The Selkirk Settlement Manitoba’s Infancy

Pre-Settlement The area that would come to be known as the Selkirk Settlement was located in modern-day southern Manitoba, as well as the states of North Dakota and Minnesota. The Cree, Assiniboin, Ojibwa and Sioux were the First Nations Groups residing in these areas prior to contact with Europeans.

The Metis French-Canadian and First Nations Ancestry Marriage between North West Company workers and First Nations were encouraged Originally called bois brule or “burnt wood”, later changed to Metis or “mixed” Fiercely Roman-Catholic, as is the French tradition Traditionally adept farmers

Customs/Traditions Considered the buffalo to be extremely sacred, and had many rules with regard to the buffalo hunt. Also attempted to use every part of the animal, specifically the fat for Pemmican Desired to farm in a seigneurial pattern, ensuring each settlement had access to the river (incongruent with how the HBC wanted to divide land)

Notable Metis Louis Riel Elzear Goulet Gabriel Dumont

Lord Selkirk Thomas Douglas- 5th Earl of Selkirk Liberal Democrat, concerned with the plight of Scottish Farmers, who seeked to gain lands abroad for his countrymen to work on As a director of the HBC was able to request a partition of 300 000 km2 of the area surrounding this Red River Valley By 1812 settlers started to arrive in the area, though many perished on the way to the harsh weather conditions and starvation

Surviving In The Settlement Because the initial group had arrived in August, there was no time to plant a harvest that could be reaped before the brutal winter to come The first winter was spent at NWC`s Fort Pembina, 110 km south of Red River By 1814 a second group had arrived, and soon food shortages would be imminent To combat the poor harvests in the first few years, the Pemmican Proclamation was issued This prevented the export of any food products out of the Selkirk Grant

And How Did The Metis React?

Next Class We’re going to look at why this would be an issue for the Metis, and also at the actions that were taken