Description:

In this image there is a couple signs that are on the side of the road that goes across the page that says Northwest Rebellion, Indian Act and the Manitoba Act. There is also a broken sign on the side that has the word treaties on it. There is a school with the words Residential School on it, and to the right of it is a compass that is pointing to the west. There also appears to be 4 people on the page, two of them are standing side by side, one is holding a cash bag with “Hugh” across his chest, and beside him is another person with “John” on his chest as well and appears that he is standing on a platform. Another person is wearing a hat in a cart that is on a railroad and looks like he is heading to the left of the page and it seems like there are whiskey bottles in front of him. The last guy is standing in front of a barrier and holding an American flag. The last thing in this picture is a piece of land with a sold sign on it.

Documentation:

The Battle of Seven Oaks is represented by the writing on the railroad the says Pemmican Proclamation as I feel this was one of the main reasons that caused this event. This battle was fought between the Hudson’s Bay Company and North West Company. The Metis’ made lots of pemmican and supplied others who were starving, and also those who would go on hunts as the food was able to last a long time. Since pemmican was their main source of income as well as food, the Pemmican Proclamation prohibited the exportation of pemmican which made the Metis angry. They saw these actions from the government as attempts to destroy the North West Company as well as the society of the Metis. In 1816, the Metis took over one of HBC’s fort and stole their pemmican wishing that the Selkirk settlers will starve and leave. As they were taking the pemmican, that met men associated with the Hudson’s Bay Company and started a fight, Robert Semple lost twenty-one men and the Metis leader, Cuthbert Grant only lost one. This battle resulted in the departing of the colonists. Rupert’s Land is symbolized in my cartoon as the piece of land with the SOLD sign on it. The selling of Rupert’s Land was one of the main reasons that triggered the Red River Rebellion as many people were angry that the Hudson’s Company had sold this piece of land without considering them, this made the people feel that their rights were being ignored. The following sign that says Manitoba, also represents the purchase of Rupert’s Land as a majority of the Metis and Europeans moved or thought about going to Manitoba. After Manitoba was formed, the Metis were being treated unfairly as Canada thought of the Metis as a lower class than the Europeans. Another reason is because of the CPR that was built in the 1800’s, as it separated the Bison’s and the increase of hunters in the vicinity, this resulted in the death of many Bisons that played a major role in the Metis’ life as they depended on the Bison for their income and food. This pushed the Metis’ to make the decision of moving west also called the Western Expansion is also represented in my cartoon as the compass. The North West Mounted Police was a police force that was created to help bring a stop to the whiskey addiction the Aboriginals had by preventing further trading between them and the Americans. This was only a small part of the role as they played a bigger role in the Northwest rebellion. The North West Mounted Police is represented the by the man in the hat in the rail cart, heading west where this the Whiskey Trade was happening as well as the barrier preventing the man with the American flag from entering. The Whiskey Trade was also represented by the bottles in the bottom left corner. The Whiskey Trade was when the Americans started to trade whiskey with the Aboriginals in exchange for their fur, the Americans saw their addiction and took advantage of their bad decision making. Hugh Allen was a very wealthy man and is shown in my cartoon with a bag of cash in his hand to symbolize The Pacific Scandal. Hugh Allen gave John A MacDonald money to help him win the election but asked in return that the CPR must be completed, however, this scandal was revealed to the public and caused John A MacDonald to step down from his position. The National Policy is represented in my cartoon as the platform that John A MacDonald is standing on as it was his political platform that convinced the Canadians of his plans. In 1878 it became the basis of the election an many people ended up agreeing with John A MacDonald ideas. The three parts the National Policy was divided into were the CPR, protective tariffs, and increased immigration. The CPR was built to connect the Pacific and Atlantic coasts in the middle of Canada. The CPR was to be used for transportation for both people and goods, and the transportation of armies would be made easier. The protective tariffs is the raising of taxes so Canadians would purchase less items from America and more from within Canada to help with the economy. The last part of the National Policy was the increased immigration, MacDonald wanted this as it meant that there would be more farmers which will result in benefiting the Canadian economy, this increased population would also protect Canada from Americas annexation. The treaties is symbolized by the broken sign on along the side of the road. The broken sign represents how the promises were not always kept and they were only made to please the Metis for a short time. The treaties were the Metis’ last and only option, as they needed help from the government due to their losses, such as their businesses and food. In 1876, after the first 5 treaties, the Indian Act was established, which is represented by the sign on the side of the road. The Indian Act prevented the Aboriginals from selling alcohol on reserves and required them to carry a piece of ID overtime they left the reserve, if they failed to follow these rules they would be punished. The Aboriginals were slowly losing their history and culture which was what Canada wanted, to turn the Aboriginals into Canadians. One of the ways Canada did this was by forcing Aboriginal children into Residential Schools where they would be abused and forced to speak english, this would make the children to slowly forget their language and their culture. However, if the parents did not send their children to the Residential School which is represented by the school in my cartoon, people would come and the children would be taken from their homes. In the bottom right of the page is a piece of land also known as Rupert’s Land with a sold sign across it. This was the main cause of the Red River Rebellion as people were angry that the Hudson’s Bay Company had not asked them yet and they felt that they were being ignored by the surveyors. The Manitoba sign represents the result of the Red River Rebellion as it was created after the battle. After Manitoba was created, the Metis were poorly treated by the Canadians as they felt that they were a lower rank then the Europeans. This was one of many reasons that pushed the Metis to make the decision of moving away and expanding to the west. More railways were being built in both in Canada and America causing the division of Bison and brought more hunters into the area. The bison played a huge part in the Metis’ life and now thousands of bison were being killed each day. When the Europeans and Metis chose to leave Manitoba, they expanded west. The Western Expansion is represented in my cartoon by the compass. The Northwest Rebellion is represented as the very last sign on the road indicating that it is the last main event. The rebellion took place in the year 1885 and resulted in the defeat of the Metis. The causes of the rebellion was because the Aboriginals were starving due to the reduced population of buffalo, and the treaties that were made by Canada for them were forgotten and failed to be fulfilled which angered the Aboriginals.