As the French Metis Voyageurs undertook the arduous and perilous journey from Montreal to various points in the West, they were imbued with a strong sense of joie de vivre. Proud of their physical strength, endurance, and daring skills, the Voyageurs developed a powerful esprit de corps and a distinctive style of dress that became their trademark. Each item of their attire was skillfully adorned with embroidery, porcupine quills, and/or glass beads. The Eastern Métis people learned their artistic techniques from the Mi’kmaq, Algonquin, Huron and other Indigenous nations, while the Western Métis people were influenced by the Ojibwa and other Great Plains and Prairie nations.
*Regional styles of the arrow sash (ceinture fléchée). Date 27 October 2011. Author: Chev8.
The Métis sash is the most recognizable and prominent symbol of Métis identity today. The first North American sashes were woven from plant fibres using a traditional finger-weaving technique from the Eastern Woodland First Nations. With the European introduction of wool and the custom of including sashes as part of a person’s wardrobe, the Six Nations Confederacy, Potawatomi, and other Eastern Indigenous Nations began to combine the two traditions, creating the finger-woven Métis sash. Historically and even today, the sash has many variations, but the most identifiable is the Assomption Sash, originally manufactured in L’Assomption, Quebec, by French settlers. This popular trade item during the fur trade eventually made its way west.
The Métis sash was a distinctive element of Métis dress, serving as both a practical tool and a decorative art form. Worn around the midsection, the sash could be used to keep a coat closed, as a scarf, washcloth, towel, saddle blanket, rope, or tourniquet. Sashes were made of brightly coloured wool and often contained a hunting knife and a fire bag.
Blue: The depth of the Métis spirit
Green: The fertility of the great Métis Nation
White: The Métis connection to the earth and to the Creator
Yellow: The prospect of Métis prosperity
Black: The dark period of suppression and dispossession of Métis land
The traditional Métis dress included three distinctive coat styles: The buckskin jacket, the capote, and the Red River coat.
The introduction of early European coat styles in the East led to the development of buckskin jackets. Indigenous peoples were encouraged to adopt these European fabrics, sewing techniques, and embroidery, which they incorporated into their traditional use of animal hides – a preferable material to woven cloth for its warmth and durability.
The Métis adapted European embroidery techniques and incorporated traditional Indigenous motifs to reflect the plants and landmarks of their surroundings. They also adopted European sewing methods, utilizing glass beads. Métis beadwork became highly prized, earning them the name “the flower beadwork people” as a reflection of their blended cultural heritage.
Métis beadwork often exhibited an almost three-dimensional, symmetrical floral quality of great intricacy. Métis craftspeople who specialized in this technique frequently produced buckskin jackets for sale. Their exceptional coat-making skills were widely respected and sought after by the local community and collectors.
The capote, a thigh-length, hooded coat with full-length sleeves, is most recognizable as the striped woollen coat made from Hudson Bay blankets. At the peak of the fur trade, these blankets became a popular item among the Métis, who often acquired them through trade with the Hudson Bay Company and the Northwest Company. It became a cultural practice for Métis people to transform these blankets into expertly designed, breathable and flexible wool coats for comfortable movement during trapping, hunting, and other land-based work.
The capote style originated in the East and spread westward as European and Métis fur traders ventured deeper into the Canadian interior. These coats featured unique decorative elements that helped identify Métis traders within society. The patterns and colors of the blankets used told the story of individual Métis families and their trade affiliations. Blue was preferred by the Catholic Métis and white by the Protestant Métis, while both wore grey and HBC colours. A sash was worn around the waist, and a fire bag was either tucked in the folds of the sash or hung around the neck by a shoulder strap. A fire bag was used to carry flints, steel, and tinder to start a fire, as well as tobacco, a pipe, a knife, and other personal items, as most capotes had no pockets.
Today, the capote jacket is experiencing a resurgence in contemporary Métis communities due to its strong cultural significance.
The term “Red River coat” originated from the Red River settlement, an agricultural community founded in 1812 in Rupert’s Land (the northwestern region of Canada at the time) to serve fur trade interests. Many of the settlement’s residents were Métis, and in the nineteenth century, a distinct style of hooded coat became an unofficial uniform for Métis men in the trade. This blue capote, made of heavy wool fabric and often accented with brass buttons or trim at the shoulders, was belted with a sash – a marker of Métis trader identity that became politicized during the Red River Uprising of 1869.
Large volumes of these manufactured capotes were shipped to the trading territories. Eventually, the blue version came to be known as the “Red River coat” after the Red River settlement became part of the new province of Manitoba, which joined Confederation in 1870.
In the 20th century, the iconic Canadian children’s coat, inspired by the traditional Red River coat, became especially popular in Quebec. These miniature versions were crafted from navy wool, featuring a hood and red piping accents. Often paired with coordinating red sashes, toques, and mittens, the coats evoked a nostalgic tribute to Canada’s historic fur trade culture. However, the appropriation of this “Métis uniform” simultaneously served to erase the Indigenous identity it was derived from, as the coat became woven into Canada’s colonial national identity.
