This form of transportation rose to prominence in the 19th Century.
The York Boat was invented by a Metis man by the name of Sinclair.
These boats played a major role in the fur trade industry-as they
replaced the freight canoes on the main water systems of Canada.
They had a larger carrying capacity and required fewer men to
operate them. These boats enabled furs to be transported faster and
much more economically than by canoe. These boats were fashioned
after the fishing boats used on the Orkney Islands. They were up to
forty-two feet (12.6 m) long and were capable of carrying six tons
(5.4 t) of cargo. The York Boat required 18 men to operate it: a
helmsman to give the orders for rowing, a man to steer and sixteen
middle-men to pull the oars. The men were also required to portage
the large boats around waterfalls and other obstacles. Sails were
used to catch favourable winds. The men who operated the York Boats
were predominately Metis employees of the fur trading companies.
These boats became outdated with the advent of the steamboat and the
construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. -----------------------
----------------------------------------------- ---------- Red River
Carts Metis Red River carts were an amazing adaptation of new and
old. During the buffalo hunt years, the Metis needed to transport
huge volumes and weights of buffalo meat and furs over bumpy dusty
prairie- dog potholed terrain, crossing numerous rivers and creeks.
The Metis designed the perfect plains vehicle. It was made entirely
of wood and its various parts were bound together with wet rawhide,
which became as hard as iron when it dried. The wheels were dish-
shaped so that their broad rims did not cut deeply into the soil.
Resting on the axle was a box in which the goods to be transported
were carried. The cart could be used as a barge when rivers had to
be crossed simply by removing the wheels, attaching them under the
axle and box, and encasing everything in buffalo skins so tat it
floated like a raft. A harness was made from a buffalo hide, often
in one piece. The cart carried a load of about one thousand pounds
and this weight could be pulled by oxen for a distance of twenty
miles in a day. Being entirely made from such readily obtained
materials as rawhide and wood, it was easily repaired, but they were
tremendously noisy. Wood rubbing on wood is unpleasant at the best
of times; it became deafening when a thousand wooden carts rumbled
over the prairie together. Carts moved single file, except when in
danger from Indians, when they travelled several abreast. Each
driver controlled five or six carts strung out behind him, each ox
tied to the cart ahead. Many of our major highways have been built
upon old Red River Cart trails. In the tradition of decorating
household and personal items, Metis women often adorned their carts.
As one editor of a local newspaper observed: "The carts of the women
are painted; and have a cover with other appearances of greater
attention to comfort than is displayed in the carts appropriated to
the men." -----------------------------------------------------------
----------- ---------- Cariole A common form of winter
transportation was the cariole, a type of sleigh pulled by a dog
team or horse and, in true Metis fashion, it was often decorated.
The cariole carried one person only. The runners of the carioles
were made from birch wood that had been carefully chosen, cut,
boiled and shaped. The frame was made of birch wood, usually carved.
The sides were made of green buffalo hide with the hair scraped
completely off and dried, resembling thick parchment and covering
the front part. When the seat had been fitted in, fur robes were
laid over it. A person slipped into it as into a mitten. They were
gayly painted, decorated with Russian bells on the dogs and the
harness was decorated with beadwork and tassels. The dogs wore
highly decorated saddle-cloths of various colours, fringed and
embroidered in the most fantastic manner, with innumerable small
bells and feathers. On their horses they put brightly decorated
saddle-cloths and belts with red, white and blue beading on a black
background. ---------------------------------------------------------
------------- ---------- Furniture and home construction Metis
craftsmen constructed many pieces of furniture and other household
items. These rough hewn articles are now hidden in museums and
government agencies and mislabeled as Colonial pieces or Canadianna.
The articles of furniture must be studied and declared a heritage of
the Metis Nation. Metis craftsmen devised their own type of joints
and distinct artistic styles, whether in construction of the item or
in the decoration of it. These articles must be repatriated to Metis
people. The Red River style of log building construction was one of
the original methods used in Canada. The logs were left rounded with
notched ends. This type of construction consisted of a basic frame
of grooved, vertical, squared posts, mortised and tenoned into sills
at their bases or set directly into the ground (in rare, early
cases), and at their tips, mortised and tenoned into squared plates.
