THE NORTHWEST TO 1870

1. THE NORTHWEST TO 1870

2. THE HUDSON’S BAY CO. • Founded by Radisson and Groseilliers. • Granted Royal Charter - exclusive trade rights. • ‘Stay by the Bay’ policy. • Strict standards • little room for barter. • Worked for salaries. • Often had better quality goods. • No booze and no fraternizing.

3. HUDSON’S BAY CO.RUPERT’S LAND All lands drained by rivers flowing into Hudson’s Bay (1/3 Can.) ‘Made Beaver’ (MB) became common currency. Ice free ports from July to Sept. made trade swift and precise.

4. THE NORTH WEST CO. - French Can. Traders that went to the Natives. • Emerged from the ‘Montrealers’. • Worked on commission and were much more aggressive. • Hiverants (wintering partners) stayed in the Northwest. • Fraternizing more common and marriages occurred. • Voyageurs (the muscle) paddled and transported the goods. • More willing to dicker and often used alcohol. Ft. William - Main trading post Ft. William Trading Post

5. THE NORTH WEST CO. The NWCo. moved inland and made trade easier for the Natives. Several inland posts were constructed. Fort William was established at head of Lake Superior. These headquarters also had to be time specific as winter froze rivers.

6. TRANSPORTATION YORK BOAT - HBCo. double ended wood boat. - carried up to 3-6000kiograms. - heavy & hard to portage. - 13 meters long / sail or paddle. • CANOTS DU NORD/MAITRE • NWCo. Canoes - 7-11m long. • up to 4000 kilograms. • Made of birch bark. • Smaller but more portable for • portages. Canot du Maitre Canot du Nord

7. THE NATIVE PEOPLES OF THE NORTHWEST • Home of four aboriginal nations. • The Ojibwa, the Assiniboine, the Cree, and the Chipewyan. The inuit were further north. • Natives became so involved in the fur trade that it disrupted their tradtional way of life. • Became the ‘middle men’ of the fur trade. • Contact with Europeans resulted in disease. Smallpox and measles.

8. THE NATIVE PEOPLES OF THE NORTHWEST The Chipewyan The Assiniboin

9. THE BATTLE FOR THE FUR TRADE 1800-1810 • HBCo. & NWCo. Fur trade battle grew fierce. • Furs become scarce & posts moved farther and farther inland (as far west as B.C.) • The “race” for the west was on.

10. THE METIS(French for ‘mixed’) • The NWCo. encouraged native/European marriages. It secured trading rights and helped hiverant’s lifestyle. • Many lived in the Red River Valley and combined both Native and European lifestyles. • Buffalo hunts, pemmican, seigneurial land patterns, sale of pemmican, farmers,

11. HIDE THE BUFFALO HUNT SINEW / MUSCLE BONE FAT HAIR BUFFALO CHIPS HORN SKULL TAIL BRAIN TEETH BLADDER . TONGUE SCROTUM HOOF/FOOT MEAT BEARD INTERNAL ORGANS MARROW

12. HIDE- blankets, robes, whips, saddles, Clothing, moccasins. THE BUFFALO HUNT SINEW / MUSCLE Thread, Bow strings.. BONE- Clubs, arrowheads, foods, knives, ornaments. HAIR- Halters, Padding, head dress, ornaments. FAT- soap. BUFFALO CHIPS -fuel. HORN- Clubs, spoons, ornaments, Powder horns. TAIL- ceremonial ornamental. SKULL - ceremonial. BRAIN- used for tanning. BLADDER - Bags, pouches. TEETH- necklas ornaments. SCROTUM - rattles. TONGUE Meat. MEAT- Roasted - Boiled, dried. HOOF/FOOT Rattles, glue, spoons. BEARD Ornaments. INTERNAL ORGANS - food, containers. MARROW - Food, Soup.

13. COLONY ON THE RED RIVER • Enclosure brought Scottish farmers to N. America. • Selkirk was director of the HBCo. and felt he could give Scottish farmers a home & supply HBCo. workers with food. • Convinced HBCo. to give him 300 000 sq. km. => Selkirk’s Grant. • Nobody even considered the people already living there. Selkirk Scottish Enclosures - farmers forced to leave, as land was more valuable for grazing sheep.

