The+Northwest+to+1870


 * The Northwest in 1800!**

With the fall of New France, the French fur trade was seized by English businessmen from Montreal who took on the HBC with the NWC. The race for furs was on!

Hudson’s Bay Company o “Stay by the Bay” policy o Fixed fur prices o Salaried employees (top-down) o Based in Hudson’s Bay

Northwest Company o Moved inland to meet Natives (enormous network) o Flexible fur prices and traded alcohol o //Hivernant// partners in profits (so motivated to make more #|money) o Based at Lake Superior


 * The Native Peoples of the Northwest**

The escalating competition for furs between the HBC and NWC sucked the Natives in and changed the shape of their lives.

Impacts on Natives o Natives change territory to follow fur (Chipewyan, Cree, Ojiwa, Assiniboin) o Become full-time trappers to keep up with competition, abandoning yearly cycle of fishing, hunting, preserving o Clash of cultures (Protestant = work for work’s sake, Native = sustenance) o Spread smallpox and measles


 * The Northwest from 1800 to 1860**

__The Métis__

Many NWC wintering traders married Native women, creating the mixed Metis population. By contrast, the HBC forbade cross-culture marriages and promoted celibacy to avoid dependants

o Native marriages encouraged by NWC to build loyalties o Good for Native women because improved standard of living o Mix of French and Native culture o Lived on some of best prairie soil with farms o Seasonal bison hunt (pemmican, hides, fresh meat) o Sold pemmican to ally: NWC, then HSB merger company

__The Colony on the Red River__

Lord Selkirk (director of HBC) established a colony in the fertile Red River for evicted Scottish farmers (crofters), causing conflict with the Métis.

o Good for Selkirk because provide food for HBC without transport costs o Crops fail first year so return to fort o Second year, Macdonald (leader) ban export of pemmican to ensure colonists don’t starve o Métis depend on pemmican sale so very angry o Also ordered NWC to vacate Red River Valley within 6 months (despite order not to disturb NWC)

NWC and Métis join together in retaliation o Métis destroy colony and win attack o Selkirk send in men and make settlement with Ojiwa and Cree to lease land o NWC launch litigation against HSB and Selkirk for actions


 * The Merger of the HBC**

Facing financial troubles, the NWC and HBC merged o 200- year old fur trade depleting o Lawsuits over Red River Colony Expensive o Control over more than half of Canada o Reduce workforce so Natives even more essential (guides, trappers, translators, food, etc…)


 * The Red River Settlement 1821-1860**

The settlement remained largely stable with all ethnicities living in relative balance until a crackdown on the illegal fur trade practiced by some Métis in violation of the HBC monopoly. o Guilty verdict reached, but 4 offenders pardoned o Métis still vow: “Business is open! Long live freedom!”


 * Changes: The Red River Settlement Between 1860 and 1870**

Growing populations in Upper Canada caused #|immigration (mostly of the Protestant Orange order: anti-French, anti-Catholic) to the sparsely populated and fertile Red River Valley, where they caused tensions to rise.

o As mixed-race, French-speaking Catholics, Métis prejudiced against o Newspaper owner Schultz, publish anti-Métis statements o Economic problems with disappearance of bison o Métis held no legal title to land

__Canada Purchases Rupert’s Land__

With increased settlement, HBC realized it couldn’t keep control of all its lands, so it sold them to the Canadian Government who had interests in creating a dominion.

o HBC loses fur monopoly, keeps money and some farmland o Canada doubles in size and renames land North-West Territories o Government surveyors come to assess land and ignore Métis seigneurial land pattern o Louis Riel returns to settlement and, an excellent orator, takes lead of people

__The Red River Rebellion__

The Métis were angry for the disregard for their interests so took up arms.

Angry because o Land surveyors disregard strip arrangement and #|survey land into squares o Worried land will be taken from them o Not consulted during sale of Rupert’s land

Thus take action o Riel forms Métis National Committee to fight Métis concerns about land o Takes over fort and sets up provisional government o Draws up list of rights wants kept o Agree to negotiate with John A. MacDonald, but MacDonald refuse o Provisional government drafts proposal for creation of province of Manitoba o Execute political prisoner o Execution dramatized by Orange order (anti-Métis)

Settlement o Red River delegates finally heard in Canadian Government o Manitoba admitted into confederation (though without provincial control of public lands) o Grant of 200,000 hectares to Métis o Recognition of Métis' aboriginal title o Force dispatched to keep peace and Riel flees