Advancing Across The West

 A reminder to those in the area that Winterlude begins this weekend and goes through to February 16th.

This is an elk skin, an artifact of the Blackfoot people. It was their habit to do a winter count, painting onto the elkskin what had been most significant for the tribe that past year, and done in a circle spiraling out.

French-Canadian fur traders went out ahead of anyone else, long before the country itself moved west. Called voyageurs, they pushed deep into the continent, adapting to life among indigenous peoples, establishing relationships, usually marrying into the tribe. This painting from 1869 is by Frances Anne Hopkins. It is titled Canoe Manned By Voyageurs Passing A Waterfall.

The voyageurs that had gone out and established families among indigenous peoples eventually gave rise to a culture distinct by itself- the Metis, a blending of the two influences. These are clothing items made by Metis women. The Metis would become a big part of the story of the Canadian West, looking to assert their own right to exist.

The Canadian government looked west to expand the Dominion of Canada, to make it a sea-to-sea country. Metis and other indigenous peoples would be in the way.

These are art pieces by the Haida, an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, originally called the North-west Mounted Police, would go out ahead of the country as a form of law enforcement in the West.

Here in a display case is a ceremonial last spike, and a pocket watch presented to Prime Minister Macdonald.