thumb|right|Selkirk's land grant (Assiniboia)
In January 1814, Governor Miles MacDonell, appointed by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk issued to the inhabitants of the Red River area a proclamation which became known as the Pemmican Proclamation. The proclamation overall, became one of many areas of conflict between the Métis and the Red River settlers.
The Red River Colony or the Selkirk Settlement included portions of present-day southern Manitoba, northern Minnesota and eastern North Dakota, in addition to small parts of eastern Saskatchewan, northwestern Ontario and northeastern South Dakota.
Synopsis
The Proclamation defined the borders of the lands ceded to Lord Selkirk by the Hudson's Bay Company over which Miles MacDonell had been appointed Governor.
Background
“In order to expand their food supply, fur companies traded large quantities of dried bison meat and fat in fall and early winter to produce at their posts blocks of pemmican (pronounced “pimigan” in the Cree), a word meaning “he makes grease.” An energy-rich, cheap food source, pemmican consisted of pounded dried meat, soft fat (unsaturated fats derived from bone marrow) and hard fat (saturated fats taken from body fat and converted into tallow), bosses (fatty hump meat), and/or dépouille (strips of fat that lay along the spine of the animal). Although Indians produced some pemmican and traded it directly to European posts, more commonly, British commerce came to depend on pemmican mass-produced by Europeans at their own posts.”
Pemmican became the main source of food throughout the Bison trade nearing the end of the eighteenth century. The Hudson’s Bay Company relied on the food to provide a source of energy for their fur-traders who had relocated to areas that had a scarce food supply but plenty of fur.
“ The impact of the European factory system on traditional pemmican production has yet to be fully studied, especially at carryover places and between watersheds where large communities of indigenous people gathered. Indeed, it became so commonplace for woodland hunters to visit and even inhabit trade routes and major transshipment points where they might gain access to the plains-trade pemmican stockpiled there that the HBC eventually outlawed its crews from making such exchanges and sternly rebuked traders who made it available around their posts.”
The Proclamation was submitted as evidence during the Pemmican War Trials held in Montreal in 1818. and published in the: Report of trials in the courts of Canada, relative to the destruction of the Earl of Selkirk's settlement on the Red River With observations (p. 61-62) by Amos Andrew in 1820.
Pemmican Trade
For the settlers living near the Red River on the edge of the prairie, the Pemmican Trade was an important source of trade for the Red River Valley, almost comparable to what the beaver-pelt trade did for the Natives farther north. This trade was a major factor in the emergence of a distinct Métis society. Pemmican was made of dried buffalo meat pounded into a powder and mixed with melted buffalo fat in leather bags. Packs of pemmican would be shipped north and stored at the major fur posts. Ultimately, the Pemmican trade began to establish its position within the Red River and other parts of the prairies, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), and North West Company (NWC).
To procure pemmican in sufficient quantities, the HBC and NWC traded for it at several outposts in the Red River District and shipped it to their Bas de la Rivière depot on Lake Winnipeg where it was distributed to brigades of north canoes passing between Fort William and Athabasca or transported to Fort William where it was issued to brigades going to the company's eastern and southern districts. The majority of the NWC's pemmican was purchased from the local Métis and to a lesser degree from the local First Nations people and freemen. The pemmican, which forms the staple article of produce from the summer hunt, is a species of food peculiar to Rupert's Land. It is composed of buffalo meat, dried and pounded fine, and mixed with an amount of tallow or buffalo fat equal to itself in bulk. The tallow having been boiled, is poured hot from the caldron into an oblongbag, manufactured from the buffalo hide, into which the pounded meat has previously been placed. The contents are then stirred together until they have been thoroughly well mixed. When full, the bag is sewed up and laid in store. Each bag when full weighs one hundred pounds. It is calculated that, on an average, the carcass of each buffalo will yield enough pemmican to fill one bag
Ultimately, the pemmican trade was a major factor for the expanding provisions that were being streamlined and developed within the Red River Area, as well as Winnipeg and other parts of the Prairies located between Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The two Major trading companies which were the Hudson's Bay Company and North-West Company began establishing various territories and boundaries where they could exercise the Pemmican trade. Both the HBC and the NWC needed to establish their trade routes in the area to secure the economic benefits of Pemmican. Therefore, the need to establish a trade route led to conflict between the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company that erupted in 1812.
"In 1812, the Hudson’s Bay Company established the Selkirk agricultural colony on the banks of the Red River. This posed a strategic threat to the North West Company since the colony lay astride its provision supply line in that quarter. The seriousness of the danger was manifest in the winter of 1814. The colony was seriously short of provisions."
The need for the North West Company and Hudson's Bay Company to establish a suitable route of transportation for the Pemmican trade would be vital in securing economic prosperity. The Red River was beginning to see an increase in settlements and trading posts erecting in the area, as the Red River served as a vital mode of transportation. The NWC had previously built a strong relationship with the Metis, and ultimately the NWC positioned themselves as defenders of the Natives and Métis, and thus became opponents of the HBC colonization scheme that would illegally dispossess the native peoples. Furthermore, it was vital for these companies to secure an alliance when trading Pemmican because the native expertise in buffalo hunting would serve as the most productive way obtaining Pemmican ingredients.
One of the many issues which arose during the Pemmican Proclamation was the Battle of Seven Oaks. The Pemmican War worsened the relationship of white European settlers in Canada and the Metis. Lyle Dick, author of the article “The Seven Oaks Incident and the Construction of a Historical Tradition, 1860-1970”, notes the Seven Oaks Incident of 1816 was a direct result of the Pemmican War. Dick further suggest the Pemmican War played a minor role in motivating the Red River Rebellion of 1870. The Seven Oaks Incident occurred on June 1816, as a violent clash took place between a group of Hudson Bay Company Officers and Selkirk Settlers vs. a party of Metis traders from the Red River and the Upper Assiniboine.
Currently in Canada, there is a large debate to as who instigated the Seven Oaks Incident. Lyle Dick notes that reportedly, the first shot was fired by the Metis, however Contemporary Commissioner William Bachelor Coltman was sent by lower Canada (which is Now Quebec) to investigate the dispute between HBC/Selkirk settlers and the Metis, and came to a different conclusion. Commissioner Coltman stated the first shot was fired by the HBC/ Selkirk Settlers, and the Metis most likely reacted in self defense. The aftermath of the confrontation between the two groups left The HBC/ Selkirk Settlers with 21 deaths and one survivor, whereas the Metis only had one man killed. Robert Semple, Governor of Assiniboia was killed in the gunfire.