The New Nation

France’s colonial policy of “one nation” may not have succeeded, but what it did do was to set in motion a train of developments that culminated in the emergence in the Far Northwest of a “New Nation” which was destined to collide with the new country of Canada. The New Nation was built around a way of life that lasted until the fading of the fur trade and the disappearance of the buffalo herds, both of which occurred towards the end of the nineteenth century. It developed its own language (Michif, in several variations), music and dance, a flag, a bardic tradition, and a rich folklore. Michif, described in 1879 as “a French dialect ... unlike any of the patois of France,” is today regarded by some linguists as a fully developed mixed language, a rare phenomenon. In its western range it correctly incorporates French nouns and noun phrases with a Plains Cree verbal system and syntax; in its more easterly range, it incorporates Ojibwa as well. English also creeps in, but in a French form. First noted by linguists in the Turtle Mountain region of Manitoba and North Dakota, it has since been reported in northern Alberta and as far east as Quebec. Commonly known as “Metis Cree,” or less frequently as “French Cree,” it is still spoken in scattered communities. Because it has been slow in gaining recognition as a developed language, rather than being “a bunch of jumble” varying from speaker to speaker, there is no consensus as to the exact nature of Michif. The Michif Dictionary (1983), gives only English to Michif equivalents, and even that is incomplete.

The Metis developed their own pattern for the buffalo hunt, based on that of Amerindian hunters while reflecting the military ethos of their French ancestors. Involving as it did the whole community, the hunt encouraged the esprit de corps that provided a foundation for Metis nationalism. Its best known symbol was the Red River cart, which in its classic form made its appearance around 1818–21, adapted from a European model via New France. With its large “dished” wheels (almost two metres high), rims wrapped in shaganappi (buffalo rawhide), it was well suited to prairie transportation. When in motion, the screeching of its ungreased axles could be heard from far away. The cart’s body could be removed from the frame and placed on runners for use as a sleigh in winter.

In 1820, 540 carts went from Red River to the hunt on the western plains; by 1840 the number had reached 1,210. The average load of meat per cart was 360 kilograms, with 400 kilograms being a full load. In making pemmican, the meat was dried, pounded, and mixed with melted tallow; one buffalo could yield a 36-kilogram sack. Its manufacture has been called the west’s first industry. By the 1840s the Metis had edged out their rivals, the Blackfoot, Cree, and Ojibwa, as the main providers of pemmican for the northern fur trade. At first, there were two principal hunts a year, summer and fall; later, from the second decade of the century, a winter hunt developed, a consequence of the American industrial market for buffalo robes. This came after railroads made practicable the transportation of the bulky, heavy hides.

Each hunt was preceded by a rendezvous for the selection of officers and the planning of hunt procedures. Discipline was strict, with offenders being tried before the council, very much in the manner of a court martial. The summer hunt could last for three months; later, the winter hunt was even more demanding. All hunts were marshalled behind a flag; it is not known if it was of the same design as the one adopted by the Metis when they set up their first provisional government towards the end of 1869.

Confrontation between the fur trade’s blend of Amerindian and European ways and the European mores of incoming agricultural settlers exacerbated rivalry between the Nor’Westers and the HBC. The establishment of the United States–Canadian boundary in the Great Lakes area by Jay’s Treaty in 1794 did not simplify the issues. The War of 1812 and the hard winters of 1812–13 and 1813–14 led to restrictions on the export of pemmican and on running buffalo, a practice seen as driving the herds out of the reach of the settlers. To the Metis, these were direct attacks on their way of life. Out of the ensuing events, which have been labelled the Pemmican War, emerged Cuthbert Grant, of Scots and Cree descent, who in 1816 was acclaimed “Captain General of all the Halfbreeds of the Country.” The settlers were now seen as invaders taking lands that belonged to the Metis, who had been there first and who were bonded to the land through their aboriginal heritage. Asserting what he saw as Metis rights, Grant unfurled the Metis flag and led a group of buffalo hunters into confrontations that culminated in 1816 in the Battle of Seven Oaks. The Metis claimed a victory; the settlers saw only a massacre.

