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    The Red River Colony was established by Lord Selkirk in 1812 to settle Scottish and Irish farmers. However, the Métis people already lived on the land and traded with the North West Company. Tensions rose as the Selkirk settlers' needs clashed with the Métis livelihood. In 1814, Miles Macdonell banned the export of pemmican to starve the North West Company, angering the Métis. Two years later, a confrontation at Seven Oaks between Robert Semple's settlers and Cuthbert Grant's Métis left over 20 settlers dead, escalating the rivalry between the Hudson's Bay Company and North West Company for control of the fur trade in the West

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    Western Canada

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    The Red River Colony was established by Lord Selkirk in 1812 to settle Scottish and Irish farmers. However, the Métis people already lived on the land and traded with the North West Company. Tensions rose as the Selkirk settlers' needs clashed with the Métis livelihood. In 1814, Miles Macdonell banned the export of pemmican to starve the North West Company, angering the Métis. Two years later, a confrontation at Seven Oaks between Robert Semple's settlers and Cuthbert Grant's Métis left over 20 settlers dead, escalating the rivalry between the Hudson's Bay Company and North West Company for control of the fur trade in the West

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    The Red River Colony was established by Lord Selkirk in 1812 to settle Scottish and Irish farmers. However, the Métis people already lived on the land and traded with the North West Company. Tensions rose as the Selkirk settlers' needs clashed with the Métis livelihood. In 1814, Miles Macdonell banned the export of pemmican to starve the North West Company, angering the Métis. Two years later, a confrontation at Seven Oaks between Robert Semple's settlers and Cuthbert Grant's Métis left over 20 settlers dead, escalating the rivalry between the Hudson's Bay Company and North West Company for control of the fur trade in the West

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    22 views25 pages

    Western Canada

    Uploaded by

    api-282338132
    The Red River Colony was established by Lord Selkirk in 1812 to settle Scottish and Irish farmers. However, the Métis people already lived on the land and traded with the North West Company. Tensions rose as the Selkirk settlers' needs clashed with the Métis livelihood. In 1814, Miles Macdonell banned the export of pemmican to starve the North West Company, angering the Métis. Two years later, a confrontation at Seven Oaks between Robert Semple's settlers and Cuthbert Grant's Métis left over 20 settlers dead, escalating the rivalry between the Hudson's Bay Company and North West Company for control of the fur trade in the West

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    Early Western

    Development
    The Red River Colony

    Football and Wi-f


    You are apart of the Vincent Massey Football team. For
    years, when you come in to Vincent Massey Wi-f is free
    for all to use. You have enjoyed the peaceful interactions
    with the local teachers and other teams.
    Football rivals the Oak Park Raiders come in, claim your
    football feld as their own and start charging you for your
    Wi-f access, and limit who you can interact with.
    How would you feel? How would you react to the claims of
    the Oak Park Raiders?

    Example Situation:
    Your people have been living on the land for generations,
    have a new budding unique culture. You trade peacefully
    with a group of fur traders to whom you provide a source
    of nourishment for their long canoe voyages.
    A new group of settlers come into the area backed by a
    rival fur trading company, claim your land as theirs and
    ban you from trading to the other company and even
    hunting for your own food.
    How would you feel? What actions would you take to
    protect your way of life?

    Fur Trade in Review:


    Much of Canadian History revolves around the
    trading of furs with the aboriginal peoples.
    Companies were created that rivaled each other
    for dominance in the trade.
    One of the most bitter rivalries was between the
    Hudsons Bay Company (HBC) and the North
    West Company (NWC).
    Why is the fur trade considered responsible
    for the exploration of Canadas west?

    Hudsons Bay Company


    Run by British merchants in London, who knew nothing of

    the fur trade.


    Held a monopoly on the fur trade in Ruperts Land.
    Long history in North America gave them an upper hand
    against other companies
    The headquarters of the HBC in Ruperts Land was in York
    Factory
    The HBC did not need to transport their furs across the
    entire continent to get them to port. York Factory served
    as the port for their shipping

    Hudsons Bay Company


    Workers were from the Orkney Islands
    The menwere used to seafaring and whaling
    To assist the Orkneymen in their voyages down
    rivers HBC
    designed a boat based off of the Orkney sea fshing
    boats: the York Boats
    14 ft long, with a flat bottom. Made of solid wood.
    The York Boats replaced canoes as the main river
    transportation by the 1790s

    http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cansk/picture/york-boats.gif

    The North West Company


    Founded in 1779 by Scottish Merchants in Montreal.
    Focused on moving further west to expand trading areas
    with new furs.
    Partnered with the Voyageurs who knew the rivers and
    land well. The Voyageurs kept good relations with the
    aboriginal peoples

    The Rivalry: What Happened?


    1790: Simon McTavish, requested the British government to
    request an end of Hudson Bay Companys monopoly in the
    fur trade in Ruperts Land
    The request was denied
    NWC had to push westward with the help of the voyageurs
    into new areas
    Actions taken due to rivalry:
    Each companies fur traders would destroy each others
    boats and trading posts
    Competition for sales resulted in both companies to
    reduce trading prices for goods.
    Who would benefit form the rival companies competing
    for trade?

