Generally linked to the North West Company, they developed a distinct cultural identity as Métis, with a widely used language, Michif, a mixture of French and Cree or Ojibwe. When Selkirk brought his highland refugees to Red River, he introduced a destabilizing element into an already unstable and occasionally violent social situation.
Full Answer
Why did the Hudson's Bay Company give land to Lord Selkirk?
In 1812 the Hudson's Bay Company gave Lord Selkirk a land grant of 116,000 acres centred on the junction of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers in the Red River Valley to bring in Scottish settlers. The Métis opposed the settlers because they feared losing their lands, since they were squatters and held no legal title.
Why study the Red River Selkirk Settlement?
This is also a good starting point for a study of the Red River Selkirk Settlement since students will soon discover that, in spite of the passage of time and the very different world that is today’s Manitoba, there are parallels between the immigrant experiences of the Selkirk Settlers and those of today.
Who were the Selkirk Settlers?
Together these two articles tell the Selkirk Settlers’ story, from the Highland Clearances to Lord Selkirk’s visit to the Settlement in 1817. Many of the main characters are referenced, including Lord Selkirk, Miles MacDonell, Governor Semple and Cuthbert Grant.
What was Lord Selkirk’s plan?
Lord Selkirk developed a plan for a settlement in the Red River valley. He believed that there, farmers displaced by the Clearances would be given an opportunity for a new start in life.
What was the Selkirk settlement?
The Red River Colony (or Selkirk Settlement) was a colonization project set up in 1811 by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, on 300,000 square kilometres (120,000 sq mi) of land in British North America.
How did the western settlement affect the Métis?
Those who moved west, either because they felt pressured to leave or because they saw new opportunities to make a living on the western plains, joined a Métis population that already lived in well-established communities along the North and South Saskatchewan Rivers and around many surviving fur trade posts.
Why was the Red River settlement important to the Métis?
Subsequently, the Red River Métis negotiated Canada's entry into the North-West and Rupert's Land. After the creation of Manitoba, recognising and honouring our role in founding the province, Louis Riel and others referred to us as the Manitoba Métis.
Why was the Selkirk settlement created?
Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, was a Scottish nobleman who saw the suffering of the Highland Scottish farming families, and wanted to assist them to emigrate to the British parts of North America.
Why did the Métis lose their land?
Losing the Land, 1870-1880 The Manitoba Act was the result of negotiations between the Peoples of Red River and the Canadian Government. The Act itself was created by the Métis Provisional Government from a 'List of Rights' developed after widespread discussion among the Métis residents of the Settlement Belt.
Who are the Métis where did they settle?
The first Métis communities settled in the 1700s in the western Great Lakes regions, stretching between areas in the US and Canada (including Ontario, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio). They later moved beyond this area when Europeans began to establish colonies there.
Why is Selkirk important?
Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk FRS FRSE (20 June 1771 – 8 April 1820) was a Scottish peer. He was noteworthy as a Scottish philanthropist who sponsored immigrant settlements in Canada at the Red River Colony.
What is important to Métis?
The Métis have been an important part of Canadian history standing for cultural, political, religious and linguistic rights, demonstrating ingenuity creating political and social structures, technology and trade systems, as well as developing a unique presence in art, music, dance and storytelling.
How did the Red River rebellion affect the Métis?
The uprising led to the creation of the province of Manitoba, and the emergence of Métis leader Louis Riel — a hero to his people and many in Quebec, but an outlaw in the eyes of the Canadian government. Riel's (centre) first provisional government, 1869. Riel's (centre) first provisional government, 1869.
How were the natives affected by westward expansion?
Relocation was either voluntary or forced. Army and militia patrols supervised the tribes' westward journey. It is estimated that between 1830 and 1840 the government relocated more than 70,000 Native Americans, thousands of whom died along what came to be known as the Trail of Tears.
How did the settlement of the West impact various Native American groups who lived there?
The loss of the bison and growth of white settlement drastically affected the lives of the Native Americans living in the West. In the conflicts that resulted, the American Indians, despite occasional victories, seemed doomed to defeat by the greater numbers of settlers and the military force of the U.S. government.
What challenges did the Métis face?
Disadvantages faced by Métis peopleLoss of culture and identity. Cultural and social support is often a source of strength for those who may face discrimination or other challenges due to their race. ... Dealing with stereotypes. ... Not knowing family history.
Who was affected the most by westward expansion?
