Ohio History Journal

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BOOK REVIEWS

BOOK REVIEWS

 

Preliminary Inventory, Record Group 10, Indian Affairs. Compiled by

Manuscript Division, Public Archives of Canada. (Ottawa, King's Printer

and Controller of Stationery, 1951. 14+xiiip., appendices and index.)

The manuscript division of the Public Archives of Canada has launched

a series of inventories to describe in some detail all its collections. Each of

the publications will be concerned with a particular section of the manu-

scripts in the public archives. "Record Groups" are divisions of official

public records which have been continuously in the custody of some branch

of government, and "Manuscript Groups" are parallel series composed of

photocopies or transcripts of manuscripts in other depositories, private

papers, and other nonofficial materials.

The present preliminary inventory, the first of the series to be published,

is concerned with all the records of the Indian affairs branch and its

predecessors which were transferred to the public archives up to June

1951. The history of the management of Indian affairs in Canada is a

rather complicated story. At first, officers at the various military posts acted

as agents and liaison between the Indians and the English. In 1755, how-

ever, it was found expedient to appoint a full-time superintendent, the

first being the well known Sir William Johnson. Jurisdiction over Indian

affairs has since passed through many officials with changing titles and

has been under supervision of a number of various governmental depart-

ments. Since 1950 the Indian affairs branch has been attached to the

department of citizenship and immigration.

Notwithstanding the complexity of this story, Record Group 10 lends

itself to a simple and efficient organization. The records are arranged to

give a picture of the agency from which they were created; and then the

agencies are grouped under functional headings.

Until 1860 responsibility for the expense and management of Indian

affairs was under imperial control. The administrative records of this

period, 1755-1860, conveniently form a unit of this inventory. These

contain not only items of Canadian history, but also many matters of

interest to American history, such as Pontiac, the Six Nations, Sir William

Johnson, and an Indian council held at Albany. After 1860 the Indian

department was placed under ministerial control. The administrative records

of this second division are mainly concerned with routine matters. They

also include some valuable indices of other manuscript sources. A third

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