M is for Metis Sash

For the A to Z Blogger Challenge, the letter M is brought to you by the Métis sash. It was an integral part of Métis life on the Red River trails back in the mid 1800s. Originally called a L'Assumption sash (named for the town in Quebec in which it was first created) it;s made of wool and typically 3 meters long (about 10 feet) and as you can see in the picture below, quite beautiful. I learned about these while doing research for my YA historical novel Ox Cart Angel.

Métis sash - my folks bought this for me in Winnipeg 

It looks simple, like a long scarf, yet it had many uses. Here are ten of them.

1 - Belt. It was often worn around the waist to hold a Métis coat - known as a capote - closed. A capote, by the way, was usually made from a Hudson Bay blanket.

A capote coat. See the sash in the middle?

2 - Oven mitt. Of course, there weren't necessarily ovens on the ox cart trails, but if they needed to pull a hot pan or pot of coffee off of the fire, they could use their sash like we use an oven mitt today.

3 - Sewing repair. See the threads dangling on the end of the sash in the picture below? They were more than mere decoration. If a thread was needed for mending something, one of them could be pulled off and used for stitching.

4 - Key, knife, fire-kit holder. Those threads could also be used to attach items like keys. When wrapped around the waist, it often also held a knife on one side and a bag with fire-starting equipment on the other side.

5 - Buffalo marker. While on a buffalo hunt, the Métis sash could be used to mark a buffalo. Each sash had its unique qualities, and a Métis hunter could identify his from other sashes. If he killed a buffalo, he could place his sash on it, so that other hunters would know it was his.

6 - A tumpline. Tumplines were used by voyageurs and the Métis to carry heavy loads over portages or uneven terrain. They would place the middle of the sash over the top of their head and use the two free ends to tie a pack to their back.

7 - Bridle or saddle blanket. 

8 - Tourniquet. In a life-threatening emergency where heavy bleeding was involved, a Métis sash could be used as a tourniquet. It would be tied above an injury to stop or slow the flow of blood, turned tight by a stick or other baton-shaped object.

9 - A rope. 

10 - A scarf. A Métis sash does make a nice scarf!

Here's a closeup of the Métis sash so that you can see the detail:

The colors have meaning. The red and white represent the mixing of the American Indian and European nations. The blue represents sky and water. Green represents fertility and growth. Yellows represents the sun.

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On Genealogy, Family Lore, and Ox Cart Angel

My parents have a photograph of an ancestor – a woman, who according to family lore is a Pembina Ojibwe.

I wanted to find out more about her, so I started working on our genealogy.

But...

You know the game of ‘telephone’? It’s where there’s a line or circle of kids, and the first one whispers a phrase to the kid next to him, and that kid repeats the phrase to the next kid in line, and on and on until at the end, the whispered phrase is revealed by the last kid in line, and it’s nearly always completely different than when it started out.

Turns out our info about the photograph was like that.

Long story short, the woman in the photograph was actually named Lucy, and she had emigrated from France in the early 1820s. She was running a tavern in Prairie du Chien , her first husband deceased by the time my great-great-great grandfather Louis Desmarais met and married her. They moved to St. Paul around 1850.

Anyway, it was Louis’s mother who was Ojibwe. His father was French-Canadian.

Meanwhile, I’d been looking for information on this Pembina ancestor, and though I couldn’t find anything about her (yet!) I learned about the importance of Pembina and the ox cart/Red River trails in the 1800s. It was fascinating stuff. Here was a significant part of Minnesota and North Dakota history that I had never heard about in school, even though I grew up in Minnesota.

This eventually led to my writing Ox Cart Angel. I haven’t yet found my great-great-great-great Ojibwe grandmother, but the search led me to thirteen-year old Claire – a Métis girl – her photographer father Xavier, and a one-horned ox named Bonebag. I sometimes think of Claire’s mother as my g-g-g-g-grandmother. She’s a big part of the story, but only through the fading memories of her child.

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Swift County Museum Author Visit

Last Thursday I gave an author talk/presentation about the ox cart/Red River trails and Ox Cart Angel at the Swift County Historical Museum. I had a great time, and again, the audience was wonderful. They asked a lot of great questions, and had nice things to say afterward.

On the way up, I passed through Darwin, MN, which apparently is home to the world's largest ball of twine. I didn't stop to see it, but I could feel its twiney presence as I passed. Either that, or I was experiencing some sort of gastronomical distress...

I also stopped in Willmar on the way up and checked out the Kandiyohi County History Museum. I had a really nice surprise when I saw that they had one of only four original Red River Carts still known to exist! Talk about serendipity!

Then it was on to Benson, MN to the Swift County History Museum. I had some time to check out the place before I was due for the talk. What a great museum! They have a bit of everything.

Laura and Pam were the museum's curators, and they were incredibly helpful and nice. They did a lot of work promoting my appearance, for which I am incredibly grateful!

Thanks, Laura and Pam!

There was a nice turnout. I didn't take a picture of the audience, because I thought that would be a little awkward while giving my talk. But here's where they sat. And nearly all the seats were filled!

Now imagine people sitting in them.

It was a nice time. Much thanks to the people of Benson and the surrounding towns!

The drive home that night was a bit scary, however. It stormed most of the way home. Heavy downpours and the lightening seemed like a strobelight on steroids. The occasional hydroplaning was not much fun, either. But I made it back safe and sound, and all was well.

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22nd Annual Midwest Book Awards

I'm happy to announce that my novel Ox Cart Angel won a Midwest Book Award for Best Young Adult Novel of 2011! If you'd like to see some pictures from the event, head on over to my Ox Cart Angel blog.


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Midwest Book Awards finalist

Found out this week that Ox Cart Angel is a finalist in two categories (Young Adult fiction and Historical fiction) for the Midwest Book Awards. They're having a shindig on May 9th in Bloomington, MN to announce the winners.

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