The new world demanded individuals with entrepreneurial spirit and adaptation to the climate and hostile living conditions. Metis people adapted many items to facilitate their needs. In every aspect of life the Metis adjusted European technology to that of the prairies. The Indian had no knowledge of the wheel, but because of their European ancestry the Metis knew of it and some may have even observed it in action as transportation in vehicles in Eastern Canada, as well as used in wheelbarrows at the larger fur trading posts. The cart that emerged as being so useful on the prairies was later developed in the Red River Valley. Yet, the cart, as with most things associated with the Metis, was not invented, but, rather, it was a modification of the iron and wood carts common to Quebec. Through adaptation and necessity the Metis People in Canada have evolved a rich heritage and culture that is very much alive today.

York Boats

This form of transportation rose to prominence in the 19th Century. The York Boat was invented by a Metis man by the name of Sinclair. These boats played a major role in the fur trade industry-as they replaced the freight canoes on the main water systems of Canada. They had a larger carrying capacity and required fewer men to operate them. These boats enabled furs to be transported faster and much more economically than by canoe.

These boats were fashioned after the fishing boats used on the Orkney Islands. They were up to forty-two feet (12.6 m) long and were capable of carrying six tons (5.4 t) of cargo. The York Boat required 18 men to operate it: a helmsman to give the orders for rowing, a man to steer and sixteen middle-men to pull the oars. The men were also required to portage the large boats around waterfalls and other obstacles. Sails were used to catch favourable winds.

The men who operated the York Boats were predominately Metis employees of the fur trading companies. These boats became outdated with the advent of the steamboat and the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

Red River Carts

Metis Red River carts were an amazing adaptation of new and old. During the buffalo hunt years, the Metis needed to transport huge volumes and weights of buffalo meat and furs over bumpy dusty prairie-dog potholed terrain, crossing numerous rivers and creeks. The Metis designed the perfect plains vehicle. It was made entirely of wood and its various parts were bound together with wet rawhide, which became as hard as iron when it dried. The wheels were dish-shaped so that their broad rims did not cut deeply into the soil. Resting on the axle was a box in which the goods to be transported were carried. The cart could be used as a barge when rivers had to be crossed simply by removing the wheels, attaching them under the axle and box, and encasing everything in buffalo skins so tat it floated like a raft. A harness was made from a buffalo hide, often in one piece.

The cart carried a load of about one thousand pounds and this weight could be pulled by oxen for a distance of twenty miles in a day. Being entirely made from such readily obtained materials as rawhide and wood, it was easily repaired, but they were tremendously noisy. Wood rubbing on wood is unpleasant at the best of times; it became deafening when a thousand wooden carts rumbled over the prairie together. Carts moved single file, except when in danger from Indians, when they travelled several abreast. Each driver controlled five or six carts strung out behind him, each ox tied to the cart ahead. Many of our major highways have been built upon old Red River Cart trails.

In the tradition of decorating household and personal items, Metis women often adorned their carts. As one editor of a local newspaper observed: "The carts of the women are painted; and have a cover with other appearances of greater attention to comfort than is displayed in the carts appropriated to the men."

Cariole

A common form of winter transportation was the cariole, a type of sleigh pulled by a dog team or horse and, in true Metis fashion, it was often decorated. The cariole carried one person only. The runners of the carioles were made from birch wood that had been carefully chosen, cut, boiled and shaped. The frame was made of birch wood, usually carved. The sides were made of green buffalo hide with the hair scraped completely off and dried, resembling thick parchment and covering the front part. When the seat had been fitted in, fur robes were laid over it. A person slipped into it as into a mitten. They were gayly painted, decorated with Russian bells on the dogs and the harness was decorated with beadwork and tassels. The dogs wore highly decorated saddle-cloths of various colours, fringed and embroidered in the most fantastic manner, with innumerable small bells and feathers. On their horses they put brightly decorated saddle-cloths and belts with red, white and blue beading on a black background.

