The witness of a century
Victoria Belcourt was born on 19 November 1861, in the Metis community of Lac Ste Anne, which was located northwest of Edmonton, part of Rupert's Land, was owned and controlled by the Hudson's Bay Company. The area would not become part of Canada for another eight years. Victoria's father was a Metis, one of a people formed as a result of intermarriage between French men and First Nations women. Her mother was a lightly respected medicine Cree woman, which was spending much of her time gathering special plants, which were carefully dried, reduced to a powder, and stored in leather pouches or birchbark containers, identified by coded marks. Victoria has seen more than one century of life, she is maybe one of the most important witnesses of Metis, Cree and First Nations lives.
The biography of this simple woman is not special, but what makes her special is her love for her people and for what they are, her impressive testimony of 104 years of Metis life and traditions, which I m sure helped very much the discovery of Canadian history and especially First Nations culture, which is still visible and present in our days. Metis' women job was not just take care of buffalo meat and prepare medicines, but they also made the soap, by mixing grease or fat with lye made from wood ashes; brooms by lashing willow branches together around a smooth, wooden handle. ctoria participated for the first time to a buffalo hunt in a Red River cart, she describes this experience with so much enthusiasm. A Metis home was a mix of European style and the First Nations style. It was a Metis tradition: before a home had been occupied, for two days, the owner had to invite all the neighbors to a big party. The buffalo hunts in Metis' life were one of the most important things in their life, which convolved not only the men but even the women, which help was essential; in fact the hunt was a traditional custom which required the participation of about one hundred families. Fantastic memories make her smile at this idea, when the Metis let themselves go on one of the jig dances. It was made of dirt or hewn spruce logs, it didn't contain tables, chairs or benches; a cloth was spread on the floor for meals. Victoria had twelve children, and more then one passion; but the most important one, the one which made her win a dance contest at the age of 74 and still dance at the age of 103 was the Red River jig. Their dishes, which were all from the Hudson's Bay store, were kept in a wooden corner cupboard. Buffalo gave them food, clothes, tipis, made of buffalo skins, which were very comfortable, strong, warm, waterproof and easily to put up and taken down. This kind of awnings was essential for these "adventures", which lasted all the spring and the most part of the summer.
Common topics in this essay:
Red River,
Hudson's Bay,
French Nations,
Cree Iroquois,
Metis Europeans,
Company Canada,
Cree Nations,
Victoria Belcourt,
Ste Anne,
Rupert's Land,
buffalo meat,
hudson's bay,
red river,
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Acceptance Essays
