An independent Canadian knowledge projectPilot collection · EN / FR
CA-K400Indigenous peoples & reconciliation

Edgar Dewdney and Indigenous policy on the Prairies

Lieutenant-Governor Edgar Dewdney, April 1883 (Topley Studio).
Lieutenant-Governor Edgar Dewdney, April 1883 (Topley Studio). Edgar Dewdney · Topley Studio / Library and Archives Canada / PA-027070 · Photo source · Photo licence: Public domain. Resized for display; item previews may be cropped. The image remains under the licence shown.
Factual accuracy review: No recorded challenge

No recorded challenge is not proof of accuracy. A challenge under review is not a finding that the item is false.

As Indian Commissioner (1879–1888) and Lieutenant-Governor of the North-West Territories, Edgar Dewdney withheld rations from starving First Nations until they settled on government-selected reserves, causing malnutrition, disease and death. After 1885 he helped impose the extralegal pass system and helped shape the residential school system, with devastating consequences for Indigenous children, families and communities.

Scope & context

Dewdney’s role as recognized in the 2023 reviewed designation, not the residential school system as a whole (see CA-K029).

Sources behind this record

1
Edgar Dewdney National Historic Person ↗

Parks Canada

Reasons for designation (reviewed)