This timeline serves as a tool for knowledge translation. The easily scrollable events are practical for use by students, educators and fellow researchers. Additionally, some events provide links to secondary websites that offer a more in-depth discussion of the event. As we are continuously working to improve our tools for knowledge translation, we welcome your feedback and will respond to any questions, concerns or comments via email at spheru.timeline@uregina.ca.;xNLx;
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Fur trading community, Cumberland House, organizes itself a “de facto” field hospital for First Nations as an outbreak of small pox spreads over the winter of 1781-1782. William Tomison and his predecessor Matthew Cocking, recognized that smallpox was contagious, and that surviving the illness provided long-term immunity afterwards. The quarantining of new arrivals, isolation of symptomatic individuals, and the use of disinfectant resulted from lower than average mortality rates.
Smallpox outbreak within the “Young Dog” tribe (pg.30). “Deadly epidemics” of smallpox outbreaks were reported in 1780, 1819, 1838, and 1869 among Indigenous nations, carrying away over half of the native population with each occurrence.
When Upper and Lower Canada were politically united, the administration of Indigenous affairs was combined with the new colony’s Crown Lands Department. This created a conflict of interest, as the department now had two opposing goals: supporting colonial land expansion while also managing Indigenous lands. These goals clashed because settlers’ land demands directly conflicted with continued Indigenous land use.
With medical diplomas easily attainable (even by mail) there are valid concerns about the general competence of many medical practitioners. The explicit purpose of the establishment of the AMA is to exclude “diploma doctors” and streamline the criteria needed to practice medicine in the United States.
In 1867, Indian Affairs was moved to the Secretary of State, and by 1873 it became part of the Department of the Interior. This change put Indian Affairs under the same department responsible for land and resource management, further aligning it with settler interests rather than Indigenous needs.
Formerly the British North America Act, the enactment of the Constitution Act, 1867 on March 29th established Canada as an independent nation. The Act outlines the division of powers between the Federal and Provincial governments. Under the Constitution, Provincial governments are allotted the authority over “The Establishment, Maintenance, and Management of Hospitals, Asylums, Charities, and Eleemosynary Institutions in and for the Province, other than Marine Hospitals”, while the Federal government retains power in the areas of quarantine and the establishment/maintenance of marine hospitals. To view the most recent consolidation of the Act, click "Find out more".
The College is organized to control the licensing of medical practitioners in the province and professionalize the field of medicine. This excludes alternative practitioners and healers, such as herbalists and midwives, from the realm of officially accepted medical care.
Treaty 2 was signed on August 21, 1871, in Manitoba and includes three First Nation communities located in Saskatchewan. The treaty ceded a large area of land in exchange for reserves, each providing 160 acres per family of five. Indigenous leaders likely saw the treaty as an agreement to share the land, while the government negotiaters framed it as a surrender. Terms included promises of schools, gratituties, and a liquor ban on reserves.
Three Roman Catholic Sisters of Charity (Grey Nuns) - sisters Agnes, Boucher, and Pepin - begin the formal operation of the first permanent hospital in the region.
Treaty 4, signed on September 15, 1874, at Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan, was a treaty between the Cree, Saulteaux, and Assiniboine peoples and the British Crown, ceding Indigenous territory in exchange for payments, provisions, and rights to reserve lands, primarily in southern Saskatchewan. The written terms of Treaty 4 included: reserves of one square mile for every five persons; annuities of $25 for a chief, plus coat and medal, a $15 annuity per headman, and a $5 annuity for each individual; a suit of clothing every three years per chief; blankets, calicoes and British flag (given once); $750 worth of powder, shot and twine annually; two hoes, a spade, scythe, axe and seed per family; a plough and two harrows per ten families; oxen, a bull, four cows, carpenter’s tools, five hand saws, five augers, a crosscut saw, a pit saw and a grindstone per chief; there was to be a school on the reserve; no liquor was to be allowed; and hunting, fishing and trapping rights would be respected.
