The Rural Voice, 1988-11, Page 26SAUGEEN FARMS
AN INDIAN BAND RENEWS ITS
AGRICULTURAL HERITAGE
11
by Sarah Borowski
Band councillor Ormand Anoquot and farm manager Earl Mead survey grazing land on
farm No. i .1'he Saugeen Band owns more than 400 head of beef cattle (photos by J. K. Mohr).
The giant is waking up," says
Chief Vern Roote as we drive
through the Saugeen Indian
Reservation. He points out the police
station and the day-care centre and the
fine new recreation building. There is
a feeling of renewal in this commu-
nity, and farming is a part of it.
Agriculture has been a vocation
for many Indian bands in Ontario for
centuries. Even after the creation of
the reserves, which severely restricted
the land base available to them, Indian
people managed for many years to
continue their farming activities at a
level comparable to that of the general
population. But following World War
II, when the fundamental nature of
agriculture began to shift from the typ-
ical mixed farm to more specialized
operations, farming on the reserves
suffered a severe decline.
Post-war farming methods required
not only more technical knowledge,
but also more access to investment
and operating capital. The reserve
Indians were at a significant disadvan-
tage compared to other farmers. Then,
as now, reserve lands were disallowed
as collateral for much needed develop-
ment and operating loans. As a result,
many of the quarter -million acres of
good to excellent farm land on Ontario
reserves fell out of active use. And a
generation or more of Indian people
moved away from their agricultural
heritage. On the Saugeen Reserve
barns deteriorated and eventually
disappeared.
But in 1976, Vern Roote began the
process of reclaiming a way of life
that had been all but lost. Acting as
the Economic Development Officer of
the Saugeen Indian Band, Roote was
directed by then chief James Mason to
24 THE RURAL VOCE