York Factory First Nation

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The York Factory First Nation is one of the ethnic groups in the Canadian province of Manitoba recognized as a Native American Tribe. According to the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, the number of recognized members was 1,120 (March 2010). Of these, 374 lived in their own reservation , 42 in other reservations, and the remaining 704 lived outside. The York Landing reservation covers 1,500 acres and is located 120 km northeast of Thompson on the Aiken River, which flows into Split Lake.

history

Early history

The Cree probably spread westward from the James Bay region, i.e. the southern end of Hudson Bay, before 1500 . The Cree of the York Factory lived in a wide area around the eponymous trading post York Factory , which the Hudson's Bay Company had built in the 17th century . Their traditional territory stretched from Port Nelson to Shamattawa , from there to Fort Severn and on to Kaskatamagun .

The main dialects of the Cree are now called Eastern Cree, Moose Cree, Central / Swampy Cree, Western Plains Cree and Northern / Woodlands Cree. The Indians around York Factory spoke Swampy Cree, but could easily communicate with other Cree.

The Cree around Hudson Bay lived from hunting, fishing and trapping; The climate does not allow soil development. There were also berries. Preservation was mostly done by drying, boiling or smoking. In winter the men went caribou hunting . The fat of the animals provided an essential part of the pemmican . The fat was transported in the cleaned stomach of the captured animal. Tipis , tents, wigwams were used as accommodation , later log cabins and wooden houses.

Fur trade, Franco-British conflict

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the French and English competed fiercely around Hudson Bay for the furs of foxes, beavers and muskrats. In 1610 Henry Hudson was the first European to sail into the huge Hudson Bay, and in early November wintering began in the southwest of James Bay. On June 22nd, Hudson and some of his people were abandoned after a mutiny, losing track of them.

The Cree went on long walks and exchanged furs for clothes, rifles, blankets and tools, as well as tobacco and alcohol. In 1672 Edward North opened the first trade near Fort York, and in 1682 Captain Zachary Gillam sailed with 80 men on the Prince Rupert to the Nelson River . Nevertheless, the fur trade remained largely in French hands due to the conquest of the Chevalier de Troyes. England had only one post on the west bank of Hudson Bay . In 1684 Fort York was built on the north bank of the Hayes River . The fort, conquered by the French in 1686, was retaken by James Knight of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1693, but Pierre Le Moyne Sieur d'Iberville recaptured the post in 1697 in a large-scale naval operation. But now the Hudson's Bay Company gained supremacy. Their most important trading post was the York Factory , which had to be relocated several times due to flooding. James Knight, already around 75 at the time, led an expedition for the Hudson's Bay Company.

Thanadelthur, a young Indian woman, was stolen by Cree in 1713 at the Great Slave Lake . Since 1670, Cree hunted slaves armed with British rifles. However, she managed to escape in 1714 and James Knight immediately recognized the value of her information about fur hunters in the northwest. She led William Stewart and 150 Cree to the east arm of the Great Slave Lake and brokered peace between Chipewyan and Cree. This enabled HBC to build Prince of Wales trading post at Churchill . The peace allowed the Cree an undisturbed intermediate trade between the HBC and the northwest.

After the French were defeated by the British in 1760, several trading companies fought. HBC's strongest rival became the North West Company . This state of affairs did not end until 1821 after the Pemmican War , when it was forcibly merged into a company that was now known as the Hudson's Bay Company and enjoyed a monopoly until 1870.

Samuel Hearne traveled from Fort Prince of Wales ( Churchill ) on Hudson Bay to the northwest from 1770 to 1772 and reported on the Great Slave Lake . The local Lake Wholdaia Chipewyan exchanged their furs on their own initiative at Hudson Bay.

Population collapse, increasing sedentariness, reservation

In 1782, smallpox broke out in Churchill , an epidemic that killed half to two-thirds of the Cree. In addition, there were other previously unknown diseases such as flu and scarlet fever . In 1788 the fort was rebuilt at its current location. It was maintained until 1957, when it came to the state in 1968, which turned it into a national historic site .

The Cree at James Bay and in the wider area lived less and less nomadically, especially in autumn and spring they lived increasingly near the trading posts. Nevertheless, there is still no overview of the strategies of the ethnic groups, of the internal changes, of how new leadership groups with new dependencies on the fur trade emerged.

Land claims, Keewatim Tribal Council

In 1995 there was a contract with Manitoba Hydro .

The Keewatim Tribal Council represents the interests of 11 First Nations. In addition to the York Factory First Nation, these are Barren Lands, Bunibonibee, Fox Lake, God's Lake, Manto Sipi, Northlands, Sayisi Dene, Shamattawa, War Lake and Tataskweyak.

In the community there is an airfield (1000 m), a simple motel, plus a tribal office (band office), a health center and an Anglican church. Chief is Johnny Saunders.

See also

Web links

Remarks

  1. ^ York Factory First Nation ( Memento of March 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Thanadelthur . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . 24 volumes, 1966–2018. University of Toronto Press, Toronto ( English , French ).
  3. ↑ Samuel Hearne . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . 24 volumes, 1966–2018. University of Toronto Press, Toronto ( English , French ).
  4. ^ Strother Roberts: The life and death of Matonabbee: fur trade and leadership among the Chipewyan, 1736–1782. Manitoba Historical Society 2007.
  5. ^ York Factory Agreement ( Memento of March 12, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ^ York Landing (ZAC) information , theAirDB