United States Westward Expansion Expansion of the United States moved steadily westward from the late 18th to the mid 19th centuries. This territorial movement displaced most of the Native American peoples who lived in those lands for thousands of years before the arrival of European colonists.
Where did the Selkirk Settlers winter?
Roland Sawatzky tells us about the Wintering Camp collection, artifacts discovered in an archaeological dig where the first work party of Selkirk Settlers wintered near York Factory on the Hudson’s Bay.
What battle did the Selkirk Settlers fight?
Selkirk Settlers: Cuthbert Grant and the Battle of Seven Oaks. Tensions were high between the Northwest Company, Metis and the HBC employees and Selkirk Settlers as they competed over resources.
Who is Anna Shumilak?
Anna Shumilak of the Hudson's Bay Company Archives demonstrates how the lifestyles of settlers in the Red River colony can be revealed through the many diverse records available to the public at the Archives of Manitoba.
What river did Lord Selkirk live on?
In 1812 the Hudson's Bay Company gave Lord Selkirk a land grant of 116,000 acres centred on the junction of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers in the Red River Valley to bring in Scottish settlers.
Where did the Métis flee?
Many Métis families had fled the area for the western prairie spaces of Saskatchewan. where they hoped to regain their traditional freedom, far from the clutches of the Canadian Government and its business partners.
What style of writing do Métis write?
Today Métis organizations write it in the latter French style.
What expedition did the Métis and First Nations use to hunt buffalo?
The buffalo were declining in number, and the Métis and First Nations had to go further and further west to hunt them. In 1857 the Dawson-Hind exploration expedition arrived from eastern Canada to study the land. The expedition recommended that the Canadian government acquire the arable part of the Company's land for settlement.
Why were the First Nations so alarmed?
First Nations were alarmed when they heard rumors that the Hudson's Bay Company was selling their land (i.e. the First Nations' land) to the new government of Canada in Ottawa. The Métis were also alarmed. They feared they would lose their lands and their rights.
How many people died in the Seven Oaks massacre?
There was constant conflict between the Métis and the settlers. At a confrontation with the Métis at Seven Oaks in 1816, 21 settlers were killed. This became known as the Seven Oaks Massacre. The junction of the Red River (left) and the Assiniboine, where the first Métis settlement began in western Canada. This site became an explosive powder keg ...
What colony was formed by the British in 1867?
Outside the walls of Fort Garry. In 1869, the Hudson's Bay Company agreed to sell its territory to the new Dominion of Canada, which had been formed in 1867 by the uniting of four British colonies: Canada East (Quebec), Canada West (Ontario), New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.
What was Selkirk's reaction to the Red River?
When Selkirk brought his highland refugees to Red River, he introduced a destabilizing element into an already unstable and occasionally violent social situation. To flourish, or even to survive, the various groups inhabiting the region in 1812 formed competitive alliances. The hostility between the HBC and NWC drew the companies’ First Nations and freemen partners into a decade long struggle for commercial control of the Fur Trade. The initial 70 Selkirk settlers of 1812 found themselves dependent on those already established in the region and buffeted by events beyond their control.
What did the Red River settlers do after Selkirk visited?
Starting over. After Lord Selkirk visited Red River in 1817, the remaining settlers rebuilt their homes and through succeeding winters became a successful part of a mixed economy, hunting and trading when necessary and tending to their farms and gardens when the weather was favourable and the crops were not destroyed by locusts or other natural disasters. They were protected for a while by Selkirk’s Swiss and French soldiers, many of whom eventually became settlers themselves. The settlers continued to depend on Lord Selkirk who paid for supplies from the HBC post at the Forks as did his estate after his death from tuberculosis in 1820.
What were the competing fur trade companies?
Competing Fur Trade companies. There were two forts at the forks of the Red and Assiniboine, on either sides of the Red River, one each for the Hudson’s Bay Company and the North West Company. The “freemen” and Métis were generally affiliated with the North West Company (NWC) and the Saulteaux or Ojibwe and Cree were affiliated with the HBC although the situation was fluid and loyalties transient. The NWC saw the settlers’ arrival as an attempt by the HBC to interfere with their trade.
What was Lord Selkirk's response to the world in transition?
When Lord Selkirk initiated an agricultural colony at the forks of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers, he was responding to a world in transition. Liberalism and industrialization challenged existing world views; the rise of the American and French republics challenged existing orthodoxy. The Napoleonic wars raged, although in North America the British had earlier conquered New France, or Quebec. The American settlement frontier moved west, at great cost to indigenous societies. In Rupert’s Land, emerging Montreal-based fur trade companies, such as the North West Company, challenged the dominance of the long-established Hudson’s Bay Company. First Nations, responding to new economic opportunities, as well as the pressures of high mortality from imported diseases and settler encroachment, adapted to their changing environment.
