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Ruperts land
The British crown granted the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in Rupert's land. The reigon included pariries grassland that was part of the range of Great Buffalo Herds. -
Rupert' land
The fur trade was dominated by two main competitors, the HBC and The North West Company (NWC.) -
Rupert's Land
HBC still ran the Rupert's Land Territory. -
Rupert's Land
There were few permanent settlements, because trading posts were scattered throughout the reigon. -
Buffalo Economy
Few First Nations and the Metis people on the prairies had an intrest in political connection with the British North American colonies. -
Buffalo Economy
Generation of the First Nation had a woven a way of life around the bison, better known as the Buffalo. -
Buffalon Economy
Metis people had inherited many of their First Natios reletives' traditions, including the buffalo hunt. -
Buffalo Economy
Buffalo hides were used for clothing and shelter, while bones and other body parts were used to ,ake various tools and objects. -
Buffalo Economy
First Nation hunting traditions used generations of knowledge about geography and animal behaviour. -
Buffalo Economy
Rolls insured the success of each community's hunt, which was vital to its economic success. -
Conflect At Red River
A Scotish nobleman, Thomas Douglas, the Earl of Selkirk, purchased land in Southern Manitoba from the Hudson's Bay Company -
Conflict at Red River
Thomas Douglas brought his first group of Scotish setlers to North America. -
Conflict At Red River
NWC traders told local Metis people that the new people would be given Metis land. Although many Metis had farmed the land for years, most did not formlly own it. -
Comflect At Red River
Red River was a critical point in the North West Company's (NWC) supply route to the west. -
Conflict At Red River
Selkirk's settlers almost immediately ran into comflict with the NWC traders and Metis people -
Conflict At Red River
The colony's governor banned the export of pemmican. He wanted to be sure his settlers would have enough to eat. -
The Fight At Seven Oaks
The Metis group were expreienced fighters. They were used to working together on buffalo hunts. Robert Semple and twenty settlers were killed in the battle. -
Conflict At Red River
Tensions in the colony were high. A group of Metis people led by Cuthbert Grant encourted the colony's new governor, Robert Semple, and his men. The result is known as the Battle of Seven Oaks. -
Conflict At Red River
Selkirk arrived with more settlers. However, the settlement continued to face battle, this time from the natural world. Frost, grasshoppers, and a major flood wiped out crops and settlements in the years that followed. -
Conflict At Red River
The HBC and NWC merged. The rivalry thjat had stirred up conflict was now officially over. In years of peace that followed, the Metis population grew rapidly. -
Decline Of A Way Of Life
The Great Buffalo hurbs that has supported First Nation on the prairies for centuries went into quick decline. -
Decline Of A Way Of Life
First Nations and Metis life on the prarires began to change. -
British Columbia
Vancouver Island and the surrounding islands in the Gulf of Georgia became a British colony. -
British Columbia
The non-First Nations Population of Vancouver Island was small, mostly HBC employees and their family. -
The Douglas Treaties
After Vancouver Island became a colony, James Douglas negotiated Treaties to aquire First Nation land for settlement and mining. -
Decline Of A Way Of Life
First Nations and Metis main economic livelihood was quickly disappearing with it went social, political, and sometimes spiritual traditions that formed the foundation of their socities. -
Decline Of A Way Of Life
Many communities in Rupert's Land were devestated by European diseases, such as Smallpox. -
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The Douglas Treaties
The Supreme Court of Canada has wooled that the transactions were treaties because Douglas was negotiating on the behave of the British Crown. -
Decline Of A Way Of Life
First Nations And Metis people had to face setlers and politicians from the east, who showed increasing intrest in their land. -
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The Douglas Treaties
Usually treaties offered First Nations payments of some kind in return for the right to settle on ceded lands. -
Gold!
The land was occupied by many First Nations, along with a few non Aboriginal fur trapers and trades. -
From A Letter By Henry Tuzo To His Sister, Anna Maria Tuzo.
"It became necessary to obtain meat for the Brigade, all the pemmican being exhausted. In order to accomplish this the Buffalo had to be hunted and all the passengers myself uncluded accompained the Hunters. -
The Douglas Treaties
Treatie-making on Vancouver Island, when the colony ran out of money for further expansion. -
Conflict At Red River
Red river seemed completely isolated from other settlements on the continent. -
Conflict At Red River
The United States railway system reached St. Paul, Minnesota. Carts from Red River already travelled regularly to St. Paul. -
Gold!
everything changed, gold was discovered on the lower fraser river. -
Colonial Status
Britain ended HBC control over the area and established British Columbia as a colony. -
Conflict At Red River
Politicians in Canada West became increasingly anxious to claim Red River as their own. -
Colonial Status
The miners continued their quest for gold and the murders of the Salish First Nation protesters were never resolved. -
Colonial Status
The crown did not considered the colony to be settled enough to warrant its own government. -
The Goldfields
Work began to upgrade trials to the goldfields. Mainlly Chinese and First Nations workers took on the difficult, dangers work. -
First Nations
A crowed of Salish people gathered to protest. The miners opened fire, killing seven Salish people. -
First Nation
The Hudson Bay Company (HBC), the only governmental authirity in the area, feared they were losing control of the reigon. -
Life on the Prairie
Metis communities were the main permmican suppliers for the North West Company. The buffalo hunt was a significant part of the Metis economy -
Gold!
Another major discovery send gold seekers further upriver to Cariboo Distric. -
Effects Of The Gold Rush
First Nations communities had their claims to the land suddenly challenged. -
Effects Of The Gold Rush
The population increased repitly with people from many diverse backgrounds. Roads, bridges and other kinds of infrastuctures were built. -
Effects Of The Gold Rush
Although some people left at the end of the rush, many stayed, putting the colony on a faster track for Confederation. -
The Goldfields
The gold rush created immediate demand for infrastructure, such as roads and housing. -
The Goldfields
The journey north to the Cariboo was physically punishing and risky. -
Chinese Gold Washers On The Fraser River
The Gold Rush quickly increased the diversity of British Columbia's population. In particular, many chinese people arrived to work in the gold rush. -
Colonial Status
British Columbia was merged with Vancouver Island into one colony -
The Cameron, The Wattie, And The Tinker Companies
The Cameron, The Wattie, And The Tinker Companies claims are shown here in the Cariboo District. -
Camp Providers
First Nations used almost every part of the buffalo they killed. Traditionally, communities took only what they needed for their own use, with a little extra to trade for items they could not produce themselves. -
A Buffalo Rift
One of the most famous buffalo jumps is at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump in southern Alberta. Archaeological evidence shows Frist Nations used the site for thousands of years. -
Rupert's Land
The far west, The Rocky Mountains formed a natural barrier with the west coast. Rupert's Land also includuded a large woodland region to the north. -
Decline Of A Way Of Life
European sport hunters sometimes killed hundreds of buffalos and left them to rot. This pile of buffalo bones was collected near Gull Lake, Saskatchewan.
