A man by the man of Coltman portrayed the event as a battle. I think this because the metis didn't fire the first shot. IF they were planning on massacring them they would've shot them. I thing it was portrayed as a massacre throughout history because it was such a one-sided for the Metis. This also could be used as propaganda against the Metis so they can make a lot of people not like them. When you would say massacre pretty much everyone would think of a big bloody battle wit heavy casualties on one side and a significantly less on the other side. But for a battle you'd think it be more one sided and more planned out and formal. What I think is that it was an incident like the one HBC guy had a miss fire killing one and then the Metis killed them all.
How I think each of these groups would have portrayed this event are for the Metis they call it and incient because only one of them died in this battle. But for the HBC they could use the word massacre for make the metis sound bad, they could say that they were ambushed after they stole there pemmican from them.
This is a painting by a C.W. Jerfferys about the event at seven oaks. From what I think telling from his name he was a British man most likely, and how he portrayed this event in his art was in favoring the HBC. he used art to make the metis seem like "savages" and very intimidating which could influence people on there thoughts about what they think about them. This would for the most part make people scared or distrustful of them because they "massacred" there people who didn't stand a chance against them. HE mad them see more scary because there were massive numbers of them and they look like there a lot bigger then the HBC and it doesn't show many of them injured. But for the HBC there are all huddled in a small group, there are not even close to the same amount as there was for the metis, an there all crouching making them appear small compared to the towering metis men.
Links: picture https://www.bing.com/images/searchview=detailV2&ccid=pnVa2ACY&id=A518ECD4365CBA8ED14D112C6164B8098DC3FEEA&thid=OIP.pnVa2ACYfjO3A5HmhjUwmgEsC1&q=seven+oaks+massacre+painting&simid=608046738274189745&selectedIndex=2&ajaxhist=0
Info: http://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/seven-oaks-incident/
Jason I liked your post about the historical perspective . The big issue is the event of Seven Oaks
ReplyDeleteMany people consider this a massacre, some a battle, and some a incident. I liked also like the painting you found it was a accurate depiction of this battle. Miles McDonnell's decision to ban pemmican export made sense, it was overall in good intentions but Miles never thought of the consequences which had lasting consequences and coincides with our years theme of choice and consequences.
The NWC and the HBC were very big business competitors which would lead to further fighting. Seven Oaks was a very big incident leading to 22 HBC men and one Metis this was a terrible event weather is was called a battle a incident or a massacre. It remains the same, people died over one mans choice and never thought of the consequences. Manitoba has certainly had a very colorful history. First Nation background, French background, English background and many other backgrounds has resulted in a very diverse province. With much history before and after European contact and decades of war and hatred. Much of this hatred continues to this day.
No matter what we call Sevens Oaks it was a very significant event in our history. The big issues is why learns this? It already happened? Well the reason why we learn history is because it defines what we are now. It answers why Manitoba is a province. Why Canada is a country. It doesn't matter if you care or not it is part of us weather we know it or not.
Hey Jason, this was a real solid post. Thought you really covered some information, and got to the point. I am not going to lie to you Jason, you had quite a bit of grammar and spelling errors. A lot of sentences I had to read twice, to understand what you were trying to say. For example at the start of the second paragraph you write, "a man by the man of Coltman". I believe you were trying to say but by the name of. Also many sentences start with two uppercase letters. Must just be a case of holding shift to long. But who am I to judge, I'm sure I do it all the time as well. Probable even in this comment.
ReplyDeleteFor the most part I agree with all the points with who would use each term. I noticed you left out the Winnipeg free presses view, I would have liked to see that included in the blog. My personal opinion on what the would call it is a massacre. At the time the Winnipeg free press was run by a British immigrant, and so they would likely want to make the Hudson Bay Company does. They would have a large base of immigrant listeners, not many Metis would receive the Free Press.
Otherwise this was a good informative blog and well said. Some very spot on points were made with the painting. I thought those were very true and well put Jason. Very well done Jason.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHello Jason, sweet blog ! I couldn't help but view Jayden's first paragraph in his comment and I totally agree. This blog does have a few spelling errors or typo's but, that's ok. I'm sure you were more focused on just getting the blog done and hey, I totally get that, it's the same thing with me. However, I like how you included what your opinion on the groups involved in the even was. I totally agree when you say the Hudson's Bay Company would call it a massacre. I believe that they are just trying to make the Metis have a bad name just because they were the winners. Which I think is a big over dramatic because If I remember correctly only 22 people had died. When you hear the word massacre you would think of it being very violent and many more deaths but, that wasn't the case. You have talked about everyone else's opinion but, I'm curious to know yours ! Also, great picture, I agree that is was done from a HBC perspective. I say this because the Metis do look pretty intimidating which could very easily make you change your mind on everything. Besides your few errors Jason, I would say you did good on this blog and I enjoyed reading it !! Here is another blog talking about Seven Oaks if you're interested, maybe you could compare them and see what someones else's understanding of this event because not everyones is going to be the exact same.
ReplyDelete- https://canadianhistorytoldbyus.blogspot.ca/2017/11/in-another-persons-shoes-november-blog.html
Hey Jason, awesome job on your blog post this month. It was so jam packed with information, and really helped me to understand the battle at Seven Oaks. I really enjoy how you wasted no time and just got to the point. It definitely saved me time reading through all of the fluff people always add into their blogposts.
ReplyDeleteI find it really sad that the governor, Miles MacDonnell, issued the pemmican proclamation which banned the First Nations people from selling pemmican. This is sad to me for the reason that this had to be put in place because they didn’t have enough food for their own people.
The way that you explained how the battle started was very clear and really helped me to understand how everything happened. It’s crazy to think that 23 people died, all because of a type of food.
I also like how you added in the opinion of Coleman, it really helped to give more perspective on the event. What he was saying about whether or not the Metis people would consider the event a massacre is very interesting. And I would have to agree with what he was saying. If the Metis people wanted it to have been a massacre, they would have done much more damage to the Hudson Bay Company members.
It’s too bad that your picture didn’t work. I would have really enjoyed seeing what you had for this topic. But overall really good job on this post. Aside from a few grammatical errors and the issue with the picture, it was really well done. One last question for you, what would you label the event at Seven Oaks as? A battle, incident or massacre?
Here’s the link to the blog post John made this month. I think he did a very good job explaining the same topic: https://canadianhistorytoldbyus.blogspot.ca/2017/11/in-another-persons-shoes-november-blog.html?m=1