Chapter 2
Métis Mother near the Fort
The home life of a Métis family near the fort was a busy one! Running a household in the fall meant there was lots to be done, from harvesting crops and checking on the traps, to bison hunting and trading goods with the fort. And of course, there’s always laundry! Some things never change!
From the front doors of the fort, walk roughly 10-20 meters toward the hill directly ahead (to the South). Point your device toward the hill to see the Métis homestead.
The Red River Métis are a unique nation. Born of a specific set of economic, social, and political circumstances, they went from being a group of people with a shared history and land-based customs to a nation that wielded immense power in the 19th century. Generally (though not always) the Métis were the descendants of French, Scottish, and English labourers, clerks, and partners and of Anishinaabe, Ininew (Swampy Cree), Nacoda (Assiniboine), and Nehiyâw (Plains Cree) women. When the men’s contracts ended, they had a choice: stay on to take another contract or retire as a Freeman and stay with his family. He could also take his family with him back to England, Scotland, the US, or the Canadas, or abandon his family completely. Those who chose to stay, along with their Indigenous wives and families, became the progenitors of the Red River Métis.
The mid to late 18th century saw a trickle of French independent traders coming to the Red River region and establishing small posts to trade for marten and beaver furs. These traders sometimes set up temporarily for a few years, but many stayed on. Records on these men and their posts are scant, except for complaints from HBC factors; these interlopers were disrupting the trade networks upon which they relied to bring furs up to the Bay. Nevertheless, some stayed, married into Indigenous communities, and established small one-room post-on-sill homes (at least by the standards of European observers). They also cultivated local crops like corn and potatoes, and even planted and tending and harvesting wild rice in the Interlake. Not surprisingly, they also supplemented their diet with hunting and fishing and sold the surplus to fur trade companies in need in provisions. Despite pemmican’s importance to the companies, hunting and fishing for fresh meat on a smaller scale was highly valued labour, especially for the wintering partners and clerks who tired quickly of preserved foodstuffs.
The Métis lifestyle was a highly seasonal one and depended on the migrations of the animals they hunted and changes in weather patterns. Their physical and social proximity to First Nations communities allowed them access to trading networks and their familiarity with the European companies and their motivations made them a powerful new force on the prairies. Learning how to hunt, fish, provision, and farm from their mothers, some of the young métis men were able to take advantage of their fathers’ interests, infiltrating their social circles and gaining capital (both social and economic) within the companies, in the Red River settlement, and beyond in places like Lower Canada and the United Kingdom. The North West Company forged close relationships with this emerging Métis Nation at the forks of the Red and Assiniboine rivers. The NWC occasionally contracted out tasks to this growing population such as freighting goods and provisions, and over time several Métis people held positions of authority within its ranks. Usually, these men were the children of company clerks or partners who had been educated in Montreal or, in exceptional cases, in Europe. Cuthbert Grant Jr was one of these men who worked at Fort Gibraltar and more importantly rose to become a leader of the Métis at Red River. Following the bison hunts, Métis were also able to use these trading networks to establish carting and freighting systems that would continue into the late 19th century. This allowed them to open up new relationships with Americans by going further south of the Pembina Valley, far from the reach of the HBC monopoly. This would eventually cause a new conflict between the company and the Métis which ended in the trial of Guillaume Sayer, a Métis free trader who was accused of trading outside the company’s monopoly. The trial ended, not with a guilty sentence, but an acquittal, as Sayer’s family and friends were waiting outside with firearms. With this victory, the Métis demonstrated once again that they were integral threads in the fabric of Red River society.
Written by Colin and Monique. Revised by Phil and Janet.