How many people were in the Assiniboine region?
In 1819 HBC employee Peter Fidler noted that Assiniboine people comprised the largest group in the region, mostly to the west of the Forks, with a population of over 7,500. He estimated that there were also about 1,260 Cree, from the north and the east, and about 800 Ojibwe, most recently arrived from the Great Lakes in the 1780s-1790s. These nations competed with each other, and with the Sioux nations to the south, in the fur trade, and for access to buffalo.
What was the impact of the arrival of the Selkirk settlers in the Red River region in 1812?
The arrival of the Selkirk settlers in the Red River region in 1812 presents a microcosm of these global forces. First, the dislocation of the settlers themselves, as traditional social relations in the Scottish Highlands broke down. When aristocratic landowners found sheep to be more profitable than tenant farmers, the resulting Highland clearances provided a “push” for emigration. The Earl of Selkirk, a Scottish nobleman with wealth and a strong social conscience, facilitated the relocation of some of these victims of the clearances to British North America.
What was the worst case of Canada not protecting its treaty lands?
One of the worst instances of failing to protect Treaty lands in Canada was the 1907 forced surrender of St. Peters Reserve, a large tract of land north of Selkirk belonging to Manitoba’s Peguis First Nation. In 1998, after 91 years of argument and negotiation, the Government of Canada agreed that the surrender was illegal. In 2009, band members voted to accept a final payment of 118 million dollars in compensation. There are at least 20 outstanding land claims in Manitoba, and the settling of these claims may eventually include urban reservations.
When did Selkirk become a colony?
It became an official colony in 1812 with the arrival of settlers from the Scottish Highlands, known today as Selkirk Settlers. They sailed from their homeland to York Factory on Hudson Bay and travelled the waterways to Red River.
Who was the leader of the Métis?
A man from eastern Canada, Thomas Scott , was shot and killed during the resistance, which alarmed the Canadian Government. Riel established a provincial government and resisted the transfer for almost one year.
What was the name of the area that was part of the Red River Settlement?
Boniface and west to White Horse Plains (Headingly). The areas we now call St. Clements, St. Andrews, Selkirk, and East Selkirk were the northern extensions of Red River Settlement. Before the concept of Confederation emerged, there was no Canada.
Why are the Saulteaux called Saulteaux?
They called them this because the people leaped and jumped across the rapids as they speared fish on the St. Mary’s River near modern day Sault Ste. Marie (Ontario).
Where did the Saulteaux settle?
They established new camps on the banks of Netley Creek and places further inland near Lake Manitoba and Lake Winnipegosis. On 1 July 1867, the British North American Act (BNA) passed, creating the Dominion of Canada.
What was the Red River Settlement?
Red River Settlement was a colony built at the forks of the Red and Assiniboine rivers long before Confederation. It would become the city of Winnipeg. It became an official colony in 1812 with the arrival of settlers from the Scottish Highlands, known today as Selkirk Settlers.
What was the territory of Rupert's Land?
The territory he claimed was huge, about forty percent of modern-day Canada from Alberta to Quebec and from Hudson Bay south to the northern United States. Red River Sett lement was in the territory of Rupert’s Land.
What was the Selkirk colony?
The Selkirk colony was the center of fierce and often violent competition between the Hudson’s Bay Company and its chief rival, the North West Company (NWC). The NWC tried to discourage settlement with grim depictions of isolation in a barren wasteland threatened by hostile Indians. The NWC feared that a village of farmers would discourage trade in bison meat and hides.
When did the Selkirk settlers move to the Red River Valley?
However, settlers slowly migrated to the Red River Valley from Scotland between 1811 and 1815. They experienced extreme difficulties including disease and quarrels. Though Selkirk had given them guns, few had every used one or knew how to hunt for their own food. The first of the Selkirk settlers would have starved had not the Chippewas and Métis helped them through the winter.
Why was Fort Daer important?
Though the small community had a difficult existence, the settlers proved that crops could grow during the short summers and in the productive soils of the Red River Valley. The Scots, Irish, and other European settlers formed mutually beneficial relationships with the Chippewas and Métis of the area. Intermarriage between the Indians and non-Indians continued to build the settlement’s population and contributed to the development of Métis culture.
