Left: This painting by Peter Rindisbacher was painted while Peguis was still alive. It is not known if it is a true likeness.


Above: Thomas Douglas 5th Earl of Selkirk.


Nevertheless, on Sept. 24, 1811, Selkirk’s first contin-


A map of Lord Selkirk's 116,000 square miles land grant in 1817.


In 1792, Peguis led a group of about 200 people west-


ward to Netley Creek near Lake Winnipeg. Tere were still bison, hunting and trapping were good and the peo- ple could grow their gardens of corn, squash and pump- kins on the rich shores of the lake and the Red River. Tey could trade the pelts for European goods from the North West Company. Peguis established good relation- ships with the neighbouring Cree and Assiniboine First Nations and over the following two decades the commu- nity prospered. Enter Tomas Douglas, Fifth Earl of Selkirk, the last


remaining and a younger son in a family of seven boys. Te Earl grew up without the pressures of succession hanging over his head and became something of a phi- lanthropist who took an interest in the plight of the dis- placed Scottish farmers. He used his fortune to settle some of them in the eastern part of Canada, and then set his sights on the Red River Valley. With his brother-in- law, he gained a controlling interest in the Hudson’s Bay Company, enabling him to secure 116,000 square miles of the territory for his colony. Te rival North West Company, supported by the Me- tis and the local indigenous people who trapped for them, was active in the area, and none were happy about the competition from the Hudson’s Bay Company or with the idea of sharing the bounties of the land with settlers.


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gent of 22 men, who were sent out to prepare the colony for the first settlers, landed at York Factory on Hudson Bay. Led by Miles MacDonnell, they set out the follow- ing spring to make the long and arduous journey through the muskeg, arriving at the Red River Colony in August 1812. It was already too late to prepare homes let alone plant a crop for the settlers who arrived two months later on October 27. After a rough voyage followed by an even rougher trek south, these settlers were tired, sick and dis- heartened. Without the help and support of Peguis and his people,


they would have died. Peguis continued this support over the next two years, but food was scarce partly thanks to the North West Company which hoarded the available bison meat and pemmican. Miles MacDonnell, the first governor of the colony,


eventually issued an edict forbidding the export of pem- mican from the colony, an act that sparked anger among the Metis and the North West Company traders. Tis was one of the factors that led to the Battle of Seven Oaks in June 1816 and the massacre of Governor Robert Semple and 20 of his men at Frog Plain (in the present day Kildonan area). Peguis helped the survivors from this battle to shelter at Jack River near Norway House, where they had spent a previous winter under the chief ’s watch- ful eye to get away from the disputes with the North West Company. Finally, in June of 1817, Lord Selkirk brought a small


group of soldiers to help restore order at Fort Douglas. Lord Selkirk and Chief Peguis negotiated the first treaty in Western Canada; Peguis brokered much of the deal bringing in other chiefs. Te Selkirk Treaty was signed by Pequis, Matchie Whewab (Le Sonnant), Mechkad- dewkonaie (La Robe Noire), Kayajeskebino (L’Homme Noir) and Ouckidoat (Le Premier). Te land was ap- portioned and a promised gift of one hundred pounds of sacred tobacco to be delivered to each chief every year sealed the deal. Te treaty was signed on July 18, 1817.


Summer 2017 • 61


Courtesy of the Royal Society of Canada.


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