The concept of a “New Nation” that reached full form in that battle had not only come to stay, it would be reinforced by another victory against a much larger body of Sioux in 1851, in the Battle of Grand Coteau. These victories enriched an already rapidly growing national mythology, particularly in the songs of the Metis bard Pierre Falcon, son-in-law of Grant. Still remembered are his ballads “La Chanson de la Grenouillière” (in English “The Battle of Seven Oaks”) and “Le Lord Selkirk au Fort William, ou La danse des Bois-Brulés,” both of which were occasioned by Seven Oaks. Although Falcon’s songs at one time were sung by voyageurs on fur-trade routes everywhere, only a few have survived, as most of them were not written down. Anges Laut’s “The buffalo hunt” is believed to be a free translation of one of his lyrics.

That Cuthbert Grant played a central role in the emergence of the New Nation is beyond doubt; he has been called the “Father of the Metis Nation,” a title he would share with Louis Riel. When the NWC and the HBC amalgamated in 1821 under the HBC banner, the new administration at first ignored Grant. That proved to be impolitic, and so in 1828 the company sought to harness his prestige in its favour by naming him warden of the plains, with the duty of preventing “illicit trade in Furs within the District.” In other words, he was now protecting the company’s interests rather than being concerned with those of the Metis or even with general justice. Other responsibilities followed, culminating with his appointment as a councillor for the District of Assiniboia, as Lord Selkirk’s land grant was called. Meanwhile, the freeing of free trader Pierre-Guillaume Sayer in 1849, although he had been found guilty of illicit trading, effectively ended the HBC’s monopoly, and consequently Grant’s usefulness to the company.

At the peak of his career, in 1844, Grant had successfully negotiated a peace settlement with the Sioux, traditional enemies of the Cree and Saulteaux and consequently of the Metis. The peace lasted for seven years, until the battle of Grand Coteau. As leader of the Metis, Grant was eclipsed first by Louis Riel, Sr., and then even more dramatically by Riel’s namesake son. Thus, in the end Grant lost out, both officially and with his own people. His career illustrates the complexity and ambivalence of the Metis position between two worlds, which continues today.

As for the fur trade, the Metis had become the principal source of manpower. In the mid-1840s, they accounted for two-thirds of the HBC’s rank and file and one-third of its officers. By the end of the century, Metis made up 72 percent of the company’s workforce. This expansion, however, was mainly in the lower ranks; there were limits as to how high they were allowed to rise, limits that became steadily more restrictive as the century progressed. If the HBC monopoly was less and less capable of interfering with the activities of the Metis as free traders, especially after the freeing of Sayer, this was offset by diminishing prospects within the company’s hierarchy. Similarly, with the NWC, the Metis made up most of the rank and file, with limited prospects of advancement. Ironically, the fame of the plains buffalo hunters as mounted sharpshooters had reached the point where they were being used as a model for the training of military cavalry in some parts of Europe.

In other aspects as well, pressures on the Metis way of life were increasing. This was particularly evident in the buffalo hunt, which was expanding with the rising industrial demand for buffalo hides, encouraging overhunting as short-term prosperity overshadowed long-term considerations. The aboriginal belief that the free gifts of nature were to be shared by all was being challenged, not only because of over-exploitation, but also by an increasing number of immigrants, whose agricultural and industrial way of life was based on restricted access. Amerindian customs, once the key to survival, were becoming less acceptable socially. The Metis claim to special status by right of their aboriginal blood was dismissed on the ground that they had no more rights than those enjoyed by British subjects.

Nor were they having any luck politically. Their demand that Assiniboia be made a colony free of HBC control was also rejected, in spite of determined lobbying by Alexander Kennedy Isbister, a Metis lawyer and teacher living in London. As the British Parliament saw it, colonial status should not be granted until there was a sufficient number of white settlers in the region to ensure that they would have control. This was a period of population growth for Red River; the 1871 census counted 9,800 Metis, of whom 5,720 were French speaking, and about 4,000 whites; Amerindians had not been counted. In spite of this numerical dominance, Metis unease about their position in relation to Britain had been growing ever since the troubles that had followed in the wake of the Selkirk settlement.