Victory at Frog Plain

June 19, 2021

The Victory of Frog Plain (la Victoire de la Grenouillère), or the Battle of Seven Oaks as the lii' Zanglias call it, took place on June 19^th, 1816. The battle was the culmination of the Pemmican Wars and the escalating fur trade disputes between the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) and the North West Company (NWC).

Métis leader, Cuthbert Grant, along with his men, were confronted on their way to deliver pemmican and other supplies to men waiting on Lake Winnipeg. Governor Robert Semple and the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) men attempted to detain Grant and his men as well as confiscate their supplies. A firefight ensued leaving Cuthbert Grant and his men victorious.

The Victory at Frog Plain is one of the first times the Métis People asserted themselves as "the New Nation", with rights to trade as they wished and travel freely on their own land. At the end of the battle, Grant himself declared la nouvelle nation as he flew the flag of the Métis Nation for the first time.

In 1816, the Metis defended their right to free trade as an Indigenous people and officially became a Nation. It is this victory, a pivotal moment in Métis history, that is celebrated every year.

Please visit the link below for more information on this moment in our history.

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