The Search for a Missing Boy
An investigation into a missing child leads to rumors of a boy living among Indigenous people near Kupper Inlet.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
John H. Ward, of Whatcom, has been searching for his step-son, Willie Palmar, a lad of 10, who has been missing for almost six weeks. He left Whatcom for the San Juan islands on a clamming expedition with a wandering fisherman named Hantar. Provincial Officer McNeill believes he has obtained information from Indians returning from the festivities at Cowichan regarding the missing boy. He learned that among the Indians on Kupper Inlet is a white boy aged about 13, who was taken some three weeks ago by them from an island on which he had been left by white men. He stated that he came from the American side, and said some Indians from Lummi, near Whatcom, had promised to take him home.
“He stated that he came from the American side, and said some Indians from Lummi, near Whatcom, had promised to take him home.”
This report highlights the volatile intersections of colonial child-welfare anxieties and the shifting boundaries between white settlers and Indigenous communities in the late 19th century. It captures the paternalistic and often distorted reporting style used when discussing the lives of Indigenous people during the expansion era.
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