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1812 Main Street (4)
Location Map
Scene of 1817.
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Location: SW corner Main & Semple; North Face
Occupant: Manitoba Hydro substation
District: West Kildonan
Neighbourhood: Jefferson
Artist(s): Jill Sellers (Jill Sellers Design)
Year: 2001
Sponsors: Manitoba Hydro
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Jill Sellers: "This scene portrays how the land was divided for the colonists. Selkirk
signed a treaty with Chief Peguis (the Cree and Saulteaux) that ceded a strip of land on
both sides of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers to the settlers."
"I tried to get it to look exactly what I would look like if you were there. I tried to get the
river to look exactly what it would look like. I found sketches of what the fences looked
like and how they were constructed. I went to Manitoba archives, museums and libraries
because of the clothing, the portraitures, and the farm equipment of that era. The clothing
was a big thing: to get it historically accurate and period specific."
The scene illustrates how the land was divided for settlers. One legend has it that they
were given as much land as they could see below the belly of a horse, but we're not certain
if that was the actual agreement. The end result was that the land was divided into long
narrow lots that were 220 yards wide and 2 miles long; 80 acres in each lot. The mile of
land closest to the river was tilled and planted; whereas the other was used for hay. They
had the birch bark canoes in which they transported goods for trading. To create the
cabins, and give them an authentic look, Jill went to the Museum of Man and Nature to
learn of their precise look and construction.
Historical backstory: Chief Peguis was known for his friendliness towards the
Selkirk Settlers. "Peguis," said Lord Selkirk in 1817, "has been a steady friend of the
settlement and has never deserted its cause in its reverses." He was a Saulteaux (Cree)
leader and befriended the settlers. The Selkirk Settlers who came in 1812 discovered that
there was not enough food for the winter. Families marched on foot to better-supplied
posts at Pembina. Chief Peguis met the Selkirk Settlers and carried their children to
Pembina.
When he found out that the settlers were having trouble with the North West Company,
he offered the services of seventy of his men to Governor Semple. Sadly, this offer of
friendship was not utilized by Semple (to his own downfall). Chief Peguis helped the
settlers recover from the attacks by the Nor'Westers. Chief Peguis, along with three other
chiefs, signed a historical land treaty between Lord Selkirk and the First Nations peoples
in July 1817.
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