Forgot your password?
by Nelle Oosterom
Two hundred years ago, Western Canada was still a largely unsettled prairie dominated by great herds of bison.
Aboriginal peoples living there were familiar with male European fur traders but white women were virtually unknown to them. This changed when Marie-Anne Lagimodière arrived in the West in 1806, accompanied by her new husband Jean-Baptiste Lagimodière, a trapper and fur trader.
Tensions soon arose when it became clear that Jean-Baptiste already had three children with an Aboriginal woman. Despite the many hardships of frontier life, Marie-Anne adjusted to her situation.
The Lagimodières eventually homesteaded in the Red River Colony and raised a large family.
One of their children became the mother of Metis leader Louis Riel. Lagimodière’s story inspired Ottawa teacher Ruth Stewart-Verger to create a CD with songs and stories of her life.
Listen to excerpts: Track 1: Carry Me Away I Track 2: Introducing Marie Anne Track 3: Carry Me Away II Track 4: I Will Not Be Left Behind
This CD and another one about suffragist Emily Murphy are available at Rasputins.ca/ruth.htm.
1 = poor, 5 = excellent
You must be a Canada's History member and be logged in to leave a comment.
No comments.
This exhibit at the Museum of Vancouver inspired visitors to imagine a wilder city.
War, pestilence, and fire were the constant enemies of the young Augustinian nurses. But they persevered. Today the Hôtel-Dieu de Quebec stands testimony to their faith and charity.
If you could ask Sir John A Macdonald any question today, what would you ask? How would you expect him to respond?
René Brunette, from Eastview, Ontario, was in a submarine during the Battle of the Atlantic.
Four timeless Canadian history films to put on your watch list (if you haven't seen them yet).