THE RED RIVER RESISTANCE

  • 1869; Canada bought ruperts land from HBC
  • does not have right to establish rule in area until december
  • government survey land, gets it ready for settlement
  • surveyors sent into region
  • 1 crew steps into andre nault’s land   * Nault is french-speaking metis in red river settlement
  • returns with 16 metis, louis riel tells them they cant go farther
  • most aboriginal groups in west were nomadic (wandering)
  • moved = place to place hunting buffalo, traps fur-bearing animals
  • only european settlers were HBC employees at trading posts   * job; buy furs exchange for HBC goods
  • large settlement in region; red river colony   * 12 000 pop. ; some original Selkirk settlers or descendants     * come from scotland w/lord Selkirk; lord established colony in 1811     * were poor farmers displaced from their lands     * endured hardships like floods, hunger, and sickness
  • other settlers; french-speaking roman catholic farm families from lower Canada   * english-speaking protestant farmers from Canada west      * attracted by rich prairie farmland
  • largest group in colony were metis   * metis culture combined elements of their varied heritage   * Clothes made in european style, decorated w/quills & beads; aboriginal fashion   * Scottish jigs & square dances combined w/traditional dances   * Most popular dance; red river jig   * Fiddle fav instrument   * Metis, riders, buffalo hunters, farmed like euro.   * Metis people woven from different backgrounds, speak different languages     * French     * English     * Scottish     * Cree     * Ojibway     * Aboriginal cultures
  • Red River Cart   * Metis own “freight trains”     * Red river carts tied together     * 500 carts in 1 train (sometimes)     * Whole families rode carts that carried;       * furs       * pemmican (dried buffalo meat mixed with fat and berries)       * dried buffalo meat       * moccasins (shoes)       * skin garments to trade   * To cross rivers & streams;      * wheels removed & attached to bottom of box     * cart floated across rivers like raft     * Early cart trails became roads and highways   * descriptions      * Shrieking noise     * Ungreased wheels griding against wooden axles       * Sound: 1000 fingernails being drawn across a chalkboard
  • The Buffalo Hunt   * 100s of metis men, women, children gathered   * red river carts & horses; travelled for 100s of km across prairies   * At camp, chose 10 captains leading a group of hunters.   * hunt followed strict military-like organization   * everyone followed rules & leadership of captains   * After hunt, women skinned carcasses, cut meat to be dried   * Made pemmican     * kept for years without going bad
  • Metis Sash   * distinct colourful sash   * tied around waist   * decorative & practical   * woven from wool   * could become scarf in cold weather   * emergency, it could become;     * rope     * bandage     * towel     * bridle (headgear used to control a horse)     * saddle blanket for horse     * fringes on the end; emergency sewing kit   * some up to 6m long   * symbol of metis culture
  • Background to Resistance   * HBC withdrawn rule from ruperts land   * 1 year, people of territory had no legal government   * Who would protect their rights?   * surveyors driving stakes into ground of farms   * ground metis thought was theirs to use   * Metis not consulted about the methods & reasons   * Worried bc they had no paper to proved they owned their homes & land   * Settlers coming in and taking over their lands alarmed them   * Disturbed by rumours of railway built across buffalo country   * Ready to fight   * Gathered in a council meeting, turned for leadership from louis riel   * he forms the National Committee of the Métis     * decides how to protect Métis lands   * John A. M has appointed a lieu-tenant-governor for North-West Territories     * William McDougall   * on his way to colony; set up a Canadian government   * McDougall has to travel through US bc there is no road joining Ontario and NWT   * McDougall arrives at border of settlement   * finds the road to Fort Garry blocked by the Métis   * They will not have any governor without being consulted first   * Louis Riel and the Métis take over Fort Garry   * fort has large supplies of food and ammunition   * they can control the colony.   * set up a Provisional government to replace the HBC rule   * Riel says it speaks for their area in any dealings with the Canadian government   * macdonald sends messenger to find out what metis want   * Wants peace before canada takes over   * Does not send troops   * Metis draw up a bill of rights w/requests and sent it to ottawa   * settlers from ontario riot to protest provisional government   * Jailed by riel   * Thomas scott threatens to escape and kill riel   * Striked riels guards   * Called metis a pack of cowards   * Insults roman catholic religion   * Scott brought to trial and is found guilty   * Worked out agreement with ottawa called manitoba act   * 1870, manitoba enters confederation   * macdonald sends troops   * Riel flees to U.S

