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Excerpts from the diary of
railway surveyor Thomas R.B. Smith
1879
Before track could be laid for the Canadian Pacific
Railway, surveyors had to map the route and place markers
on lands traditionally used by the First Nations. This
railway surveyor met so many Cree that he made an English-Cree
dictionary in order to communicate with them. His diary
reveals harmonious relations between the surveyors and
Indians, which was not always the case when surveying
parties encroached on First Nations' land.
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