CANADIAN INDIANS. 



185 



In 1857 the Indian census, including settled and mi- 

 gratory tribes, and tribes not within reach of the Mission- 

 aries, gave the following numbers of this people : — 



Settled Indians in Upper Canada . 9 ; 094* 



„ Lower Canada 4,326 



Nomadic tribes visiting the north shore of Lake Huron . 1,422 



„ „ „ Lake Superior 1,240 



Nomadic tribes of the Lower St. Lawrence . . . 2,500 

 „ not within the reach of missionaries or 



agents (estimated) 1,000 



Grand Total 19,652 



The Indians within the reach of government in the 

 year 1818 were estimated at 18,000, but since that 

 period immigration and the extension of the influence of 

 the government will probably account for the apparent 

 increase observed since 1818. 



In 1856 the Canadian Government appointed a special 

 Commission to " inquire into and report upon the best 

 means of securing the progress and civilization of the 

 Indian tribes in Canada, and on the best mode of so ma- 

 naging the Indian property, as to secure its full benefit 

 to the Indians, without impeding the settlement of the 

 country, "f 



The Indian Department takes cognizance of everything 

 relating to Indians in Canada, and in order to carry out 

 the business belonging to it, the province is divided into 

 five districts, each under the charge of a local superin- 

 tendent. 



chiefly Montagnais tribes. The Mistassins and Naskapees number about 2500, 

 of whom 1500 are still pagans, sacrificing to the Deity, who they say 

 inhabits the sun and the moon, a portion of everything they kill. 



* Compare these numbers, from official returns, with the estimate by the 

 Hudson's Bay Company of Indians settled in Canada (3000), p. 159. 



f In the subsequent notice of the Indians in Canada, much of the infor- 

 mation is obtained from the Report of the Canadian Commissioners, 

 appointed in 1842 and 1856. 



