Retrieving Historical Reserve Surveys: The Canada Lands Survey System
Did you know that most historical reserve surveys and fieldbooks can be downloaded for free? The Canada Lands Survey System (CLSS) is an online repository of legal survey records for federally managed lands, including the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, over 3,100 Indian Reserves, Canada’s National and Historic Parks, and Canada’s offshore area. Most of these records have been digitized and are easily downloadable.
The CLSS holdings include Indian Reserve surveys and field-books, stretching back to the late nineteenth century, which often show the location of Indigenous villages, fishing sites, and trails. Reserve surveys also show rights-of-way transecting reserves, such as highways, railroads, and transmission lines. Additionally, they show the size of a reserve (often including precise measurements), which sometimes changes over time. Fieldbooks contain additional maps, as well as notes recorded by the reserve surveyor.
How to search the CLSS
It’s easiest to access materials in the CLSS database through the Survey Plan Search form. The “Canada Land’’ field in this form will autofill as you start to type the name of a reserve. We also suggest that you set some date parameters (see example below) to narrow down the number of results. Other fields in the form can be filled in if you have the appropriate information, such as the name of the surveyor.
Once you hit “search,” you will see a number of plan numbers and their associated “Canada Land.” Note that the “Canada Land” column will include not only the Canada Land you entered into the search form, but also any other “Canada Lands” included on the survey, such as other reserves.
Click on the plan number and review the title, surveyor, and date to determine whether it is worth retrieving, then scroll down to see the downloadable files (see example below). We recommend reviewing the .tif file first, as it’s a smaller file format and will download more quickly.
Note that in addition to survey plans, you may also find reserve fieldbooks, which have file numbers starting with “FBBC.” These fieldbooks contain handwritten notes recorded by field surveyors when they recorded reserve boundaries, as well as reserve sketches. Sometimes these notes include records of interactions with the Indigenous leaders or community members who met with the surveyor. They are often very useful and worth reviewing!
Reach out to Hailey on Kwusen’s research team if you have any questions: hailey@kwusen.com
