Ernest Epp's Report

In the first section of the report, Epp explains the events following the signing of the Robinson-Superior Treaty, 1850. The Canadian government was slow to fulfill the terms of the Treaty, creating a great deal of uncertainty in the respective communities. As a result, the Hudson’s Bay Company agreed to distribute annuity payments to those included on the pay lists under the provisions of the Treaty (see letter offering from HBC offering to pay annuities). Of more importance was the establishment of reserves, according to Alan Macdonell, a businessman, the terms of the Treaty provided only a vague definition of the borders of the reserves. Additionally, Macdonell expressed concerns regarding the Métis in Sault Ste. Marie who were not benefiting from annuity payments and were in some cases threatened with the loss of their land (see letter from Alan Macdonell). Conversely, according to Governor Simpson, of the Hudson’s Bay Company, in other regions including Batchewana Bay and Michipicoten, the Métis were included on the pay lists. According to Epp, in 1852 sixteen Métis families (sixty-one persons) in Batchewana Bay and twenty-eight Métis families (eighty-six persons) in Michipicoten received annuity payments. Additionally, the lists produced by DeLaRonde and F. Ermatinger in 1855 for Lake Nipigon and Fort William respectively included both Métis and Aboriginals.