Horizontal, squared timbers were fixed between these posts, with the
tenons of the horizontal timbers fitting into the vertical groove of
the posts. Roof structures of varying types were built on the wall
plates. Red River Frame construction allowed both flexibility and
portability. Large buildings could be erected using short logs, and
buildings could be easily dismantled, moved and put up elsewhere.
For these reasons, Red River Frame was the predominant type of
construction used in the Canadian West during the fur trade era. The
Red River style of log construction has spread across North America
and is currently enjoying new popularity. Red River log construction
is yet another Metis contribution to the development of Canada. -----
----------------------------------------------------------------- ---
------- Household Furnishings The Metis' furnishings and utensils,
like their clothing, were a combination of Indian and European. From
the trading posts they obtained cast-iron pots and skillets, copper
kettles, tin plates and cups, cutlery, as well as blankets-most of
their other needs they supplied themselves. The Metis made many
containers: pots and storage bags from the hides of buffalo and
smaller game. Rawhide (animal skin with the fur scraped off) was cut
and sewn to make containers. Sometimes the Metis made cooking pots
from rawhide and to prevent the skin from collapsing when it was
wet, they gave it a frame of willow. A skin pot could not be placed
over direct flame, so stones were heated in the fire and dropped
into the water to make it boil. Containers and baskets were also
made from birth bark sewn with spruce roots. These were preferred
over woven willow and reed baskets, which were too cumbersome when
families were on the move. To store needles, a bone from a rabbit or
other small animal was hollowed out, cleaned and plugged at both
ends. The stomachs of small game, when cleaned and dried, made
excellent airtight bags. Sinew (the back muscle of an animal) was
commonly used for sewing. It is long and stringy and when dried and
separated makes an excellent thread that is almost impossible to
break. Glue was obtained by boiling down animals' hooves or horns to
a fine paste. For scraping flesh and fat off hides, the Metis used
scrapers with stone or metal blades (the edges being serrated) and
fleshers made from the thigh and leg bones of animals. Needles were
purchased from traders, but in early times an awl was used to pierce
holes for the sinew to pass through. Dishes could be made from
hollowed out slabs of wood and from birch bark. Rock and stone
hammers and mauls were made by grinding rocks for hours with another
stone. With a maul, buffalo meat and wild berries could be pounded
on a hallowed out stone to make pemmican. Buffalo robes were used as
blankets and rugs and when cloth scraps were available, a woman
could produce a quilt by making a sheet from many small pieces,
sewing the sheet into a bag and stuffing it with feathers or down.
Like their sisters, the Plains Indian women, Metis women put
colourful designs and patterns on the articles they used everyday,
sometimes for spiritual reasons-for they were part Indian, but most
often they did this because of their love of decoration. ------------
---------------------------------------------------------- ----------
Horse Gear Metis people loved horses, so much so that they often
celebrated holidays by festooning their animals in garlands and
feathers and art work and held races. The Plains Indians usually
rode bareback or with a blanket over their horses. The Metis,
however, crafted magnificent saddles that were embroidered with
flower bead work. The Plains people quickly followed suit, but the
saddles of the Plains people did not have the bead work on them.
These Metis horsemen were renowned for their skills with a horse. So
much so that they taught their horses to dance the quadrille. The
modern day Musical Ride of the R.C.M.P. incorporates this Metis
inspired dance for their horses in their routine. -------------------
--------------------------------------------------- ---------- Hair
Braiding Braiding of the hair was brought to North America by
Europeans. Metis women copied this type of hairstyle and brought it
to their Indian cousins. Previous to this, Indian people plaited
their hair. The misrepresented idea that North American Indians
always practiced braiding their hair is not true, but a practice
adapted by them through the Metis.
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