Why did Thomas Douglas want to establish a community?
He wanted to ease the plight of displaced Scottish farmers who had lost their small farms to larger landlords. He secured a land grant of more than 100,000 square miles to serve as a new home for the landless Scots and others who were interested. Though the settlers met with great difficulty, they persisted in establishing communities at the mouth of the Assiniboine River (present-day Winnipeg) and the Pembina River (present-day Pembina). SHSND A4201.
What river was used to mark the 49th parallel?
In the summer of 1823, Major Stephen H. Long led an expedition to the mouth of the Pembina River to locate and mark the 49 th parallel. He found a small community of 350 people living in 60 cabins. With the establishment of the border, the people who lived in Pembina looked to St. Paul, Minnesota for trade. Slowly, a trail that utilized the Red River and the Minnesota River, as well as oxcarts and dog sleds established a line of trade with St. Paul. (See Image 3.) However, the village was still isolated, and the population dwindled to almost nothing.
Where was the first settlement in North Dakota?
The first settlement was located at the mouth of the Assiniboine River (present-day Winnipeg). The Chippewas and Métis who lived in the area were friendly and helpful. They provided firewood and meat to the settlers. Chippewas, led by Peguis, took the Selkirk settlers south to the mouth of the Pembina River (in present-day North Dakota) and kept them fed and comfortable through the bad winter of 1811-1812.
Why did Scots settle in North Dakota?
They came here because they had been told that the Red River Valley “abounds in everything necessary to the wants and comforts of such people . . . Fish, venison, and fowl, and wild rice are in great plenty.”
What is the significance of the Selkirk Settlers?
The courage and fortitude of the Selkirk Settlers makes for a gripping and inspiring story that can capture the imagination of your students, inspire their sense of citizenship and pride, and enhance their understanding of the experiences of refugees and new immigrants in their communities. Their story begins with the injustice ...
What were Lord Selkirk's settlers?
Lord Selkirk’s Settlers also included immigrants from Ireland and Switzerland, and decommissioned members of the De Meurons from Germany. Many of the Irish left the settlement under pressure from the Northwest Company in 1815 and many of the Swiss and German settlers left for the United States after the great flood of 1826.
Who Was Thomas Douglas, Fifth Earl of Selkirk?
Thomas Douglas, the Fifth Earl of Selkirk (1770-1820) left an indelible mark on Canadian history. Born in Scotland to a wealthy family he was well educated and much influenced by the Scottish Enlightenment and the French Revolution. During a visit to the Scottish highlands in 1792 he was moved by the poverty and desperation of tenant farmers who were the victims of the Highland Clearances.
What is Lord Selkirk School named after?
As well Lord Selkirk School is named for him and a plaque that commemorates Fort Daer tells more of Selkirk’s story. Teachers may want to encourage students to look for information about Thomas Douglas by following these links, and locating the plaques and streets on a map.
What is the name of the plaque that honors Lord Selkirk?
The importance of Lord Selkirk’s contributions to Winnipeg and Manitoba are honored, among other places, by this commemorative plaque. Street names that honor him include Douglas Avenue, Point Douglas Avenue, and Selkirk Avenue. As well Lord Selkirk School is named for him and a plaque that commemorates Fort Daer tells more of Selkirk’s story.
What did Lord Selkirk do to help the Hudson Bay Company?
He persuaded the Hudson Bay Company’s directors that an agricultural settlement would lower the company’s costs because local farmers would produce goods that until then had been transported into the territory at great expense. Thomas Douglas’ vision of a new colony at the centre of North America led to the eventual end of the economic dominance of the fur trade and began the demographic and social transformation of western Canada.
When was the Selkirk Settlement celebrated?
This chronology of the Selkirk Settlement and more detailed information provide a framework to assist teachers and their students to track the historic events that are marked by the celebration of the Bicentenary of the Selkirk Settlement in 2012. In addition, A Visit With The People of the Red River, A Young Person’s Guide and Resource Book by C. Barry McPherson and Judy McPherson has a valuable Time Line on pages viii and ix.
Where did the Selkirk settlers go?
The remaining settlers fled north to Jack River, near Norway House, under the friendly protection of Chief Peguis and his Saulteaux band. Early in August, they were rescued by Colin Robertson, Selkirk’s Hebridean recruiter, who was on his way west with a H.B.C. brigade.
What did Selkirk do to the North West Company?
