Cuthbert Grant and Seven Oaks

Use these notes while you watch. The video tells Cuthbert Grant's story in his own words — this guide uses simpler language for the same main ideas.

At the start: Grant leads Métis riders toward armed Hudson's Bay Company workers near some oak trees. He does not want a fight, but he knows one might happen.

Who is Cuthbert Grant? He was born in 1793 at a fur-trade post called Fort de la Rivière Tremblante. His father was a Scottish trader with the North West Company. His mother was Métis and taught him how to live on the plains. He learned to hunt, ride, read, and write.

When his father died, young Cuthbert was sent east to Montreal and then to Scotland for school. He learned in a very different world, but he always missed the prairie home of his mother's people.

He came back in 1812, at age nineteen. The North West Company gave him a job at a post on the Qu'Appelle River. Métis people respected him and called him Captain-General.

Two big fur-trade companies were rivals. The Hudson's Bay Company and Lord Selkirk's settlers wanted control of the land and trade. They made rules that took pemmican away from Métis hunters.

What is pemmican? It is dried meat mixed with fat (and sometimes berries). People carried it on very long trips. Without pemmican, brigades could not reach far-away trading posts. Controlling pemmican meant controlling who could travel and trade. This fight over food is sometimes called the Pemmican War.

In 1816, things got worse. Governor Robert Semple took over Fort Gibraltar, a North West Company post, and started to tear it down.

On June 19, 1816, Semple marched out with armed men near the Forks (where the Red River meets). Grant was moving carts loaded with pemmican west. He did not want violence. He sent a young man named François Boucher with a peace letter.

But shooting started. When the smoke cleared, Semple and more than twenty of his men were dead. One Métis man died. Later, an inquiry found that Semple's side had fired first. Grant was cleared of the charges against him.

Grant later helped build Grantown, a Métis community. He organized buffalo hunts and worked to keep his people safe and fed.

People later used different words for that day — battle, incident, massacre. The words you choose can change how the story sounds. Métis families remembered that they defended their right to travel, hunt, and feed their children on their own land.