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Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Joint Reserve Commission collection
General material designation
- textual record
- microform
- cartographic material
- multiple media
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title based on the contents of the collection.
Level of description
Collection
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
-
1869, 1876-1910; predominant 1876-1878 (Creation)
- Creator
- Joint Reserve Commission
Physical description area
Physical description
19 cm of textual records and other material
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
Administrative history
The Joint Reserve Commission was created between the governments of British Columbia and Canada to determine the boundaries of Indian reserves in British Columbia, after several years of dispute. An agreement in principle on the creation of the commission was reached in November, 1875, and the Joint Reserve Commission was officially established in 1876 by federal orders-in-council 444/1876 and 779/1876. It consisted of three commissioners, one was appointed by the Canadian government (A.C. Anderson), one by the provincial government (Archibald McKinley), and a third selected jointly by the two levels of government (Gilbert Malcolm Sproat).
The Joint Reserve Commission operated until 1878 when it was restructured, leaving Gilbert Malcolm Sproat as the sole commissioner of the renamed Indian Reserve Commission. Sproat acted as commissioner until 1880, when he was replaced by Peter O'Reilly who acted until his retirement 1898. O'Reilly was then replaced by A.W. Vowell, until the commission was dissolved in 1910.
In 1913 the commission's work was continued by the Royal Commission on Indian Affairs for the Province of British Columbia (The McKenna-McBride Commission).
Custodial history
This collection is intended to bring together the records created by the Joint Reserve Commission, also known as the Joint Indian Reserve Commission. The commission travelled around BC to assess and allot Indian Reserves. As they conducted their work, they sent correspondence, memorandums, reports and minutes of decision to representatives in both the Provincial and Canadian governments.
This means that the records of the commission were ultimately distributed around multiple departments of both levels of government. Duplicate copies of records were often sent to several individuals.
Ultimately, Commission records were received by groups including, but not limited to: the BC Provincial Secretary, the BC Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, the Lieutenant Governor, the Canadian Department of Indian Affairs, and the Canadian Department of the Interior.
Some of the records in this accession were transferred from provincial government offices, and others are microform copies of records that are held by Library and Archives Canada. See series descriptions for more details.
Scope and content
The collection consists of records generated by the Joint Reserve Commission, predominantly from 1876-1878. The
collection includes correspondence inward and outward, memoranda, and reports. Many of the records were sent from Commissioners to representatives of the Canadian and British Columbia governments, such as the Provincial Secretary and the Department of Indian Affairs.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
Language of material
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Microfilm and/or digital.
Restrictions on access
Conservation restriction: use microfilm wherever available.
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
See series descriptions for file and/or item lists.
Associated materials
GR-2982 - Minutes of decision of Joint Indian Reserve Commission. This series provides written descriptions and sketch maps of the Reserves allotted by the Commission.
Many of the records in this collection, as well as minutes of decision, and sketch maps have been digitized by the Union of BC Indian Chiefs and are available online through their library https://jirc.ubcic.bc.ca/
GR-0123 - Dept. of Indian Affairs records with regard to British Columbia
GR-1751 – Dept. of Indian Affairs Central Registry Black Series (Western), microfilm (reels B00271-B00361), in particular file 3756 (reel B00279).
PR-1052 - Alexander Caulfield Anderson fonds, which includes a diary as Indian Reserve Commissioner (MS-0559.2.5).
PR-1709 - Archibald McKinlay fonds
PR-0258 - Gilbert Sproat fonds.
Accruals
General note
Accession number(s): GR-0495, GR-1965, 94-8225, GR-0933, 2018.115
General note
Archives code(s): GR-0495, GR-1965 were previously known as AAAA1333, and PR-2107 with the title “Joint Reserve Commission Fonds”.
Conservation
Use microform or digital copies whenever available.
Physical description
3 microfiche [Bf0003] and 8 reels of microfilm [B11011(1), B11011(3), B16974-B16976, B01391-B01393]
Alternative identifier(s)
Standard number area
Standard number
Access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Joint Reserve Commission (Subject)
- British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works (Subject)
- British Columbia. Dept. of the Provincial Secretary (Subject)
- Canada. Department of Indian Affairs (Subject)
- Anderson, Alexander Caulfield, 1814-1884 (Subject)
- McKinlay, Archibald, 1811-1891 (Subject)
- Sproat, Gilbert Malcolm, 1834-1913 (Subject)