A Métis buffalo hunt was like a moving town. In 1840, about 1,600 people and 1,200 carts left Red River together. When Gabriel was a little boy, his family travelled with big hunts like this.
So many people needed rules, and signals everyone could see. Each day a guide carried the camp flag. Flag up: the camp moves. Flag down: make camp. And nobody ran the buffalo until the captain said "Start!"
Watch the screen and follow the signal. If someone on your team moves the wrong way, your team gets a slip. Fewest slips wins!
The signals
Flag up!
The camp is moving. Walk on the spot and stay in your line!
Flag down!
Make camp. Freeze and crouch down low, like carts in a circle.
Wait…
The captain is watching the herd. Stand tall and still. Nobody runs yet!
Start!
The captain gave the word! Run on the spot as fast as you can.
Real rules of the 1840 hunt
Nobody runs the buffalo before the captain gives the word.
No group may split off, fall behind, or go ahead without permission.
The captains and their soldiers take turns guarding the camp.
Break a rule once: your saddle and bridle are cut up. Break it again: your coat is cut up.
From Alexander Ross's account of the 1840 Red River hunt (The Red River Settlement, 1856), reprinted by the Manitoba Historical Society.
