Between the years 1845 to 1880, Ojibwa Chief Michel Dokis created and managed a sophisticated accounting of trading activities with and by Dokis members; this accounting can be referred to as a ledger or an account book. It is fascinating that ledger entries were made using a unique pictographic system (a rare circumstance amongst indigenous peoples of the time) developed by Chief Dokis himself, and one that has yet to be fully deciphered. This innovation renders his contribution and the account book itself as historically significant.

Chief Dokis was a signatory of the Robinson Huron Treaty of 1850. Life Chief since 1850, he remained at the head of his community until his death in 1906. Chief Dokis and his sons operated a fur trading network from Penetanguishene to Lake Abitibi, with several fur trading posts along the routes. Dokis was reputedly literate, and fluent in Ojibwa and French. Politicians and businessmen of the time hailed his accomplishments and character as admirable and outstanding.

A note from Norm Dokis Jr., President: The Dokis fur trading ledger can be described as an account book but it is much more than that. The ledger gives names of people and dates and brings you back in history to see just how the fur trade economy worked. Bartering and trade were our indigenous traditions and the Europeans that came to our territories soon adopted our trading methods and included them in their own economies.

Chief Dokis was a pretty good artist, too.  Look to the top left corner on some pages; there you’ll see dodem symbols of the persons and families he traded with; this is important to all of us now because the ledger helps us identify what clans were on the landscape at the time. See what you can find! You might see the Merman clan or a man with a forked tongue which I suspect was a tricky person with an unpaid account.  

Even though this ledger isn’t fully deciphered yet, I feel that its greatest value is in providing his descendants with a perpetual learning experience and a snapshot of our history and heritage.

Read more in the Anishinabek News or at the Library and Archives (LAC) official blog.