Great Resources for Learning About the Métis

If you'd like to learn about who the Métis were and are, here are some great resources, many of which I used when researching Ox Cart Angel. Most of them are Canadian based, because most of those who identify as Métis live there. For example, approximately 400,000 people self-identify as Métis in Canada, while only 10,000 do in the U.S. - mainly in North Dakota.

Websites:

Virtual Museum of Métis History and Culture

Indigenous Foundations

Métis Nation of Ontario

Turtle Island Productions

Complete History of the Canadian Métis Culture

If you want more comprehensive info, or personal stories, here are some books I'd recommend. If you click on the covers, it will take you to their Amazon page.

Walking in the Woods; a Metis Journey

Metis: Mixes Blood Stories

Contours of a People

Homeland to Hinterland

And for kids:

The Tiny Voyageur

Remember, you can always simply type Metis into your favorite search engine and find all sorts of great information!

Meena kawapimitin!

(see you soon!)

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If You REALLY Want to Learn About the Red River Trails...

When I wrote Ox Cart Angel, one of the most helpful books I used for research by far was a book put out by the Minnesota Historical Society by Rhoda Gilman, Carolyn Gilman, and Deborah Stultz:

Red River Trails : Oxcart Routes Between St Paul and the Selkirk Settlement 1820-1870

It's full of detailed trail maps, lots of background and history on the trails and the people who rode them, as well as historical pictures. There are a ton of references for further reading in the back of the book, too.

While I hope you get some fun information from this blog, the above book is highly recommended if you want to get to know the trails in a much more intimate way. It's available at many historical museums in Minnesota and North Dakota, as well as on the usual online shops. (The link above takes you to Amazon, if you're interested.) I'm guessing a lot of libraries carry it, also.

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Swift County, MN Author Talk

Last Thursday I gave an author talk/presentation about the ox cart/Red River trails and Ox Cart Angel at the Swift County Historical Museum. I had a great time, and again, the audience was wonderful. They asked a lot of great questions, and had nice things to say afterward.

On the way up, I passed through Darwin, MN, which apparently is home to the world's largest ball of twine. I didn't stop to see it, but I could feel its twiney presence as I passed. Either that, or I was experiencing some sort of gastronomical distress...

I also stopped in Willmar on the way up and checked out the Kandiyohi County History Museum. I had a really nice surprise when I saw that they had one of only four original Red River Carts still known to exist! Talk about serendipity!

Then it was on to Benson, MN to the Swift County History Museum. I had some time to check out the place before I was due for the talk. What a great museum! They have a bit of everything.

Laura and Pam were the museum's curators, and they were incredibly helpful and nice. They did a lot of work promoting my appearance, for which I am incredibly grateful!

Thanks, Laura and Pam!

There was a nice turnout. I didn't take a picture of the audience, because I thought that would be a little awkward while giving my talk. But here's where they sat. And nearly all the seats were filled!

Now imagine people sitting in them.

It was a nice time.  Much thanks to the people of Benson and the surrounding towns!

The drive home that night was a bit scary, however. It stormed most of the way home. Heavy downpours and the lightening seemed like a strobelight on steroids. The occasional hydroplaning was not much fun, either. But I made it back safe and sound, and all was well.

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The Origins of Ox Cart Angel

I’m a genealogy buff. I love searching through old censuses, looking up obituaries of long lost relatives, visiting graveyards. Might sound a little morbid, perhaps, but from those, I try to piece together what little I can of my ancestors lives. Most of it is conjecture. I don’t have a famous ancestor whose life was written about in magazines and biographies, and none that I know of kept a detailed journal that managed to survive from one generation to the next, so it’s very hard to know what their lives were really like.

A couple of my ancestors have been particularly elusive to me. I don’t really know their names, other than the last name of one may have been Fallman or Tallman, and he was a photographer who came down to the U.S. through French Canada. I also have an ancestor who was Ojibwa who lived in Pembina. About her, I really know nothing else, other than that she married another ancestor of mine who was a voyageur with the last name of Demarais (or something like that. It eventually was shortened to Demar.)

When reading about Pembina, trying to find out more about this Ojibwa woman, I learned about the Metis, and about the ox cart and Red River trails. It’s quite an important piece of history, and one that doesn’t get a whole lot written about it. That got my imagination working. What was it like to travel from Pembina to St. Paul back in the 1800’s? Had any of my ancestors made that journey? What if they had to make it alone? From that sprang Ox Cart Angel. Even though Fallman/Tallman the photographer never met or knew the Demarais ancestors, I combined them for the sake of the story.

And for some reason, while plotting the story, I kept envisioning the main character, Claire, in an oversized wedding dress that had belonged to her mother, and the people whom she crossed paths with oftentimes felt that she looked angelic dressed this way.

A lot of great material for stories can be found simply by looking back at our past, or the past of our ancestors, and the times and places they lived in.

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Nice Review for Ox Cart Angel!

I recently received a very nice review from Jenna Anderson's Novella & Short Story Reviews blog.


And excerpt from the review:

"The captivating storyline carried me from the first page to the last. At times I was on the edge of my seat and others I was sad, enraged, and awed. More than once I found myself starring blankly at my Kindle screen. Mr. Arnold has a way of painting beautifully detailed scenes and situations. He sets the reader up for deeper thoughts and knocked me out of the story - in a good way. Themes of pioneer days, racism before it was called such, survival, family, beliefs, society were all presented in this middle grade book. I couldn't help but stop and reflect. An author with this skill - especially for young readers - is a fantastic find."
Click here to read the whole thing.

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Ox Cart Angel on Amazon!