Six Nations Public library - Digital Archive

"New Credit Indian Reserve and Mission", p. 4

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the initiative of a Mississauga chief, Peter Jones M. D., .~on of the Reverend Peter Jones and a graduate of Queen's University. The Grand General Council met at the present New Credit Council House, ~hich was opened on September 15 as part of the Council proceedings. Eight years later the Reserve was visited by the curator of the, Provincial Archaeological Museum, David Boyle, who wrote that: the whole band numbering 258 (213 in Tuscarora and 45 1n Oneida), under the superintendence of Dr. Jones presents a model for imitation by those of Indi.an orig.in in other parts of America. Their farms are . in a good state of cultivation, and well fenced. The live stock will compare favor~bly with that of the neighbouring whites; the houses, as a rule, are conunodious, clean, and comfortable, and no stranger driving through the settlement could observe anything to indicate that the land was farmed by other than wtu.te men. As late as 1913 a noted et~ologist recorded that "the Indian inhabitants have ofien won prizes against white competitors at_ the agricultural furs. The New Credit Indians••• are the most advanced of the Mississauga and represent one of the most successful attempts of any- American Indian gr·oup to assimilate the culture of the whites." Throughout this period of agricultural prosperity and self-dependence, -the Mississauga re~ajned concerned over their title to the Re~erve land. By 1900 the New Credit Council wanted a more permanent title than the Six Nations' affirmations of 1847 and 1865. In Septeml,er 1900 a $10,000.QO purchase ·agreement was reached be • . : tween Councils whereby the Mississauga secured "for all time, in settlement of a dispute ' . of many years standing, the ri~t of undist~bed use and occupancy of the land on the Six Nations Reserve" occupied by the New Credit Band. The purchase was author- ized by Order-in-Council on July 14, 1903. Farming declined as the mainstq of the Reserve after the Great War and particularly during the Depression. Faced with the trend to larger farms, heavy capital expenditure, and W1able to sell or mortgage reserve land, many- farmers abondoned once prosperous fields. Increasing numbers of Mississauga obtained work off the Reserve and now they are employed at a variety of jobs in the surrounding district. The present population of New Credit is about 520, many of whom are direct descendants of the Mississauga who first settled in Tuscarora and Oneida townships. Descendants are al-so found in other reserves throughout the province, including Alnwick, Curve lake, Scugog Island, and Tyendinaga. HERITAGE ADMINISTRATION BRANCH, Ministry of Culture and Recreation ' .

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