Welcome, welcome! I apologize in advance… really busy here at this time of year. |
I don’t know why everything seems to happen at the same time. Excuse me a moment. |
Angélique! Grab your brother and go to the garden and pick the corn lickety split – I’m pretty sure it’s going to rain this afternoon. |
Ah, the young people of today. They always want to give us a hard time. In my day, we used to say, “Yes, Mom. Right away, Mom.” |
Well, we had to. It was just us and Mom. Dad was hired by the Company. Crazy, huh? |
I decided that I wasn’t going to live like this when I grew up. And what happens? I fall in love with a Voyageur, me too! |
At least when he leaves, we’re not left alone, more families have moved to the area since the fort was built. |
The fort buys our corn, our potatoes, fish, wild rice and the fresh meat that we hunt. |
The credits they give us for this, we spend it on things like blankets, nice sharp saws, good tea and sugar. And, don’t forget the bison hunts! |
François! Go check our traps. We need a couple of rabbits for supper. |
I’m telling you that it’s time to go on the fall hunt. Our reserves are nearly gone. Fortunately, my Jacques came back safe and sound from his first big trip. |
He’ll be able to go hunting. He’s not the best shot but he’s a good rider, my Jacques. I like him better on the back of a horse than in a canoe. |
What to do to prepare the fall hunt? I should ask my Nacoda neighbours if they have seen any bison. |
Oh Angélique, don’t forget to pick up the dirty laundry at the fort. |
I know I said it was going to rain but we can wash the clothes when it’s raining and hang them out to dry once it stops. |
Yikes, I forgot that I have to go clean up at the fort. Let it go, Angélique. Just keep picking that corn. I’ll take care of the laundry later. |
Oyaya, I’m tired. Sometimes I don’t regret the coming of winter. |
At least I get some sleep during that season. And the harvest this year has been pretty good |
We have enough credit to buy some of that strong tea… come back at holiday time and we’ll have a cup together. |
Beinv’nu, beinv’nu. Ma m’ixkuzi toutte switte. Si bein okupi a stan-sitte d’l’anni. |
Shé pâ pourkwè mé, toutte arrive an mêm tan, on djira. Scuzi-mwé, shré pâ lontan. |
Angélique ! Pâgne ton frérre pi alli ramâssi l’blédeinde dan l’jardein, ô plu sakran. Shu pâ mal sartenne k’apra-midji, y vâ mouyi. |
Ahh ! li jenne d’ojordjwi. Sa veu toultan no danni d’la mizerre. Dan mon tan, on djiza : « Wè Mâman, Touswitte Mâman. » |
Falla bein. Y’ava yeink Mâman pi nouzôt. Pâpa l’ita ein angaji par la Konpagni. |
Mé si bêt, hein ? J’ava disidi ke sh’ta pâ pour viv dimêm kan sh’ra grande. Pi kousé k’y’arrive ? |
Mwé itou, sh’tonb an amour avek ein Wéyajeur. Mé ô mwein, kan y parre, on li pâ lessi par nouzôt mêm, |
a kouze ki lâ an mass pluss di faméye, ke l’ava mouvi alantour dju forre. |
Le forre ashette dju blédeinde, di patatte, dju pwèsson, dju ri sâvaj pi d’la vyand frésh kon shass. |
Y nô danne di krédji pour sâ, pi on li dipans sur di z’aferre kom di kouvarchur, di bonne si, dju bon ti forre pi dju suk. Pi, fô pâ oubliyi la shass ô boflô ! |
Franswè, vâ chèki nô trap. Sa lâ bezwein di kuk lyève pour soupi. |
Sh’ti dji ki li tan d’alli a shass d’ôtonne. Lâ kizman fini toutte nô risarv. Enne bonne shans ke mon Jacques li r’vnu back an vi d’son premyé grô wéyaj. |
Y vâ êt kapab ferre la shass. Spâ lwi ke tchire li myeu mé, li bon su ein sh’fal, mon Jacques. J’emme myeu l’werre a sh’fal ke dan ein kanou. |
Si kwè ke fô ferre pour êt pra pour la shass ? Ma dimandi a mi wèzein Nacoda si y l’ava vu di boflô. |
Ohh Angélique, oubli pâ d’alli sharshi li leinj sal ô forre. Shé ke ja dji ke va mouyi, mé, sa peu li lavi pandan ksa mouye pi li z’itande pour chessi kan sa vâ arrêti. |
Krimme, j’ava oubliyi ki fô k’jaye nitwèyi ô forre. |
Bonyenne shu fachigi. Di fwé, sa m’fa ryein ke l’iverre s’an vyein. Ô mwein, j’dorre ein pchi brein pluss s’tan -lâ, pi sa lâ l’tan di swerre. |
Pi la rikolt lita pâ pire s’t’anni ; sa lâ assi krédji pour ashti notte ti… Tchu r’vyeindra back pandan li fêt pi sa prandrâ enne tass ansanb. |