William Parker had his feelings and letters collected and throughout the 1870’s and they are quite showing of his hatred towards the indigenous people. One such example is when he wrote on June 6th, 1877, to his father. He was updating him about what is going on in his life and said that the colonials were submitting a treaty to the indigenous while describing them as smelling “as strong as those tame rats that I used to keep at home”. Adding, “the poor beggars are always half-starved”.
On February 1st of 1880, he wrote his father a story of how one of his men had been “shot dead by Indians, they also took his horse tied it to a treen & shot it dead”. He then proceeded to ask the indigenous people that he was with if they knew who did it, but “Our Indians here are keeping very quiet” and not giving William Parker any information. This showcases the intense nature of their relationship and how violent it can get.
Parker later in the year writes to his sister on November 15th, 1880, about how the English are putting up a stockade around their fort. This was “so that if the Indians get too cheeky we can stand them off”. This quote showcases a bit of paranoia and the unstable relationship that the colonial settlers have with the Indigenous people in the area. Only four months later, on February 10th, 1881, the indigenous people attacked one of the farm instructors and Parker sent three men to arrest the man. Parker added “They had quite a lively time after making the rest & when going to put the prisoner into the sleigh they were surrounded by about forty Indians with knives and axes”. In that same letter he adds “The Indians all over the country are getting very cheeky” implying that the relationship between the settlers and Indigenous is getting worse by the month.