En route to the colony, Selkirk had used his troops and his authority as a magistrate to seize the North West Company’s Fort William on Lake Superior and to hold the Fort’s assets for eventual arbitration, as payment for his colony’s losses. On his return to the Canadas, he was drawn into a lengthy lawsuit brought against him by the Nor’Westers. Exhausted, and losing the battle for his colony, he returned to England in November 1818. Ill-health took him to the continent in September 1819, and in April 1820 he died of consumption in Pau, France.
Why did Macdonell surrender to the Nor'Westers?
Macdonell surrendered to the Nor’Westers in exchange for a guarantee of safety for the remaining colonists. Those assurances proved meaningless.
How much did Selkirk pay for the passage?
Unable to get a hearing in Scotland, they chose emigration and willingly paid Selkirk the passage money of 10 pounds per head for 100 acres of land at 5 shillings per acre, and one year’s free provisions. This second group suffered a rough passage on an overcrowded ship.
What was Selkirk's most ambitious venture?
In 1811 he embarked on his most ambitious venture — a colony in the western interior of Rupert’s Land, the domain of the Hudson’s Bay Company (H.B.C.). Enlisting the support of his brothers-in-law, Andrew Colvile and John Halkett, he purchased enough stock in the H.B.C. to negotiate a huge tract of land for his colony. On May 30, 1811, Selkirk was granted the territory of Assiniboia, an area of 116,000 square miles in the heart of the fur country. For the nominal sum of 10 shillings he agreed to recruit 200 servants for the Company annually for 10 years, and to develop an agricultural colony which would supply food for the fur trade posts. The colony would also serve as a place of permanent settlement for men who left the fur trade and wished to remain in the country rather than return to Britain.
How many miles did the men go up the Nelson River?
After a stormy passage lasting sixty-one days, the men landed at York Factory on September 24th, too late to make the inland voyage. They wintered twenty-three miles up the Nelson River, where illness and desertion thinned their ranks. Only twenty-one of the thirty-six men slated for Red River left with Macdonell in July, 1812. Three more deserted at Oxford House, but here Macdonell acquired four men, including an Indian guide, Tipotem.
What company was opposed to Rupert's Land?
The North West Company, also trading in furs in the interior, was opposed to an agricultural colony in Rupert’s Land, foreseeing that it “ [w]ould strike at the very existence of (NWC) trade.”.
Where are the Métis settlements located?
Métis Settlements located across the northern part of Alberta are comprised of the Paddle Prairie, Peavine, Gift Lake, East Prairie, Buffalo Lake, Kikino, Elizabeth and Fishing Lake settlements. These eight settlements form a constitutionally protected Métis land base in Canada.
What is the Métis Settlements Appeals Tribunal?
The new Act establishes the Métis Settlements Appeals Tribunal, which provides a dispute resolution mechanism dealing with membership, land use and resource matters on settlements. Also part of the Act is the Subsurface Resources Co-Management Agreement, an agreement whereby the settlements and the province jointly manage oil, gas and other subsurface resources on the settlements. Significantly, the constitution of Alberta was amended in 1990 to recognize and protect the Métis settlements and interest in their land and resources.
What are the Métis?
The Métis are the descendants of European fur traders and Aboriginal peoples who emerged as a distinct group on the Prairies towards the early part of the 19th century. Following the Northwest Rebellion of 1885, many Métis moved to the north and west. After a period of political activism among landless Métis in Alberta during the Depression, the provincial government passed the Métis Population Betterment Act in 1938. Lands were set aside for Métis Settlement Associations, though four of the settlements (Touchwood, Marlboro, Cold Lake and Wolf Lake) were later rescinded by order of the Alberta government. A distinct Métis culture combining Aboriginal and Euro-Canadian values and modes of expression is practised in the Métis settlements. For example, jigging, a favourite form of dance, mixes the reels of Scotland and France with the chicken dance of the Cree. A distinct Métis language called Michif (combining Cree, French and English words) is still spoken. Most residents of Métis settlements retain Aboriginal spiritual beliefs and customs.
What were the Métis Betterment Acts?
The later 1955 and 1970 Métis Betterment Acts provided for Settlement Associations for each of the eight communities and laid the foundation for self-government. In each settlement, councils of five members were elected by settlement members (as they are now) to deal with matters affecting the settlements.
What is the Métis language called?
For example, jigging, a favourite form of dance, mixes the reels of Scotland and France with the chicken dance of the Cree. A distinct Métis language called Michif (combining Cree, French and English words) is still spoken. Most residents of Métis settlements retain Aboriginal spiritual beliefs and customs.