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Topic ClosedL’Assomption Sash, CMR and the Metis

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TasunkaWitko View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: L’Assomption Sash, CMR and the Metis
    Posted: 15 March 2004 at 11:01
Throughout its history the sash has meant different things to different people. However, no one has celebrated and adopted L'Assomption sash as part of their proud heritage as have the Métis.

Taking its name from the Quebec town where it was produced, L'Assomption sash was not only functional, but colourful and identifiable as Métis apparel. The sash itself served as a temporary tumpline, key holder, first aid kit, washcloth, towel, and as an emergency bridle and saddle blanket. Its fringed ends could become a sewing kit when the Métis were on a buffalo hunt.

In the west, the name, "L'Assomption sash", gave way to today's term, "the Métis sash." The sash was extremely popular among the mixed blood voyageurs and those who settled in the Red River area. Today, the Métis sash continues to be an integral part of Métis cultural celebrations.

Recently, the Manitoba Métis Federation adopted a new colour variation, replacing the yellow of the original sash with black. The symbolism of the new sash is described below.

The blue and white represent the colours of the national flag. This flag, a white infinity symbol on a blue background, was flown on June 19th 1816 at the Battle of Seven Oaks, under the leadership of Cuthbert Grant, who led a Métis brigade on the Assiniboine River and seized the company post at Brandon House. As a result, Governor Semple and 21 of his men were killed, as well as one Métis.

The Métis hunting flag has a red background and a white infinity symbol. During a hunting expedition the flag belongs to the guide of the day, who is standard bearer. During some of these hunting expeditions great battles have occurred, such as the Battle of Grand Coteau.

The black added to the new sash, represents the dark period after 1870 during which time the Métis were suppressed and dispossessed of their land by Canada. In the years that followed, Métis were beaten or shot on the streets of Winnipeg, and bounties were placed on those who had collaborated with Louis Riel.
Nelson Mandela wearing the Sash during a visit to Ottawa.


Many Métis people moved west, north, east or south. Those who stayed behind were forced off their land and became squatters living mostly on road allowances.

The yellow, which has been removed from the Manitoba sash, may appear in exceptional situations. Representing gold, it can be woven onto both sides of a sash presented by the Métis community to an individual it wishes to honour. (The same system is being contemplated by the Métis National Council and if adopted would be known as The National Order of the Métis Sash.) Green signifies fertility, growth and prosperity for the Métis Nation. It means that we must move forward and reclaim our rightful place in Canadian history.


Based on a submission by Nelson Sanderson
Manitoba Métis Cultural Club

http://www.metisnation.ca/ARTS/hist_sash.html



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TasunkaWitko - Chinook, Montana

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 March 2004 at 11:01
the assumption sash is as significant to the metis as tartans are to the scots.
TasunkaWitko - Chinook, Montana

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 March 2004 at 11:04
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 March 2004 at 14:58

This is my personal Metis flag. The red and blue fields represent both segments of the Metis, as I have lived in both areas. The red is also representative of the Freetrappers, as is the turtle. The Blue also represents the Blue Lodge of Masonry, along with the Past Masters symbol.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 March 2004 at 03:42
TasunkaWitko - Chinook, Montana

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 March 2004 at 08:42

The Metis Sash
(also called the Voyageur Sash or the Assumption Sash)

From his earliest days in Montana, Charlie Russell wore a multicolored woven sash instead of a belt, and this Metis (pronounced “may-tee”) sash came to be identified with Charlie. The only known reason for him wearing it, is simply because he liked the sash. Over the years, he had several variations of it made. However, the history of the Metis sash began long before Russell. For example, the Hudson Bay Company was the first to sell these sashes; the name of L’Assumption Sash is from a town in Quebec, Canada where the sashes were made for trading with the Indians; the name Voyageur is for the early French explorers who often traveled the Canadian waterways by canoe and commonly wore these sashes; and finally, Metis is a French word for “mixed blood – mostly French Canadian and American Indian” that was given to the people living along the Red River on the Canadian/Minnesota border, and these people wore a sash to identify themselves as Metis.

Charlie said about his wearing of a sash, “ I have all ways worn one and like them better than a belt. I believe they keep me from having a big belly—all breeds usto ware them Mex french lots of people in Quebeck ware them I saw men in france waring them—all that I saw [were] all silk Italions ware.”

http://www.cmrussell.org/meet.html

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