During the 19th century, the Algonquins of the Upper Ottawa River area were struggling to survive as their traditional economy was diminishing. The government of Quebec, which was trying to open the region up to settlement, had a policy of deliberately ignoring the land rights and socio-economic needs of the Algonquin Bands who hunted along the Ottawa River area. The consequences were often devastating.

"The Improvement in the condition of the Indians of this Province is not so marked as in that of the sister Province of Ontario.

With the exception of two or three bands, all the Indians within the Province of Quebec subsist by hunting and fishing, and not by cultivating the soil. And consequently owing to the reduction in the prices of furs and the prohibition under the fishery regulations against Indians catching fish in their own way, namely, by spearing, much suffering and hardship has been endured by them."

The Indian Agent was headquartered on the Timiskaming Reserve at the head of Lake Temiskaming. Although the Reserve had been surveyed in 1854, it was not until 1888 that the first Indian Agent was appointed, and even then it was on a part time basis. Until the 1920's, the Agent's duties were restricted to the affairs of the Timiskaming Band itself. The Department of Indian Affairs did provide some services and assistance to the Algonquins of the Wolf Lake and Kipawa area in the late 1800's and early 1900's, but these were normally provided by the Hudson's Bay Company and medical personnel operating out of Mattawa, Ontario.

The Algonquins of the interior, including those at Barriere Lake, had little or no contact with Indian Affairs during this period, although they did occasionally receive visits from medical personnel paid by the Department, who came either from Mattawa or from Maniwaki.