Help with the Census 1891 and 1901 Queen Charlotte Islands, BC

[RedMystic]

Hi Chatters,

Do we have any census experts for the west coast? I'm trying to find the census for Masset(t), Queen Charlotte Islands /Haida Gwaii, British Columbia for 1891 and 1901.

In 1891, New Westminister has a Queen Charlotte Islands division, but when I open that 16 page piece all it says at the top of each page is Coast C. How do I tell which villages are included?

When I get to 1901, I can't find anything except a record for Queen Charlotte City - none of the other communities in Haida Gwaii. If I recall from my late night search page-by-page search, that was listed in Vancouver, Sabine, Queen Charlotte City.

I'm quite sure census was done for the Haida villages in Queen Charlotte Islands, but I'm struggling to locate them through *A* and Library & Archives. Am I missing some easier way to come at this?

Thanks for your assistance & direction.

[Jacquie in Canada]

Perhaps that area is in the 1901 census records for native people.

Jacquie

[sami]

If you enter the words - West Coast (Agency) - in the LAC 1901 census keyword box and click on BC for the province, you get some 2,400 results that seem to be native villages and communities from coastal BC. That said I don't know of a way to isolate communities that might have been from the area of the former Charlotte Islands.

http://www.rootschat.com/links/01ezx/

I'll be interested to see how its done.

sami

[RedMystic]

Good morning sami & Jacquie,

Thank you for your responses. 

Sami, Thanks for your suggestion. Sadly (for me), I've paged through the entire section for West Coast Agency & all of the villages are on the west coast of Vancouver Island  . Queen Charlotte Islands / Haida Gwaii are off the north eastern coast of Vancouver island. 

The Agency idea was a good idea, Jacquie, as you are correct that I'm looking for a reservation for this sleuth for my friend.

I have discovered that in 1901 (which is the year I can find nothing other than Queen Charlotte City) that the district I need to be looking in is: BURRARD: City of Vancouver and the entire coast to the Alaska border, including some Gulf

Based on this, I'm guessing that I need to be looking at Burrard, Bennett and Atlin, Babine Agency, sub-districts A-1, A-2, and A-3. Here's the kicker.  I think    that perhaps A-2 and A-3 MAY be missing.

Do you have any suggestions on how I go about finding out if there are missing sub-districts? 

[RedMystic]

OK - I was wrong. Burrard, Bennett and Atlin, Babine Agency, sub-districts A-1, A-2, and A-3 are on-line in their entirety & I have paged-through all 90 pages without finding any of the villages either north or south of Queen Charlotte City. Hmmmmm

Could it be that some thing happened to some of the 1901 census for this area?  Is there a source that outlines if there might have been another Agency sub-district that wasn't completed or disappeared? 

Any thoughts on how to approach this dilemma or where to look on-line for an answer? I'm thinking that next step is to call BC Archives on Monday. Do you have any other suggestions?

[sami]

Hi RedMystic

The other method I tried was to use Automated Genealogy. Starting with the 1911 Census / BC / Comox-Atlin / ending up with Enumeration District 30: Atlin that covered the Queen Charlotte Islands. Then I tried using the automatedgenealogy links to the 1901 Census but was stopped at that point by needing to sign on to the 1901 site.

So no help there either.

sami

[RedMystic]

Hi all, I thought you might be interested in a non-productive outcome. 

I called a Canada Library & Archives last week. They couldn't explain why the region I'm looking for is missing in the 1901 census. They suggested that as the records are First Nations, that I should contact Archives BC @ the Royal British Columbia Museum. It was their thought that the people who manage other First Nations records & collections would have the answers.

So I contact RBC museum & archives. They said they have no idea & that I should call LAC.

So I guess I can only interpret that I'm the first person in 114 years to notice that a significant geographic area of BC is missing from census. Unlikely, but it's that or aliens have taken them. 

[Jacquie in Canada]

So I guess I can only interpret that I'm the first person in 114 years to notice that a significant geographic area of BC is missing from census. Unlikely, but it's that or aliens have taken them. 

More likely you were the first one to care enough to contact them about it.

Jacquie

[EH Chic]

Hi Red Mystic,

I have had the same trouble as you.  This census in particular is frustrating because it does not record the place of residence, only "Country or Province of Birth."  After looking through each page of the census for District No. 2 New Westminster, Sub-district Coast C, Division 33, here is what I found.  The Queen Charlotte Islands are listed on pages 47-77 of the above section (out of 185 pages in all).  Although the listings do not specify where each individual was enumerated, one can assume that Rowland Green (the enumerator for QCI) didn't ask where each individual was born, but assumed that the people he found in each village were from there (of course, this is only a guess).

The aboriginal population of QCI starts on line 11 of page 47 as denoted by (Ind) next to the name.  The place of birth is entered simply as "Q.C. Islands, BC."  At the top of each of the following pages up to p.77, the first name on each page also has (Ind) noted with a ditto mark (") beside subsequent names. 

"Masset, Q.C. Islands" is noted to be the birthplace of those aboriginal peoples listed on p.57.  Unfortunately, p.58 lists only "Q.C. Islands" as the birthplace again, until near the bottom of p.59, where the birthplace is changed to "Kauing."*  This birthplace [Kauing] continues for those aboriginal peoples listed to the end of p.60.  Page 61-62 again lists "Masset, Q.C. Islds" as the birthplace.  Most of the names on pp.63-64 list "Gold Harbor" as their birthplace, and then from pp.65-73, "Skidegate, Q.C. Isds" is listed as the birthplace for most of the names (with a few Europeans and a family from Kitwanga interspersed).  Near the bottom of p.73, and continuing to the middle of p.77, "Clew, QC Islds" and then, "Clew, B.C." are listed as the birthplace.  Thereafter, Japan and China are noted as the birthplace for many pages, signalling the end of the enumeration of the Queen Charlotte Islands.

I hope this is of some help, if a bit late.  I only stumbled upon your post today and thought I would share what I found with you in case you are still interested in this question.



*I thought this might be the village, Kung.  However, this village was only occupied from about 1853-1875 (according to Kathleen Dalzell. 1973. The Queen Charlotte Islands: Places and Names. Volume 2. Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing).  If this is the village that was meant, then perhaps Green did ask people's places of birth because Kung was likely unoccupied in 1891, but it is very conceivable that many of the people enumerated in 1891 were born there in previous decades ...