The Development of Western Canada

1. The Development of Western Canada Unit 2

2. Unit Overview • Confederation in 1867 established the new nation of Canada. In the years following, the young country grew and expanded westward at what an astonishing pace • The changes disrupted the lives of Metis and Aboriginal peoples of the West.

3. Overview Continued • Two Uprisings Occurred; One in 1869-70 and one in 1885 • To help keep order in the region, a new police force was formed – The North West Mounted Police. Today we know them as Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

4. Overview Continued • By 1885, the Canadian Pacific Railway ran from the Atlantic to the Pacific. • Hundreds of thousands of settlers road the rails into the West. Farms and ranches sprang up where the buffalo once roamed. • Two new provinces , Alberta and Saskatchewan, were created. The development of the west changed the face of Canada.

5. Timeline • 1869 – Hudson’s Bay Company sells Rupert’s Land to Canada • 1869-70 – Louis Riel leads the Red River Resistance • 1870 – Manitoba enters Confederation • 1873 – North-West Mounted Police is formed • 1871-1921 – Canada makes 11 treaties with Aboriginal peoples of the West

6. Timeline Continued • 1872 – John A. MacDonald faces the Pacific ScandalDominion Land Act takes effect. • 1878 – Macdonald introduces his National Policy • 1885 – Transcontinental railway is completedNorth-West Rebellion breaks outLouis Riel is hanged.

7. Timeline Continued • 1896 – Wilfred Laurier becomes Canada’s first French Canadian prime minister • 1896-1914 – New immigrants flood into Canada from Europe, Britain and the United States

8. The Métis • The Métis were the largest group to occupy the Red River Colony. • Métis were people of mixed heritage, Aboriginal and European. They called themselves the “Métis Nation.” • Clothes were made in European style but decorated with beads and quills in Aboriginal fashion.Scottish Jigs and square dances were combined with traditional dances of Aboriginal culture.

9. The Red River Cart • Long before the railroad, The Metis had their own special “freight trains” • These were trains of Red River carts tied together. • Whole families rode carrying furs, pemmican, dried buffalo meat, moccasins, and skin garments to trade. • Descriptions of the carts speak of their horrible, shrieking noise. Ungreased wheels grinding against wooden axels sounded like a “thousand finger nails being drawn across a chalkboard.”