During the 1800’s it becomes common practice for food wholesalers and retailers to add contaminants to food for profit gains. The federal 1874 Adulteration Act is intended to maintain the quality of the national food supply by protecting consumers from “adulterated” food. Operating under this Act, Canada’s food safety system is formed by the early 20th century.
A building is set aside as a hospital during the construction of the North-West Mounted Police barracks at Fort Walsh. This is the first documented permanent hospital in the region that is not affiliated with a religious institution.
Treaty 5, signed in 1875, included three Saskatchewan First Nations: Cumberland House, Shoal River, and Red Earth. Treaty 5 dealt mainly with the Manitoba area, and was unique in the fact that the Treaty Commissioner dealt individually with regional bands rather than with a large treaty area. Water was an important issue because the geographic region covered Lake Winnipeg as well as portions of several important rivers. During the negotiations of Treaty 5, Treaty Commissioner Morris used the strategy of separating the general idea of treaty from the issues of establishing specific reserves. In exchange for access to an area of approximately 100,000 square miles, the Indians of Treaty 5 were to receive reserves of 160 acres per family of five, annuities of $5 per year, clothing and medals, articles for cultivation, education, and the right to hunt, fish and trap; they were to ban alcohol and to keep peace and order.
Treaty 6, signed in 1876, provided more agricultural assistance than other treaties, which included additional farming tools, animals, and supplies to support communities in agriculture. A unique aspect of Treaty 6 was the "medicine chest" clause, which Indigenous leaders interpret as a continuing federal obligation to provide health care services. This treaty also included a "famine and pestilence" clause, committing the government to provide aid, such as food rations, during periods of extreme hardship, such as disease outbreaks.
The Indian Act was created in 1876. This law changed how the government treated Indigenous people - labeling them as lazy and unable to care for themselves. It went against the Crown's earlier promises to treat Indigenous people with honour and respect.
The federal government of responsible for developing policies related to Indigenous populations and Northern communities. From 1873-1879, Indian Affairs was placed in the Department of the Interior. Starting in 1880, Indian Affairs was given its own department separate from the Department of the Interior. The Department of Indian Affairs was divided into an outside service (consisting of Indian agents and farm instructors) and an inside service (officers who worked at the headquarters in Ottawa).
Canadian physician and professor, Dr. William Osler, reports the first cases of multiple sclerosis in Canada. Dr. Osler presents clinical and pathological observations of three cases to Montreal’s Medico-Chirugical Society. He believes these cases represent the early, advanced, and end-stages of the disease.
Bison in both the Plains and Woodlands areas were nearly wiped out. Millions were killed, and those involved in the slaughter made a lot of money. Large herds of buffalo were no longer seen in the Wood Mountain area, east of the Cypress Hills - once a key migration route. Despite the serious impact this had on First Nations communities, the council ignored recommendations to limit buffalo hunting by Europeans and Metis.
Dr. R.G. Ferguson marked the beginning of the Tuberculosis Epidemic as 1884, primarily effecting the Indigenous peoples of Saskatchewan. Rarely, sporadic cases of Tuberculosis would be recorded throughout the 1850s and 1860s, though they did not begin to spread rapidly until the 1870s.
In April of 1884, the government made an amendment to the Indian Act to ban Potlatch ceremonies. While the enactment was slow and difficult, the government tried to imprison people on the west coast who would host the ceremony. Years later, any form of give-a-way ceremony was prohibited.
Qu’Appelle Industrial School, also known as the Lebret Indian Residential School, opened in 1884 in the Qu’Appelle Valley near Fort Qu’Appelle. This school was operated by the Roman Catholic Church and was one of the longest-running residential schools in Canada, remaining open until 1998. This institution is where many Piapot children were sent.
