Métis women formed the backbone of the fur trade. However, their contributions to the development of Canada remains poorly understood. The following highlights some of the important knowledge that Métis women contributed.
Pemmican
A food product made from dried meat, animal fat and dried berries. Pemmican played a significant role in the establishment of the survival of settler and Indigenous people during the fur trade and played a role in the establishment of Canada. Metis women played a pivotal role in the production of pemmican. The Metis would most likely not have risen to their economic, political and cultural strength when they did without it.
Berry Picking
Metis women have a deep attachment to their land. Relationship to the land as essential to community well-being. According to author Nathalie Kermoal, “Berry picking connected these women to their mental, emotional, physical and spiritual selves, to each other, and to the land”. Métis women’s knowledge of the land is “multidimensional, having economic, cultural, environmental, medicinal, and political purposes and meanings” (Kermoal & Altamirano, 2016).
