The History of the Metis :: World History

The History of the Metis The Metis were partly french and partly indian. Their leader was calledLouis riel. Following the Union of the Hudsons Bay company and the NorthWest Company in 1821, trading had been reorganized in order to reduceexpenses. Since there was no longer competition in the skin trade, it wasunnecessary to have two or more posts serving a single trading district. For this reason, some(a) posts had been closed and the number of brigadesreduced. This reorganization had led to some unemployment amoung Metis whofor years had been working in the fur trade. The Hudson Bay Company hadattempted to assist these these men by encouraging them to engage infarming in what is now South Manitoba. A few families take to agriculture,but most of the metis found it difficult. To them, the excitement and theadventure of the buffalo hunt held more appeal than farming. Hundreds ofMetis were centre to earn a living by hunting buffalo, making pemmican orfinding employment as freig ht drivers. After a plot Canada bought Rupertsland from Hudson Bay Company. When theMetis heard this they were alarmed. They feared their religion,theirlanguage, their lands and their old, free way of* life. They had known forsome time that Canada was busy constructing a colonists highway from LakeSuperior to the Red River. The situation became tense surveyors were displaceinto the flow of settlers, and it was considered a wise move to have thesurveying well under way before settlement began in earnest. It was decidedto use a system or land survey similar to that used in the western part ofthe United States. Townships were to be divided into thirty-six sections,each containing ane square mile or 640 acres. The sections were then to bedivided into, the quarter-section was thought to be enough land for eachfamily settling in the North West. (An elicit aspect of the surveysystem was the plan of the setting asside two sections in each township forthe future support of educatio n. The idea to sell these sections at a laterdate and use the money for the construction of schools.) When th surveybegan, friction occured in those areas where the french specking Metis hadsettled along the river, occupying long narrow strips in the manner commonin New France. Attempts were made by the surveyors to avoid disturbing thepattern, but in some cases the survey lines crossed the narrow holdings,