The History of Long Plain

The Early 19th Century
In the 50 years between 1821 and the beginning of the Treaty era 1871 the westernmost Saulteaux, including the Portage Band, had largely made the transition to the Plains socio-economic system. Due to its abundant resources the Portage la Prairie area became the homeland for the Saulteaux, who recognized Black Robe as their Chief. The Portage Band was a distinct entity by 1871. Unfortunately only scattered references to the Bands exist for a period after the merger of the two fur trade companies(Northwest and Hudson's Bay) in 1821.

Beginning with the Church Missionary Society in 1851, more detailed information becomes available. A.C. Garrioch, son of one of the early Portage la Prairie white settlers, recounts a number of times concerning the band's socio-economic life and its relationship to the incoming white settlement 1857 - 1869. Garrioch's expedition of the area makes clear why the Portage Band made this part of the Assinibione Valley their home: "fish, such as sturgeon, catfish, pike, perch and goldeye were abundant in the Assinibione, and white fish, and other kinds equally so in Lake Manitoba..."

In the extensive forest extending southward, westward, and eastward, elk, moose, and wapiti were numerous. Fur bearing animals such as the bear, wolf, fox, beaver, badger, lynx, wolverine, fisher, mink and muskrat all had their haunts within easy reach, Wild ducks abounded in every swamp and stream. The band also retained their ancestral agricultural tradition; cultivating corn, turnips and potatoes at Portage la Prairie, the Round Plain and the Indian Gardens, to name some of the more important sites. Relations with the white settlers were harmonious during the 1850's and 60's thanks to the agreement reached between Archdeacon William Cochrane of the Church Missionary Society and the Band. Under this arrangement the settlers were allowed the use of the land and timber in return for an annual rent of one bushel of wheat or its equivalent from each settler. Cochrane also caused an area of 717 acres to be surveyed on the western limits of the settlement to protect the campgrounds and gardens of the band. Garrioch lists the names of 28 Indians, heads of family (or about 140 people) who had Portage la Prairie as their primary residence. It appears that the Swan Lake area was, during this period, a favorite hunting and fishing ground of the Portage Band.

Blackrobe — The Saulteaux Migration
The descendants of the Portage Band were members of the Saulteaux bands from the Leach and Red lake regions of Minnesota about the headwaters of the Mississippi River. The NorthWest Company partner, Alexander Henry the younger recorded that on August 21, 1800 his expedition left for the forks of the Red and Assinibione Rivers en route for the Pembina Region; the base of operations for the 1800-1801 fur season. This group of hunters, 41 in all plus their families, had been contracted for by Henry near Portage la Prairie early in the summer. Among the hunters was Rob Noire or Black Robe, later Chief of the Portage band. Henry lists Black Robe as a member of a band from the Leach Lake area of Minnesota who had left for River country in the 1789-90 .Elliot Couse, says in the New Light on the Early History of the Greater Northwest, that Black Robe was also known as Black Cat.

Ojibwa Economic Conditions Prior To Selkirk Treaty Of 1817
By the time of the Selkirk Treaty of 1817, the Saulteaux were well established in their occupancy of the Red and Assinibione park lands of southern Manitoba. The area about Portage la Prairie was especially attractive, offering as it did abundant fish and game and ready access to the fur region about the Lakes and in the Turtle Mountain - Pembina area to the south. As fur resources dwindle in parkland regions due to intensive trapping encouraged by the destructive North West- Hudson's Bay Company rivalry, the western most Saulteaux (ie. from the Portage La Prairie Area) increasingly adopted elements of their Plains allies economies. The acquisition of horses through trade and warfare allowed for a greater mobility and enabled the Saulteaux bands to exploit the rich resources of the great buffalo herds immediately to the south and west of the Portage area. This economic shift was in motion even before the collapse of the fur trade in 1821. Peter Fiddler, the Hudson's Bay factor for the Red River region, reported 110 Saulteaux lodges there or a populations of 1250 of which 300 were adult male hunters. Fiddler lists the Saulteaux as having 100 horses.The anthropologist Alanson Skinner was the first (in 1913) to cite the passage of August 19, 1800 in Henry's Journal which stated:

This afternoon a few Indians arrived on horse back. They come from the direction of Portage la Prairie and were of the tribe called Snakes, who formerly inhabited Lake of the Woods. They were once numerous but now can not muster more that 50 men. They may be said to be of the same nations as Crees, but have a different dialect, somewhat resembling the Saulteaux language. They now inhabit a tract of land upon the Assinibione about 30 leagues (between 72 and 138 miles) west of this place, some of them are to be found almost all over the country where they are Saulteaux or Crees.

Skinner hypothesized that these people were Saulteaux who made the adaptation to Plains economics and culture. Later anthropologists such as Howard (1961) have concurred. This band, however, does not appear to have any connection with later Portage Band according to evidence gathered from the fur trade sources of the northwest and Hudson's Bay Companies.

John Tanner
The Portage Band was augmented by inter-marriage with their allies, the Ottawa. The noted anthropologist, Alanson Skinner, who conducted field work at the Long Plain Reserve in 1913, relates that one of his informants, Ogimauwinit's grandfather, was an Ottawa, as the autobiography of John Turner, a white captive of the Shawnee and later adopted member of the Ottawa Band, attests. Tanner's small band of Ottawa were related by marriage to the Saulteaux, who had migrated to the Red River country, and Tanner lived and hunted with them from 1796 - 1817. One of Tanner's sons, Pacheeto (which might be spelled Peetchee-to, Peicheto, or Peecheeto) was a prosperous Indian trader during the 1850's and an influential sub-chief of the Portage Band. One of Pacheeto's sons, known as the Gambler, was major spokesperson for Waywayseecappo's band during the negotiations of Treaty 4 in 1874 and later Chief of the Gambler's Band in Manitoba. Another of Pacheeto's sons, Kasaway, proved to be as successful at trade as his father. Kasaway was a brother-in-law of Yellowquill, a member of the Swan Lake Band.