Prairie Public Shorts
Métis Settlers Kittson County History Center/Museum
10/13/2023 | 3m 11sVideo has Closed Captions
A look at Metis artifacts at the Kittson County History Center/Museum in Lake Bronson, Min
In this artifact spotlight from the Kittson County History Center/Museum in Lake Bronson, Minnesota, Ed Jerome talks about his Metis ancestors who helped settle this Northwest corner of Minnesota.
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Prairie Public Shorts is a local public television program presented by Prairie Public
Prairie Public Shorts
Métis Settlers Kittson County History Center/Museum
10/13/2023 | 3m 11sVideo has Closed Captions
In this artifact spotlight from the Kittson County History Center/Museum in Lake Bronson, Minnesota, Ed Jerome talks about his Metis ancestors who helped settle this Northwest corner of Minnesota.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship- Hi, this is Ed Jerome at the Kittson County Historical Museum at Lake Brunson, Minnesota.
And this is our artifact spotlight.
(pleasant music) My great-grandfather, Andre Jerome, was born in the Red River settlement which is where Winnipeg is today.
And sometime in the early 1840s, they immigrated to Pembina.
They were buffalo hunters.
Participated in the buffalo hide trade.
And also making the cart trips to St. Paul.
I built an oxcart as a tribute to the ancestors that participated in the trade in from the Red River Valley to St. Paul on the Mississippi.
Tried to build a similar or replica of the originals.
They're built out of, mainly oak.
And the hubs were built of elm because they're a stringy wood and less chance of them splitting or breaking.
And they wore well.
And the stakes and the basket are ash.
Figured it takes about a couple hundred hours to build one.
That's with mostly modern tools.
1872 is one of the first settlers in Kittson County.
He raised a large family, had 10 children.
The Metis are the children of the fur traders and Indigenous women from the area.
There's several generations like, Andre Jerome was, his great-grandmother would've been a Indigenous woman and his great-grandfather was a French voyager from Montreal.
This is a pipe that was, belonged, to my great-grandfather Andre Jerome.
Wood from an ash tree, and then the willow for the pipe stem.
In about 1983, we had a family reunion and a cousin brought it and donated it to the Kittson County Museum.
This is a sash the Metis wore.
It was originally used by the voyagers on their canoe trips from St. Paul.
They wrapped it around their waist to help prevent hernias 'cause of the heavy packs they carried.
We're proud of our ancestors.
They were, opened up the country to trade.
We're proud of all our ancestors.
This is Ed Jerome, and this is our artifact spotlight.
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Prairie Public Shorts is a local public television program presented by Prairie Public