In 1885, during what became known as the North-West Resistance, Métis communities rose up to demand land rights as their way of life declined. While some ‘Indian’ leaders accused Prime Minister John A. Macdonald of using the conflict to silence criticism about his starvation policies toward Indigenous people, the government blamed First Nations for the unrest. Misunderstandings rooted in racism and political greed, along with corruption and food shortages, created widespread hardship for Indigenous communities. Chiefs like Big Bear, Poundmaker, and Payepot pushed for more rations, agricultural tools, and reserves to protect their cultures. Despite most First Nations staying loyal to their Treaty commitments, racist media coverage portrayed them as rebels. Cree involvement was limited, defensive, and often isolated. Still, the government's punishment was harsh: 28 reserves were labeled disloyal, over 50 people were charged, and 11 were sentenced to death.
After the 1885 North-West Resistance, white immigration to Saskatchewan slowed, disrupting the government’s plans for European settlement and agricultural growth in the West. Fearing further resistance, the government introduced the Pass and Permit System to control the movement of First Nations people. Initially meant for those labeled “rebel Indians,” by 1886 Prime Minister John A. Macdonald pushed for it to apply to all First Nations. Under this system, no one could leave their reserve without a signed pass from an Indian Agent, which stated where they could go, for how long, and when they had to return. Although never made law, the system was strictly enforced—illegally—well into the 1940s. It was a key tool of control and forced assimilation, intended, in Macdonald’s words, “to do away with the Indian problem."
The Canadian government implemented assimilation policies targeting Indigenous peoples. These included reducing reserve lands, promoting agriculture over traditional hunting, and enforcing education through residential and day schools. Chief Payepot, upon signing the adhesion to Treaty 4, emphasized the importance of education, leading to a promise of schools on reserves. However, the government established residential schools away from reserves, violating this promise and aiming to sever Indigenous children from their cultural roots. The first residential school to open in Saskatchewan was the Battleford Industrial School, which operated from 1883 to 1914. Located in Battleford, this institution was among the earliest in the province and marked the beginning of the federal government's system of residential schools in Saskatchewan. The school was established to assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian culture, often at the expense of their native languages and traditions.
Passed by the Canadian Parliament requiring all doctors across the country to register their practices. Within a decade, the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Ontario gains control of licensing procedures across Canada.
Frederick David Shaw officially registers as a dental practitioner with the North West Territories government becoming the first to do so in the land soon to become the province of Saskatchewan. Shaw applies in Regina for permission to open a practice and previously served in what are now Fort McLeod, Pincher Creek, and Lethbridge.
The Tuberculosis Epidemic reached its peak in 1886, with a death rate of 90 out of every 1,000 among the Qu'Appelle Indigenous people. The death rate began to drop after 1890, and by 1901 there were 2,000 deaths for every 100,000.
5 children died of Tuberculosis in Qu'Appelle (Lebret) Industrial School, yet Indian Commissioner Dewdney stated there was no necessity for a doctor. He believed medical supplies and the Sisters support would suffice.
Residents of the city of Regina that require hospital care are initially forced to go east to Brandon or Winnipeg for service. In 1889, the first general hospital in the Northwest Territories (at Medicine Hat) opens with “forty beds and a $5 hospitalization (insurance) option.” By 1895, patients from Regina account for 1,623 days of in-patient care.
In 1891, the Qu’Appelle school reported that since opening in 1884, it had discharged 174 students, 71 of whom died. Despite medical evidence, Principal Hugonnard believed that TB was not contagious or hereditary.
Created in Regina, the Northwest Pharmaceutical Association acts as the legal and professional council in the prairies with regard to drugs and their medical dissemination.
The first public hospital opened in the settlement of Saltcoats, near the present-day Manitoba border, in 1897. However, the Hospital was a short-lived enterprise. On January 4th, 1898, a coal oil lamp accident left a nurse with significant injuries which soon after claimed her life. By the end of the year, the Hospital had provided 374 days of free care and had only treated 49 inpatients, leading to its closure in 1899.
