Native Beading Workshop and Exhibit to Honour Women of the Fur Trade

July 27, 2015 - PRLog -- The exhibit to honour Magdeleine Poitras and all women of the fur trade continues this year at the Macdonell-Williamson house heritage site, with a display of Native beadwork and a Native beading workshop.

Magdeleine Poitras was the Metis wife of Northwest Co. fur trade partner John Macdonell, and they spent most of their fur trade days in Athabaska country together. Born in Qu'appelle Saskatchewan, Magdeleine was the daughter of Northwest Co. partner Andre Poitras and his Native wife, and she would have had all the skills of a Native woman on the fur trade trail. Magdeleine, like thousands of Native women, are the unsung heros of the fur trade. A Native wife was necessary, as she provided food, clothing, medicine, translation of language & culture, and so many other skills necessary for survival on the trail. European women not only did not know how to do what a Native woman could do, she did not want to do these chores.

Andre Poitras was colleague of Cuthbert Grant Sr. and married his eldest daughter, so Magdeleine had close ties to the Grant family. The Macdonells, Poitras and the Grants were some of the most influential families in the fur trade during their time. John’s brother Miles was first Governor of Assiniboia, who declared a ban on trading pemmican out of Red River, causing wars over food supply. This led Cuthbert Grant Jr to become “Chief of the Halfbreeds” against the ban, and his gathering of Metis families in a rebellion, protecting Metis lands and rights made a huge impact on the fur trade economy. These events affected the lives of Metis families everywhere, as the fur trade waned.

When the house was finished in 1817, both Miles and Cuthbert Grant Jr were on trial for their roles in the pemmican wars. Sadly, the grand Georgian mansion with thick stone walls never did reach its intended glory, as the events all but ended the fur trade as it had been known. The house was a store with canal, as every man in a canoe had no choice but to portage across the property.

The exhibit is to honour thousands of unsung heroes -- the aboriginal women (both First Nations and Metis) who built the first international economy by their hard work, which has largely gone unnoticed. Thousands of voyageurs survived and prospered because of them. Thousands of children came from these unions, and are scattered in the family trees of thousands of people today, many of whom don’t know about their own ancestral Native grandmothers.

Fur trade journals tell us of women carrying all the packs to set up camp, often with a child on her back, while the man walked along carrying only his gun. The work she did was endless and necessary. So while most people honour the courageous voyageur, we feel it’s more appropriate to bring forward the true hero while she held the hand of the white man taking his first steps in North America.

This year, the exhibit is about clothing and beadwork, including an excerpt from John’s journal (where he references Magdeleine’s father’s wife) –

“Poitras wife made me nine pairs of shoes”.

Warm and waterproof clothing were essential to the fur trader’s health. The exhibit displays articles of clothing, beadwork and embellishment, giving a glimpse into this part of Indigenous women’s many contributions.

A Native beadwork workshop will be held at Macdonell-Williamson House on Sunday, August 9th, from 12:30 to 5pm, as each participant will use seed beads, leather and simple sewing skills to create their own beaded item using Native beadwork techniques. All supplies and instruction will be provided by Anne Anderson (Metis artist & grand niece of Cuthbert Grant Jr.) and Laurie McClintock, participants in the moccasin vamps project "Walking With Our Sisters". Anyone interested in taking part in the beadwork session is asked to please contact Anne at http://www.mwhouse.ca to pre-register (or contact us via Facebook or email directly to "info at voyageurmetis dot org"). Cost is $8 to cover supplies & admission. Light refreshments will be served.