    Thomas Douglas, Lord Selkirk


    Wealthy lawyer who wanted to help the poor Scottish
    and
    Irish farmers who had no land.
    Had previously helped settle Scottish farmers in PEI
    Asked the British government to grant him the area
    of Ruperts Land containing the Red River Valley.
    He was denied due to HBCs control over the land
    Why would the British Government deny both the
    Scottish Merchants of the NWC, and Douglas about
    changing policy on Ruperts Land?

    Thomas Douglas, Lord


    Selkirk
    Used his wealth and power to buy shares in the
    company to allow himself to buy the land.
    Hired Miles Macdonnell to be the Governor of
    the colony, in charge of arranging settlers from
    Scotland and Ireland to work the land.
    He did not account for the people already living there
    Why would his lack of concern for who was already living
    there be an issue?

    The People of Assiniboia


    Mtis
    A culture of mixed ancestry from Aboriginal and
    French fur trader decent
    Unique culture and language:
    the Michif language, a mixture of French and
    Cree predominantly
    Cree and Salteaux peoples
    Hunted buffalo and created pemmican, a meat and fat
    product mixed with local berries. Perfect for long canoe
    voyages when fresh food was not available
    "Pemmican ball" by Jen Arrr - Pemmican BallUploaded by oaktree_b. Licensed under
    CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pemmican_ball.jpg#/media/File:Pemmican_ball
    .jpg

    Canadien settlers from Qubec settled in St. Boniface as


    well.

    The Selkirk Settlers


    First group of settlers: 36 Scottish and Irish
    workers, arrived in 1812 at Fort Pembina.
    Relied on the local people during the early
    years of the colony, especially the Cree and
    Salteaux peoples
    Out of all the people eventually living in the
    Red River area, they were the only group of
    people not to intermarry with the Aboriginal
    peoples in the area
    The colony was not welcomed by the NWC,
    who had a trading post at Fort Gibraltar at
    the forks of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers.

    The Pemmican
    Proclamation
    By 1810, Metis were the sole provider of
    pemmican and bison products for the NWC.
    Needed the food for the voyageurs.
    The Selkirk settlers began hunting bison for
    food when their crops were not successful.
    The Metis saw this as a threat to their
    livelihood .
    January 1814, Govenor of the Selkirk Colony
    Miles Macdonell, issued the Pemmican
    Proclamation:
    Banned the export of food products, mainly
    pemmican from the Red River area.
    How would this ban effect the Metis? How

    Pemmican Proclamation:
    Refugee: a person who has had to leave their home country
    due to circumstances, (war, famine, persecution)
    How could the Selkirk Settlers be viewed as refugees?
    The Selkirk settlers could not return home to Scotland or
    Ireland
    Landlords replaced their farms with sheep farms
    Colony Setbacks:
    Settlers were arriving too late each year to grow their crops
    Metis would burn the crops that did grow
    The Pemmican Proclamation was the colonys only hope for
    food
    Why could the Pemmican Proclamation be seen as
    justifiable solution?

    Perspectives of the Settlers: Aboriginal


    and Metis
    Settlers:
    Land back home gone, Red
    River Colony was their only
    hope
    Aboriginal, Chief
    Metis: Cuthbert Grant:
    Made situation worse by
    Peguis:
    Viewed the land
    burning the crops.
    Idea was to starve and
    as shared land,
    neither NWC or
    chase away the settlers
    HBCs land
    supported the
    colonists
    Saw them as a
    people with no
    other home to

    Escalation of the Rivalry


    Frequent skirmishes
    HBC men would search and seize Pemmican and food
    from NWC forts.
    The NorWesters retaliation:
    arrested HBC men for burglary
    destroyed crops and buildings of the Selkirk
    immigrants near Fort Douglas
    The NorWesters and the Metis drove many of the
    settlers away; taking farm equipment, horses and
    threatened the colonists.
    The settlers had arrived with almost nothing and
    could not return home. How would the attacks
    influence the settlers?

    Leading to Conflict:
    Metis had been quite successful in reducing
    the colony.
    By the summer of 1815, the colony was down
    to three settlers, though more soon arrived.
    Govenor Macdonell resigned in 1815 and was
    replaced by American businessman Robert
    Semple
    In the summer of 1816 Cuthbert Grant begun
    to rally the Metis to his cause against HBCs
    hold on the land

    Battle of Seven Oaks


    1816: Semple gave command for the HBC to capture
    and burn Fort Gibraltar, NWC and the Metis saw this as
    an act of war
    June 19, 1816 Cuthbert Grant led a group of 60 Metis
    men around a HBC blockade to an area known as
    Seven Oaks, near the HBC Fort Douglas. Semple and
    twenty-seven HBC men and colonists were waiting.
    After exchange of words, gunfre broke out, and in 15
    minutes Sempel and 20 of his men were dead.
    Fort Douglas gave up immediately upon arrival of the
    NorWester men and a survivor.

    Aftermath of the Battle


    Lord Selkirk was en route to the colony with a private
    army, heard of the battle, took NWC Fort Williams.
    The feud between the companies continued: NWC and
    HBC continued to capture each others forts and trading
    posts for fve years, continued to lower prices for trading
    In order to stop the feud, the British Government
    pressured the two companies to merge in 1821
    Despite the feud between the companies, the Red River
    colony continued to successfully grow into a diverse,
    multi cultural community.

    Selkirk Settlers: http://


    www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yuCCBl1y8g&t=69m37s
    Seven Oaks: http://
    www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yuCCBl1y8g&t=77m17s

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