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.After further consideration, moreover, Perry decided Jarvis deserved evenharsher punishment for facilitating the participation of these individualsin the Exhibition parade.Perry ordered Captain Deane, the Calgary com-mander, to arrest Jarvis for possible charges of violating internal rules ofdiscipline.Deane, however, one to whom controversy& [was] the spiceof life, refused to obey.Deane argued that Jarvis had acted responsibly byconsulting provincial officials, and if any mistake was made, Alberta s deputyattorney general was at fault.Perry promptly responded by attempting tocharge Deane with insubordination, but arguments about procedural con-ventions seem ultimately to have thwarted charges against both Deane andJarvis.Perry settled for a clear instruction to everyone in the force that theAttorney General s Department in Alberta does not control the guard roomsof this force; that the Department has no authority to issue instructions to66Officers of the force with regard thereto. Deane, who did, indeed, havea nose for confrontation, soon used this regulation to cause Perry newgrief.When the superintendent of immigration asked Deane to deliver upa prisoner for deportation, he refused, citing Perry s previous instructionthat orders for release must come from Perry.Although nothing in the fileindicates the outcome, Perry s commitment to proper procedure was about67to increase his administrative workload, thanks to Deane.94 CALGARY S PARADING CULTURE BEFORE 1912The Department of Indian Affairs opposed the participation of FirstNations in other arenas as well during this period.Another dispute arosewhen Reverend John McDougall, the well known Morley missionary amongthe Sarcees, encouraged and organized First Nations communities to par-ticipate in summer festivals in Calgary, Banff, and other western towns.McDougall s activities were opposed not only by Indian Affairs; within hischurch and the wider community, many criticized him for perpetuatingpagan cultures and beliefs.Appearing in their traditional outfits, playingdrums, singing, and carrying weapons were all seen as detrimental to thespiritual welfare of the First Nations.John Maclean, McDougall s biographer,noted McDougall s response.McDougall wrote that he felt that there weresufficient safeguards at the Stampede and [other] Pageants to protect thenatives; the amusement would relieve the monotony of life on the Reserve,68while the knowledge obtained would prove beneficial to them all. KeithRegular documents McDougall s keen defense of the right of First Nations todemonstrate and practise their culture.In a series of letters to various papers,McDougall forcefully stated his conclusion that the Department of IndiansAffairs and othersview the Indian not as a fellow man, a being just as capableas themselves in distinguishing between right and wrong,but as an inferior to be treated as a child & I will nottreat them as inferiors not yet will I approach them with69feelings of bigotry or religious intolerance &McDougall argued further, and in a startling manner for someone supposedlysupporting colonization by arranging their participation in these events, thatwhile some Indians are Catholics and some Protestant,there are many who still cling to the old faith, andthese& have as much right to join in the sun dance or thethirst dance as a Methodist has to join a camp meeting.We fought hard for the privilege of civil and religiousliberty and the Indian is just as much entitled to religious70freedom as a white man.Despite McDougall s ferocious and admirable defense of the First Nationsreligious and civil rights, and in the context of these many conflicts, theDepartment of Indian Affairs amended Section 149 of the Indian Act in 1914LORRY W.FELSKE 95to prohibit participation in exhibitions, stampedes, and pageants.As Regularpoints out, however, this was a hollow victory; the penalties for solicitingparticipation were lessened, established practices were not included, and thelocal Indian agents could grant exemptions.Regular concludes that the colo-nization campaign had been defeated by advocates for the Indians such asMcDougall, by parade organizers who requested their presence at urban cel-ebrations, and by less than unanimous support by Indian agents themselves. [A]ll indications suggest that the Indians did not feel particularly exploitedby their association with the exhibitions.There were no impassioned pleas to71stop the fairs & Participation of First Nations in the Calgary parades, and in those of otherwestern communities, is not a simple tale of exploitation by European colo-nizers.Those intimately involved with these arrangements, such ReverendMcDougall, took a pragmatic and culturally tolerant approach to their inclu-sion.It was certainly true, however, that the First Nations and the Europeanswho shared an early prairie history with them were not generally viewed bythe wider Calgary public as contributing to the future development of theWest.That future was reserved for those who controlled ranching, agricul-ture, and urban activities
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