douglas was very different. He had spent his life in the fur trade, constantly dealing with native people. The fur trade was dependent on natives, who actually collected the furs. They traded them, with men like Douglas, for the goods they needed.

So important were the natives to this economy that fair treatment of them was British government policy. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 laid out their rights.

It acknowledged that native people own the land they have used and occupied. They have "title" to the land, and if the government wants that "title," it will have to buy it. So the government was obliged to negotiate treaties.

In accordance with this policy, Douglas began to sign treaties with native groups. From 1850 to 1854 he signed 14 agreements on Vancouver Island. He thought that their only future was integration with white society, and wanted to prepare them for that.

All this changed in 1864. Douglas retired, and the natives lost their only friend in government. New governors knew little about the native people, and allowed Joseph Trutch to set land policy. And his policy was to open British Columbia to white settlement.

Trutch began to cut the size of some reserves. He claimed that Douglas had intended only 10 acres for each native family.

Douglas had mentioned 10 acres as a minimum. Trutch changed that to a maximum. He also claimed that some reserves were much larger than Douglas intended. This was simply untrue.

Trutch's worst falsification, though, was his denial of native title. As this was an obvious change to policy, he had to elaborate his view to the governor: "The title of the Indians in the fee of the public lands ... has never been acknowledged by the Government, but, on the contrary, is distinctly denied."

How did Trutch get away with it? The answer is he had a willing audience. A settler society was developing, which wanted the myth of an empty land. The concept of native title was highly inconvenient. It was buried as quickly as possible.

In the 1860s, British Columbia was still a Crown colony. With Britain far away, local politicians had free rein with land policy. But not for long; Britain wanted British Columbia to join Confederation. For these local politicians, this posed a problem. The federal government had authority for native affairs. Also, it was far more generous, acknowledging native title, and creating much larger reserves. Trutch might be forced to do the same.

In 1871 British Columbia decided to join Confederation. Trutch was appointed head of the negotiating team. And, luckily for Trutch, the federal government knew little of British Columbia's land policy. Thus B.C. was able to insert a clause into the agreement that read: "A policy as liberal as that hitherto pursued by the British Columbia government shall be continued by the Dominion Government after the Union." The federal government did not know that B.C.'s policy had been far from liberal. It took them years to realize they'd been hoodwinked.

In 1871, Trutch was appointed British Columbia's first lieutenant-governor. At the same time, the federal government was writing treaties with tribes on the Prairies and establishing reserves that had 160 acres of land for each native family. Naturally, B.C.'s native people wanted the same. The federal government began to get more involved with B.C.'s natives. In 1872, they appointed I.W. Powell as the province's Superintendent of Indian Affairs. He became a source of information they needed. Gradually the federal government became more openly critical of B.C.

What could not be ignored was rising native discontent. Powell wrote to Ottawa that "If there has not been an Indian War, it is ... because the Indians have not been sufficiently united." But that was starting to change. In 1874, there was a meeting of 109 chiefs in Hope, some from as far away as Lillooet and Bute Inlet. Natives were overcoming their traditional animosities and uniting in the face of a common enemy.

In response, the federal and provincial governments created, in 1876, the Joint Indian Reserve Commission. Composed of one federal appointee, one provincial, and one appointed by both, this group began a truly serious investigation into native land needs.

This group did excellent work, interviewing natives and doing extensive research. But their work was slow and expensive, and both governments were becoming critical. So in 1878 the commission was reduced to one.

If they were hoping for someone cheaper and less generous, they were wrong. Gilbert Sproat, the remaining commissioner, was a man who had begun to understand and empathize with the natives. He was even more generous with his reserves.

But that was not all. He began attending major meetings of native chiefs. To the government, this was dangerous encouragement of native unity. Uprisings were never far from their mind. Sproat had to go.

Sproat was forced to resign in 1880. But an Indian Reserves Commissioner was still needed. The government needed a man who could work quickly, and award the minimum amount of land; someone who would ask few questions and do what he was told. Joseph Trutch had just the man: his brother-in-law, Peter O'Reilly. O'Reilly was appointed and got to work. Over the next 18 years he created most of the reserves we have today. He consulted little with the natives, and generally kept the reserves to an acceptable minimum. Rarely did any politician find problems with his work. No treaties were signed, and native title was conveniently forgotten.

Trutch stayed on in Victoria until 1889, when he retired to England. He received a knighthood for his great colonial service, and died in 1904.

Trutch has left us with a dark legacy. His denial of native title, and other legitimate claims, has poisoned native-white relations. It has led to more than a century of conflict.

Native people, though, have struggled back. They have never forgotten their right of title, and have campaigned for its recognition. The process of negotiating treaties has begun.

No one imagines it will be easy. But Trutch did us all a favour. Because he was unwilling to sign treaties, he left the field open. Natives negotiate by today's standards, not by those of the 19th century. Trutch, if he had written treaties, would have given the natives a pittance. Now they will receive far better. Who would have imagined that Trutch, in the end, would actually help native people?