Furniture and home construction

Metis craftsmen constructed many pieces of furniture and other household items. These rough hewn articles are now hidden in museums and government agencies and mislabeled as Colonial pieces or Canadianna. The articles of furniture must be studied and declared a heritage of the Metis Nation. Metis craftsmen devised their own type of joints and distinct artistic styles, whether in construction of the item or in the decoration of it. These articles must be repatriated to Metis people.

The Red River style of log building construction was one of the original methods used in Canada. The logs were left rounded with notched ends. This type of construction consisted of a basic frame of grooved, vertical, squared posts, mortised and tenoned into sills at their bases or set directly into the ground (in rare, early cases), and at their tips, mortised and tenoned into squared plates. Horizontal, squared timbers were fixed between these posts, with the tenons of the horizontal timbers fitting into the vertical groove of the posts. Roof structures of varying types were built on the wall plates. Red River Frame construction allowed both flexibility and portability. Large buildings could be erected using short logs, and buildings could be easily dismantled, moved and put up elsewhere. For these reasons, Red River Frame was the predominant type of construction used in the Canadian West during the fur trade era. The Red River style of log construction has spread across North America and is currently enjoying new popularity. Red River log construction is yet another Metis contribution to the development of Canada.

Household Furnishings

The Metis' furnishings and utensils, like their clothing, were a combination of Indian and European. From the trading posts they obtained cast-iron pots and skillets, copper kettles, tin plates and cups, cutlery, as well as blankets-most of their other needs they supplied themselves.

The Metis made many containers: pots and storage bags from the hides of buffalo and smaller game. Rawhide (animal skin with the fur scraped off) was cut and sewn to make containers. Sometimes the Metis made cooking pots from rawhide and to prevent the skin from collapsing when it was wet, they gave it a frame of willow. A skin pot could not be placed over direct flame, so stones were heated in the fire and dropped into the water to make it boil. Containers and baskets were also made from birth bark sewn with spruce roots. These were preferred over woven willow and reed baskets, which were too cumbersome when families were on the move.

To store needles, a bone from a rabbit or other small animal was hollowed out, cleaned and plugged at both ends. The stomachs of small game, when cleaned and dried, made excellent airtight bags.

Sinew (the back muscle of an animal) was commonly used for sewing. It is long and stringy and when dried and separated makes an excellent thread that is almost impossible to break. Glue was obtained by boiling down animals' hooves or horns to a fine paste.

For scraping flesh and fat off hides, the Metis used scrapers with stone or metal blades (the edges being serrated) and fleshers made from the thigh and leg bones of animals. Needles were purchased from traders, but in early times an awl was used to pierce holes for the sinew to pass through.

Dishes could be made from hollowed out slabs of wood and from birch bark. Rock and stone hammers and mauls were made by grinding rocks for hours with another stone. With a maul, buffalo meat and wild berries could be pounded on a hallowed out stone to make pemmican.

Buffalo robes were used as blankets and rugs and when cloth scraps were available, a woman could produce a quilt by making a sheet from many small pieces, sewing the sheet into a bag and stuffing it with feathers or down. Like their sisters, the Plains Indian women, Metis women put colourful designs and patterns on the articles they used everyday, sometimes for spiritual reasons-for they were part Indian, but most often they did this because of their love of decoration.

Horse Gear

Metis people loved horses, so much so that they often celebrated holidays by festooning their animals in garlands and feathers and art work and held races. The Plains Indians usually rode bareback or with a blanket over their horses. The Metis, however, crafted magnificent saddles that were embroidered with flower bead work. The Plains people quickly followed suit, but the saddles of the Plains people did not have the bead work on them. These Metis horsemen were renowned for their skills with a horse. So much so that they taught their horses to dance the quadrille. The modern day Musical Ride of the R.C.M.P. incorporates this Metis inspired dance for their horses in their routine.

Hair Braiding

Braiding of the hair was brought to North America by Europeans. Metis women copied this type of hairstyle and brought it to their Indian cousins. Previous to this, Indian people plaited their hair. The misrepresented idea that North American Indians always practiced braiding their hair is not true, but a practice adapted by them through the Metis.