Commissioner John Semmens wrote: “The Chief asked that a councillor be given him as he did not wish to be alone in his control of the people, and he had in his own mind selected the person who was to be his assistant. He was therefore very much disappointed when the Commissioner informed him that there was no authority for the election of a Councillor this year. He at once made formal request to the Department that they would be gracious enough to give him a Councillor next year. I therefore recommend this to the favourable consideration of the Department.
The Chief further asked that the Reserve might be surveyed at Deer’s Lake as soon as possible and that the Treaty be paid year by year on the Reserve. This is a matter involving great expense and difficulty, and will be dealt with by me in a special report soon to follow this one.”
By 1929 the Fiddlers and many others had relocated to Sandy Lake while others went to North Spirit Lake. They relocated because fish and game were more plentiful at Sandy Lake. The Meekis, Rae and Quill Families remained at Deer Lake. In 1985 the people remaining at Deer Lake were formally recognized as a separate band, and separated from the Sandy Lake Band.
Citation: NAC RG 10 Vol. 4009 File 249462-1A