This Land Was Our Land.

Many of the important mineral deposits in northern Saskatchewan were seen first by the Indians, who later, sometimes, not even knowing their value, brought them to the attention of the White man. What kind of a deal did they get? Kazik Parada, himself married to an Indian girl, Ida (nee Charles), has some strong opinions and said this . . . .

I wouldn't say just the small mining companies, but the Indian people are mistreated by any big company. It doesn't matter whether it is a pulp company, a hydro company, or a big mining company. The mining people come here with the idea you have to know certain things, that there are only two ways of doing things - their way and the wrong way. If you don't fall into their way of thinking within a few days you're out.

There shouldn't be a need to bring in people from Ontario and Quebec. There's no concern to hire local people in the field, even by the government right now. They might talk about it, but not nearly enough is being done to come down and meet these guys halfway, I don't think.

A lot of mineral finds were picked up by Indian trappers. The guy would bring in a sample, usually to the bar, or someplace like that. Verna Richards, who ran a restaurant in La Ronge during the active years of explorations, also has a dim view of how the Whites treat the Indians.

At that time there were very few Indian people going to the Prospectors' School. I thought this very strange, because if there was going to be prospecting in the North, who knows the North more than the Native people? It annoyed me a lot. These people came up from the South. They had no intention of becoming prospectors. They were up there being paid. They were putting in the time. But Jonas Bird, an Indian from La Ronge, took the course and enjoyed it, I don't know if he ever got a chance to use his knowledge. A lot of the parties going out would hire the Indian people for line cutting - not very interesting work.

While all this is probably true, it is also true that the small, locally-based operations maintained a good relationship with the Indian people, and appreciated the work they did . . . .

The Rottenstone Mining operation employed several Indians. Rudy Phillips worked with the and said this . . . .

One thing I enjoyed very much was working with the Native people. That's something with which most Canadians haven't had any experience. The people we had were mostly trappers. They did a tremendous amount of work. They did a really good job with very little supervision. When I look at Wollaston (Gulf Minerals) I don't understand why they don't hire the Native people and train them.

Some, but, few Indians become full-time, or even part-time prospectors independently. Bruce Long, Mining Recorder at Creighton, talks about two men who were in the business fairly seriously . . .

Among the Natives, perhaps the most active was Horace Sewap at Pelican Narrows. Horace has been in the business for quite a while. He went over to La Ronge and took the Prospectors' Course, along with his son. He still stakes - when he's got the money. Another one who will stake and option ground is Bill Merasty out here at Denare Beach.

From those who have made a serious effort to hire Indian people come praise rather than criticism. Eric Partridge and Don Fisher are enthusiastic about the Indian men they have employed. First, Eric Partridge said this. . . .

In the first seasons, going back to 1947, '48, '49, I got students out of the University, through Dr. Mawdsley, who was then Head of the Geology Department. I also had three local men - Joe Bell, John Feitz, and Mclvor Eninew. These were Native people. John Feitz is Metis; Joe Bell is Treaty; Mclvor Eninew, a man of fifty, was Treaty.

I recognized that the Indian-Metis people of the North had qualifications for such work which you couldn't get from students, couldn't expect of students. Consequently, in subsequent years our total staff, or nearly our total staff, were people of the North. The original few had some prospecting experience. The vast majority thereafter I'd hire in their early teens. Examples would be George Flatland, Simon Eninew, and Samuel Flatland; Samuel and George are sons of Andy Flatland of Sucker River. Once trained, with an instinct to hunt for mineralization, I would like to think this was a long, happy relationship with a good many of them.

And from Don Fisher . . . .

I had the privilege of working with some very fine Indian men out there. There are some extremely competent Indians living in northern Saskatchewan. It was my good fortune to work with these fine people. They are capable of doing any job you set them to do, providing you are prepared to take the initial steps, to show them how to do it properly, and not make any rash assumptions, like "It's such a common sense job; why the hell can't the guy do it?"

You make that first effort, convince him that it is a job that has to be done, and done well, that he can do it. You'd be surprised how quickly they catch on.

All our functions, all our operations, were carried on by Natives. As a matter of fact, at the peak about 85 percent of our crews were Indian. They could do anything we wanted them to do. And I know they have gone on to better things and are operating very well with companies working in Saskatchewan.