AbstractsGeography &GIS

The central theme of this thesis is an investigation and an analysis into the history of the work of the missionary, the Reverend Henry Budd, a Cree Metis who was employed in the services of the Church Missionary Society during the years 1837-1875. The history is essentially one of inland expansion of the Church Missionary Society through its use of both European and native agents. Previous to the establishment of the first inland station at The Pas in 1840, the Reverend John West, the first chaplain of the Hudson's Bay Company (1820) at the Red River Settlement had established the Upper Church or St. John's near the forks of the Assiniboine and the Red Rivers. In 1825, Reverend David Jones erected a church at Image Plains, known as Middle Church or St. Paul's. Four years later, a mission station was founded at Grand Rapids and the Lower Church, or St. Andrew's was built. In 1833, an Indian mission for the Saulteaux and the Cree had been established thirteen miles below the Grand Rapids whIch was known as the Indian Settlement of St. Peter's. The district in which Budd had laboured for some thirty-five years as a missionary was that of the Cumberland District. This area included the Hudson's Bay Company posts of The Pas, Cumberland House, and Fort a La Corne, around which Henry Budd centred his activities. Although the primary purpose of the thesis Is to trace the history of the work conducted by Reverend Budd under the auspices of the Church Missionary Society, an analysis of the change of the native populations for which he was responsible does form an important part of the investigation. The native peoples which came under the minister's influence included the Swampy (Muskego), Woodland, and the Plains Cree, the latter being the least affected by his presence among them. The main emphasis, therefore, has been upon the mechanics of proselytization in the north as conducted by the Reverend Henry Budd from 1840-1875...