Before I set out to see this province on my hike for Huntington Disease awareness and research, I thought I would like to profile my hometown of Vanguard, Saskatchewan by doing a little walking tour.
We are celebrating Canada’s 150 this Saturday, July 8. There will be a social, dance, inflatable battle rings, and a huge fireworks display.
We have seen that while the eastern part of North America was involved in wars and rebellions from a period of 1756 to 1837 (Seven Years War, American Revolution, War of 1812, 1837 Rebellions), the northwestern part of North America was still very much in the thick of the fur trade.
Two fur trading companies, the Hudson`s Bay Company and the North-West Company were battling it out to see who could make the most money buying and selling furs in North America. It wasn`t much of a battle. The Hudson`s Bay Company had a massive geographical advantage in that it could take ocean-going ships half-way across the continent, whereas the North-West Company had to rely on an elaborate system of lakes and rivers that old French fur traders had established during the days of New France. The North-West company remained competitive as long there was new territory to find and exploit. This ended in July of 1793 when Alexander Mackenzie reached the Pacific Ocean by land. This meant that there was simply no more fur trading areas to reach. The Hudson`s Bay Company`s competitive advantage eventually started to wear on its failing competitor.
To further pressure the North-West Company, the HBC began opening up areas for agricultural settlement. Agriculture and settlement meant the end of the fur trade and when the HBC started the Selkirk settlement in southern Manitoba, the demise of the fur trade soon followed.
The problem with the Selkirk settlement was that is was strategically located where the Metis had set up shop trading and supplying Pemmican to the North-West company voyageurs. The Metis owed their livelihood (not to mention their origin)to the fur trade. The Selkirk settlement was a clear and direct threat to their way of life. When the Metis mentioned to the HBC that they maybe could have moved their settlement somewhere that wouldn`t bring about the ruin of the Metis way of life, arguments started. These arguments led to armed battles, which for a five-year period between 1811 and 1816 became known as the Pemmican War. The last and most violent of these battles was at Seven Oaks in 1816. Here is a summary:
By the way, pemmican seems like really cool stuff.It is a mixture of powdered dried meat, berries, and sugar or honey. Apparently, it can last for years and is highly nutritious and calorie dense. It could sustain voyageurs for months at a time. Here is a recipe that I found and that we will try in class.
Pemmican
Recipe # 1
Ingredients:
4 cups lean meat (deer, beef, caribou or moose)
3 cups dried fruit
2 cups rendered fat
Unsalted nuts and about 1 shot of honey
Instructions:
Meat should be as lean as possible and double ground from your butcher if you do not have you own meat grinder. Spread it out very thin on a cookie sheet and dry at 180 degrees F for at least 8 hours or until sinewy and crispy. Pound the meat into nearly a powder consistency using a blender or other tool. Grind the dried fruit, but leave a little bit lumpy for fun texture. Heat rendered fat on the stove at medium until liquid. Add liquid fat to dried meat and dried fruit, and mix in nuts and honey. Mix everything by hand. Let cool and store. Can keep and be consumed for several years.
So we know that Great Britain messed up. They taxed the United States into rebellion in 1776 and blamed it on too much freedom. Determined not to mess up again, Great Britain forced an oligarchy on what remained of its British North American colonies (Canada). To no one’s surprise, this led yet again to rebellion in 1837 in Upper and Lower Canada. Still unsure of why their colonies had this nasty habit of rebelling, Great Britain appointed Lord “Radical Jack” Durham to both govern its North American colonies and also find out the causes of the rebellions.
Durham told of his findings in the now famous (guess what?) Durham Report. Basically, he reported what the United States knew decades earlier: People generally like a say in how they are governed (i.e. responsible government). The thing is, Great Britain rejectedthe Durham report! Instead, they opted for a kind of hybrid between Durham’s recommendations and what they had already established for government in the colonies. This led to among other things, the Act of Union in 1841, separation of English and French speaking Canadians, separate schools and overall a unique (or weird) political system that would be a forerunner of Canadian Politics. Here is how it went down:
As we have seen, our country was formed out of what was left over from the American Revolution. Remember, that the most coveted territory in North America was the Ohio Valley. The United States was finally granted the Ohio Valley after Great Britain conceded it to them in 1783 at the Treaty of Paris. So the new country of the United States of America consisted of The 13 Colonies (now states) and the Ohio Valley in 1783.
British North America was left with Quebec (Upper and Lower Canada), the Maritimes (Nova Scotia, PEI,and New Brunswick), Newfoundland and Rupert’s Land (The Northwest). This is hardly what Great Britain had wanted of its North American empire. Imagine Canada as being the equivalent of this:
Although wouldn’t you agree that sometimes leftovers make the best of meals?
Just Learn 