General note:
Removed from: Sketchbook: "Canada 1878 North-West 1881"
The Red River cart was first used by the Métis to carry meat from the buffalo hunt and in farm work. Later, they would be used in brigades to transport goods over long distances.
The federal government used the term "half-breed" throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to refer to individuals who were of shared Indigenous and European ancestry. The term currently used is Métis.
Availability of other formats note:
colour transparency available
Exhibitions note:
Exhibition title: Western Odyssey 1881. Curators: Michael Bell, National Archives of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario; 1973.12.15 - 1974.02.15, cat. no.: no. 17. Further venue: Whyte Gallery, Banff, Alberta; 1974.03 - 1974.05 (?)., Further venue: Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; 1974.06.15 - 1974.08.15., Further venue: Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba; 1974.08.25 - 1974.09.30., Further venue: Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston, Ontario; 1974.10.15 - 1974.11.15., Further venue: Centennial Gallery, Halifax, Nova Scotia; 1974.12.15 - 1975.01.30., Further venue: Alberta Provincial Museum and Archives, Edmonton, Alberta; 1975.02.10 - 1975.03.15.
Signatures and inscriptions note:
Inscribed., Inscription: in pencil, recto t.: A Red River pastoral. Lullaby, baby, ... the ... tree black &c &c; u.r.: P.T.O.; l.l.: Halfbreed Red River carts. mother swinging her baby in a hammock / slung on the axle tree. dog to the right. The halfbreed / women nearly all wear a black shawl over their head; in pencil, verso u.l.: Sketch on the road to Silver Heights Winnipeg. / The sides of the road are dotted with / ... of Freighters mostly half breeds. / They carry freight of all kinds right / ... to the Rocky mountains. Their / carts are the famous Red River carts. / The wheels are made without iron / and as a rule creak the whole way. / Bullocks for the most part ... / strong Minnesota beasts. not / yoked but collared. / Optah Sphibbia bos pigor. (?) Sometimes / the caravan must of a ... of / carts.
