142 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



THE METIS. 



The Metis or French half-breeds, earlier known as the Boisbrulés, 

 a name which signifies the dark or charcoal-faced people, are on the 

 father's side true descendants of an energetic race which invaded 

 Kuipert's Land. The Scottish Fur Company of Montreal, virtually 

 begun by Alex. Henry, sr. (1760), Thos. Curiy (1766), Jas. Finlay, 

 (1768), carried on their trade by means of sturdy and venturesome 

 French-Canadian voyageurs from the banks of the St. Lawrence. It is 

 somewhat surprising that these first traders after the conquest of 1759, 

 found no tribe of French natives in the borders of Eupert's Land. 

 Under British rule it became different, and it is even said that the 

 traders encouraged the imarriage of a certain number of their men with 

 the Indian women for the purpose of retaining them in their service 

 in the country. Whether this statement be correct or not it in cer- 

 tain that the Metis or Boisbrulé became a well marked type in Rupert^s 

 Land. At the beginning of the 19th century, so decided had become 

 the feeling of kinship and common interest that the Boisbrulés spoke 

 of themselves as " Thé New Kation/' No doubt this feeling was 

 encouraged by their leaders, the Nor'westers to stir them up against 

 their rivals of the Hudson's Bay Company. The Metis are as a rule : 



Tall, 



Active, 



Athletic, 



Excitable and restless. 



Good-hearted, 



Brave, 



Fond of amusement. 



Fond of show. 



ITheir residence was along the Eed River, in the parishes, beginning 

 at Fort Garry, St. Boniface, St. Vital, St. Norbert, Stc. Agathe, Point- 

 de-Chênes and Lorette ; on the Assiniboine river, St. Charles, St. Fran- 

 çois-Xavier, Baie de St. Paul ; and on Lake Manitoba, St. Laurent. Far 

 away in the West, on the Saskatchewan, the Metis now have their com- 

 fortable settlements and live their characteristic life. Their attack on 

 Fort Douglas, in 1816, gave them a reputation for turbulence, which 

 again showed itself in the rebellions of 1849, 1869, 1885. The number 

 of Metis west of Lake Superior, when Rupert's Land was merged into 

 Canada in 1870, probably reached 6,000 souls. 



