Founded in 1812 by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, the Red River colony was initially a small and slow growing colony, whose population was mostly European. In 1811, the Hudsons's Bay Company (HBC) granted Douglas 300,000 km of the land it had claimed in the Winnipeg basin. Miles MacDonell, who Douglas chose as a governor, established the settlement at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine rivers. Harsh weather coupled with poor agricultural yields were characteristic of the slow beginnings of the settlement. As a new wave of settlers were set to arrive in 1814, MacDonell issued a proclamation prohibiting the sale and export of pemmican from the colony for that year. According to MacDonell, the rationale behind the Pemmican Proclamation was to ensure adequate provisions for settlers expected to arrive that summer. However, Metis communities who were living along the Red River saw this as a direct threat to their livelihood and economic subsistence. In addition, as the Red River Colony was associated with the HBC, the North West Company (NWC) also saw this as HBC encroachment into their trading territory and trading practices. The tensions caused by this proclamation as well as the intense economic competition between the HBC and the NWC led to the Battle of Seven Oaks (please see database entry on Battle of Seven Oaks). Following the battle and the victory of the Metis, most settlers from the Red River Settlement left the area as they were no longer welcome there. Douglas (Selkirk) returned in 1817, redistributing land to settlers and promising them schools and clergymen. However, the environment remained a threat to the infant colony, as locust devastated the crops in 1818-1819, and a large flood in 1826 nearly devastated the settlement. The settlement population grew slowly over the years, composed of a mix of European and Indigenous descent. As Confederation was being discussed in Ottawa, plans were made to transfer the colony to Canada, although without any consultation and without any guarantee of their future political and property rights. This set the stage for the Red River Resistance (please see database entry on Red River Resistance), during which the colony was admitted to Canada as the province of Manitoba, in 1870.
Summary
Implications
The arrival of Selkirk and his settlement project along the banks of the Red and Assiniboine rivers signified a shift in the power dynamics in the region, since Selkirk was associated to the Hudsons's Bay Company, and was seen as representing their interests. When the Pemmican Proclamation was issued, the Metis who had settled along the Red River saw this as a direct threat to their livelihood. In addition, the NWC, their trading ally, saw this as HBC encroachment into their trading territory. Following the Battle of Seven Oaks and Metis victory, settlers were temporarily pushed out of the Red River Colony, and Metis nationalism and nationhood emerged. Several decades later, when the settlement's demographics has changed and competition between the HBC and the NWC was longer an issue as the two companies had merged, the colony was confronted with it's forced annexation into present-day Manitoba. The Red River Resistance was a product of the forced annexation of a large part of Rupert's Land to the newly created province of Manitoba. Many people living in the colony, including many Metis and Metis leader Louis Riel, feared their land rights and culture would be undermined once they became part of Canada. Please see database entry on the Red River Resistance for further information on this event.
Resources
Date
1812-00-00
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