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HistoryWestern RebellionsThe Métis people developed a nation that borrowed elements from both the Aboriginal and the European cultures. With time, though, this nation had to defend itself against both societies. In order to survive, the Métis had to fight the Red River settlers at Seven Oaks in 1816, the Dakota in 1850 and the Canadian army in 1869-70 and in 1885. Even today, their struggle for full recognition continues. The Seven Oaks Incident If you travel up Henderson Street in Winnipeg, you will find a plaque commemorating the battle of Seven Oaks.
The Hudson's Bay Company gave land near the Red River to a Scottish man named Lord Selkirk. He brought in Scottish settlers, and many of them went to work for the Hudson's Bay Company. This land was an important trade route of the rival North West Company. The Métis of this area provided pemmican, a paste made from dried powdered bison meat mixed with fat, to the North West Company to use as food on its trading expeditions. In the spring of 1816, men from the Hudson's Bay Company destroyed a North West Company trading post on the Red River. This gave the Hudson's Bay Company control over the river and stopped the Métis' supply of pemmican from reaching the North West Company. The Métis tried to get the pemmican back but the governor of the Hudson's Bay Company stopped them. A gun battle followed. One Métis was killed, along with the Hudson's Bay Company governor and 20 Red River settlers.
One of the first heroes of the Métis during this time was a man named Cuthbert Grant. It was Cuthbert Grant who believed that the Métis were not just a bunch of people, but were in fact a nation. Louis Riel Sr., whose son Louis Riel Jr. later became a famous Métis leader, was involved in the Seven Oaks incident as well.
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