Contaminated water supply reported in 1897, added to various health problems at the Qu'Appelle (Lebret) Industrial School.
After relying on the Mary E. Truesdell Nursing home as a location to provide basic medical care in Regina, the Saskatchewan Branch of the National Council of Women begin to raise money for the construction of a more adequate facility. Thanks to this fund-raising effort the Regina Cottage Hospital opens its doors in 1898, staffed with nurses from the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON).
The Victoria Hospital began operations in Prince Albert in 1899. Among contributions for the new hospital were nightshirts, a tablecloth, and food for the patients. By the end of the year (1899), there were two hospitals with seven beds each.
Signed on June 21, 1899, Treaty 8 was an agreement between First Nations and the Crown, intended as a partnership based on peace and friendship. Covering approximately 840,000 km², it includes 41 First Nations across Northern Alberta, Northwestern Saskatchewan, Northeastern British Columbia, and the Southwest Northwest Territories. Government policies later divided Nations by provincial funding rules, leading to the formation of Treaty 8 First Nations of Alberta. This political assembly works to protect and uphold the True Spirit and Intent of Treaty 8, ensuring the recognition of Inherent and Treaty Rights for future generations.
Planning for the 25-bed Victoria Hospital began in 1899, and was officially opened by Lady Minto, wife of the Governor General, in September 1901. The hospital was taken over by the City of Regina in 1907, and is now known as the Regina General Hospital.
The Queen Victoria Hospital opened in Yorkton in 1902, and received a $3,000 contribution from the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON). The Hospital was home to the second School of Nursing.
Smallpox epidemic ensues in Red Deer, Island Lake, and Little Hunter’s Reserve. A quarantine is enforced and full rations supplied by the government agents in the area. Clothes are also burnt and replaced by local mission.
Nearly three hundred and fifty practicing dentists - approximately twenty percent of all dentists in Canada - gather in Montreal to create a formal constitution for the institution of the Dominion Dental Council, later known as the Canadian Dental Association.
William Morris Graham, superintendent of Qu'Appelle Indian Agencies, reported in August 1902 that the general health of Piapot’s band is “wonderfully good.” Graham also reported that the general health of neighbouring Muscowpetung's Band is fairly good. Some suffer from scrofulousness and consumption, but Graham "thinks[s] [that] these diseases are fast disappearing”.
William Morris Graham, superintendent of Qu'Appelle Indian Agencies, reported in August 1903 that Piapot, Muscowpetung, and Pasqua bands are all in good health.
R.L. Ashdown, superintendent of Qu'Appelle Indian Agencies, reported in August 1904 that Piapot’s band health is good, and that Muscowpetung’s band health is not that good. Consumption is the leading cause of sickness, although Ashdown reports that sanitation is good.
On December 13th 1905, Saskatchewan held its first provincial general election.
As Saskatchewan’s first Premier, Walter Scott uses the co-operative model to assist farm families and to build and maintain the rural telephone system and the Saskatchewan Co-operative Elevator Company. The Scott government also implemented government-controlled liquor stores, the first step towards full prohibition. Less well-known is that during his time as Premier, Scott suffered from depression. Click on "Find out more" to hear Brad Wall, Saskatchewan’s 17th Premier, elected in the November 2007 election, discuss Scott’s hardships in dealing with mental illness.
W. M. Gordon, superintendent of Qu'Appelle Indian Agencies, reported in August 1905 that the population of Piapot is 152 and the general health of the band is good. Gordon reports that sore eyes and colds are the main ailments, along with “the usual lung troubles”. Gordon reports that Muscowpetung Band’s general health is “not nearly as good as that as the Piapot Indians. The proportion of the old people is greater and quite a few of them are affected with scrofulous, consumption and eye trouble”. Gordon reports that Pasqua Band’s general health is good, with File Hills in "particularly good health".
Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier visits Regina on “Inauguration Day”, September 4, 1905 to celebrate Saskatchewan’s entry into Confederation.
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