14. PROBLEMS FACED BY RED RIVER SETTLERS • Nobody even considered the people already living there. • Scottish not used to harsh winters. • Macdonell’s farmers arrived too late to prepare for winter. • Farmers first crops were failures. • Pemmican proclamation ordered to feed settlers. • NWCo. retaliated against Pemmican proclamation.

15. HBCo. Settlers vs. NWCo. Metis The confrontations escalated to the legendary “Battle of Seven Oaks”. Twenty one colonists and one Metis would die. It would bring the dispute to a full scale conflict. Selkirk hired Swiss mercenaries to help return the settlers for a third Time and made a deal with the local First Nations to lease the land for 100 lbs of tobacco per year. Selkirk would later return to England and died while fighting several court cases regarding his Red River settlement. CuthbertGrant led the Metis in a fight to regain their land

16. The Merger of the HBC and the NWC George Simpson • As the pelts declined the two fur trading companies had to merge => The Hudson’s Bay Company. • George Simpson was put in charge. • He became known as the “Little Emperor.” • Social elitists => his new wife refused to socialize with the locals. • Note - Simpson had his original Metis family removed before his new bride arrived. Frances Simpson

17. THE RED RIVER SETTLEMENT 1821-1860 By 1840, the Metis fought for the right to trade furs. Judge Adom Thom, found four Metis fur traders guilty of trading fur but ordered no sentence. The HBC’s monopoly had been broken. “Le commerce est libre! Vivre la liberte” “Business is open! Long live freedom • For next 40 yrs. peaceful & stable self-sufficient community. • By 1860, 80% ‘mixed’ descent. • Built around the needs of the HBC. Adam Thom To this day, Winnipeg St. is The widest street in Can. It was built to fit ten“Red River Carts.”

18. CHANGES IN RED RIVER1860-1870 • Canada became a dominion. • Canadians moved west to fertile soils of Red River. • Most were protestant members of the Orange Order (anti-French / anti-Catholic / anti-Metis).=> tensions rose. • Dr. John Schultz angered Metis with his NorWester • Economic problems. • Crop failures. • Bison disappearing. • HBC losing interest. • Metis had no legal claim to land. Dr. John Schultz

19. CANADA PURCHASES RUPERT’S LAND • MacDonald buys HBC Rupert’s Land, for his ‘sea to sea’ nation. • Became part of NW Territory. • No one consults Metis farmers • They have no ‘legal’ claim to the land. • In 1868, surveyors arrive to layout township grids. • Seigneurial land patterns were not recognized • Land speculators soon follow the surveyors. • Tensions rose and Louis Riel takes on leadership of the Metis. Seigneurial land patterns were not recognized. LOUIS RIEL

20. THE RED RIVER REBELLION A. Riel began by forming the Metis National Committee to fight for the Metis land. Riel then met with Governor McDougallbut when things did not Go well he took control and seized munitions from Fort Garry. C. Riel established his “Provisional Government”to protect the Metis’ rights. He wanted to negotiate and had no intentions of rebelling against Canada. Riel’s Provisional Government

21. THE REBELLION (cont.) Schultz led the anti-Metis Canadian Party. Riel created the Metis List of Rightsand set off to Schultz’s home where he captured and held 48 of his followers at Fort Garry. Fort Garry MacDonald refused to negotiate with “half breeds.” Schultz would escape, but while trying to free other prisoners, several men,including Thomas Scott would be captured again.

22. THE EXECUTION OF THOMAS SCOTT While captive Thomas Scott was verbally and physically abusive & threatened the life of Riel. On March 4, he would be executed by firing squad. By March 9, Riel had talked to Ottawa and things seemed to settle as Canada was ready to discuss a new province for the Metis. Unfortunately, Schultz had made his way east and had made a martyr out of Thomas Scott. The Orange Order was furious and rallied around the execution. Despite six shooters, Scott still lived and a seventh shot was needed.

23. MANITOBA CREATED By April, MacDonald was willing to compromise. - 200 000 hectares of land for the Metis =>Manitoba. - Colonel Wolseley & 1200 men to sent to keep the peace. -Riel and his men were not be recognized as an official government. Riel fled Canada for the USA and was banished from Canada for five years. His men would later be granted amnesty.