IMPORTANT WORDS

Thomas Scott:

  • an Irish Protestant who emigrated to Canada in 1863

National Committee of the Metis:

  • the voice of Métis Nation governments brought together and made a committee on October 16, 1869

Pemmican:

  • a mixture of tallow, dried meat, and sometimes dried berries

Gabriel Dumont:

  • a Canadian political figure best known for being a prominent leader of the Métis people

Metis Bill of Rights:

  • intended to be brought to Ottawa to petition the Canadian government to protect the language and cultural rights of the Métis, and our rights to self-government and fair representation

Provisional Government:

  • an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition

Manitoba Act:

  • a constitutional statute that created the Province of Manitoba

Barracks:

  • a building or group of buildings used to house soldiers

Nomadic:

  • a member of a community without fixed habitation

Lieutenant Governor:

  • a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction

Scrip:

  • any substitute for legal tender, often a form of credit

Metis:

  • a distinct Indigenous people with mixed indigenous and Euro-American ancestry

The Cree:

  • a North American Indigenous people a unique history, culture, language, and territory

Fort Macleod:

  • a town in southern Alberta, Canada

Red River Carts:

  • a mode of transportation used by Métis people in the Prairies during the settlement of the West

Whiskey Traders:

  • American fur traders who traded Native peoples liquor, having a devastating effect on their way of life

Fort Whoop Up:

  • the nickname given to a whisky trading post, originally Fort Hamilton

The Great March:

  • the initial journey of the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) to the Canadian prairies

Sam Steele:

  • an officer of the NWMP head of the Yukon detachment during the Klondike Gold Rush

Treaty No. 6:

  • surrender of Indian land rights; transition to an agricultural economy; provision of reserves

Treaty:

  • a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law

Smallpox:

  • an acute contagious disease caused by the variola virus

Annuity:

  • a financial product that provides you with a guaranteed regular income

Poundmaker:

  • a Plains Cree chief known as a peacemaker and defender of his people

Reserves:

  • a supply of a commodity not needed for immediate use but available if required

Big Bear:

  • was a powerful and popular Cree chief

Pacific Scandal:

  • a political scandal in Canada involving bribes being accepted by 150 members of the Conservative government in the attempts of private interests to influence the bidding for a national rail contract

Nitroglycerin:

  • a dense, colorless, oily, explosive liquid

Sod House:

  • small structures cheaply built out of blocks of sod and rudimentary house fittings

The Dominion Land Act:

  • aimed to encourage the settlement of the Canadian Prairies and to help prevent the area being claimed by the United States

Militia:

  • a military force that is raised from the civil population to supplement a regular army in an emergency

High Treason:

  • the crime of disloyalty to the Crown

Chinese Head Tax:

  • a fixed fee charged to each Chinese person entering Canada

National Policy:

  • a Canadian economic program introduced by John A. Macdonald's Conservative Party

Red Fife Wheat:

  • a bread wheat variety that Dave Fife and family began to grow in 1842

Chilled Steel Plow:

  • cast in a mold which allowed the metal to be cooled rapidly, resulting in a hard surface that kept a sharp edge

Marquis Wheat:

  • bread wheat that is a cross between Red Fife and Hard Red Calcutta

Panning for Gold:

  • is a form of placer mining and traditional mining that extracts gold from a placer deposit using a pan

Quarter Section:

  • a quarter of a square mile of land; 160 acres

Gatling Gun:

  • a rapid-firing multiple-barrel firearm invented in 1861

Clifford Sifton:

  • a Canadian lawyer and a long-time Liberal politician

Colonist Car:

  • a type of railway passenger coach designed to provide inexpensive long-distant transportation for immigrants

Blackfoot People:

  • a federally recognized tribe of Siksikaitsitapi people with an Indian reservation in Montana

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