Home >> The People and Their Communities >> Métis Communities >>Historic Communities >> Lesser Slave Lake >> Community and Society

Every aspect of life in the Lesser Slave Lake communities was influenced by the fur trade years. The movement of the Cree into the area just before the establishment of the North West Company post altered the life of the Beaver First Nations, who previously dominated the area. The Beaver people moved west to avoid conflict with the Cree, and both groups dreaded encountering the other.

The North West Company (NWC) brought with them the usual contingent of voyageurs, translators and clerks. The presence of three forts in the area for over 12 years before they had competition suggests that a relatively stable community of Métis and Cree had developed. Also part of the community were the Iroquois who had come into the area to take part in the fur trade as hunters and trappers. Given that the average NWC post had about 30 employees, as well as associated hunters, each post would have had approximately 30 families, equaling roughly 100 men and their families around the lake.

In spite of the rich fishing and fur trapping in the area, the trading communities experienced frequent food shortages caused by over-hunting. When the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) added the members of their trading posts to the general population, it was challenging not only to trade, but to maintain a balanced eco-system.

After the amalgamation of the NWC and the HBC, a number of employees, having become part of the Cree community, stayed and settled in the area. Among these people were the Cardinals and Desjarlais. Others still remained in the employ of the HBC, such as Francois Decoigne, Joseph Roy, Simon Allen and Pierre Lemay dit Delorme, Jacques L’Hirondelle, and Michel Klyne.

It is of interest to the history of the Métis in the area that as early as 1821, one of the concerns that was specifically addressed was how to handle "those fellows, two sons of Dejarlais, his son-in-law, Cardinal’s son and an old man"¹ who had been so spoiled by the competition that they required special care. This treatment resulted from each of these men being designated as trade Chiefs because of their influence with the Cree during the competition between the companies.

Scattered along the shore of Lesser Slave Lake, Slave Lake, Wagner, Canyon Creek, Kinuso, Faust, Joussard, Driftpile and Grouard, are the Métis populations of those communities who represent a part of Canada that was born in the early 19th century as a result the fur trade. While many Métis families came into the area after 1870, many more can be traced back to men working for the fur trade during the time of competition. Family names from two hundred years ago are still heard: Decoigne, Chalifoux, Shaw, Suprenant, Sinclair, Desjarlais, Morin, L’Hirondelle, Cardinal, Savard and McGillis are among the oldest families in the area.²

[Top] [Back]

Community and Society

The Municipal District of Lesser Slave Lake

Fur Trade History and Competition