Discussions

Some Historians say the first pioneer women who came to Canada suffered hardships beyond belief. They usually came for economic reasons and thought it would be a way to survive their meager lives. They brought with them the Victorian baggage, and that briefly meant that women should be seen and not heard. Aboriginal women could never be as ‘womanly’ as English women, they were not Christians, they lacked Propriety, and Gentility, when a Fur Trader returned to Montreal or England he “turned her off”, a term used to describe the passing of his prairie wife to another Fur Trader.  
The funny thing is that Aboriginal women had been here for centuries, and had to deal with being female just like all the other women in the world. They had the Menses, they made love, and they birthed babies, and ended up having menopause, the whole package. So do we know how they managed so many years ago? Basically the answer is no, the early Pioneers and Fur Traders did not look upon Aboriginal women as complete women: they were not schooled or poised like European women.  
They certainly would not have bothered asking native women about their underwear and other female subjects. If they could have broken the language barrier, Native women had their own modesty and would have remained silent. Even talking man to man it would be impossible to get a First Nations Chief to describe his wife’s panties. The early reports from Traders, starting with quotes from Sir, J. H. Lefroy (John Henry), 1817-1890. who was in the West in the mid 1800’s. He gives a description of a Native babies Cradle: “The outside case is made of cloth which is embroidered, the inside is stuffed with a soft silky moss which is in abundance in this country. It is deducted that if moss works for babies then why not for women during their menstrual cycle? The writer Sylvia Van Kirk is quoted as saying that a Voyageur from Fort Chipewyan was observed helping his wife collect moss. Back at headquarters the man was rebuked because it was deemed unmanly to be seen to fetch and carry for an Aboriginal woman. Did she need the moss for her baby? Probably, but what else would she need it for? George Simpson, (the Hudson's Bay Company governor of Rupert's Land) who only used Native women for recreational purposes wrote a reprimand to one of his Hudson’s Bay Traders for traveling with his wife and children when he could have been transporting furs in their place. He was annoyed because their Baggage, Pots, Pans, Kettles and Bags of Moss accompanied them, (another reference to Moss). It is now presumed that women used the Moss during their periods. A member from the Blood Tribe of the Blackfeet named Beverly Hungary Wolf supplies us with the answer in her book “The ways of my Grandmothers”. She says that Moss was used for baby’s diapers and their bedding, and also as early feminine protection. The Moss was stored during the summer months to be used in the winter. She says that to keep the Moss in place while being used a piece of leather was worn from back to front and secured close to the body by leather thongs. Hungry Wolf further recalls that a young maiden’s first period was a time of celebration. Cree girls were taught to refer to these days like “the fox has bitten you.” She was placed in seclusion for four days, after which she was presented to the women of the community to be blessed, and showered with gifts in a coming of age ceremony. From then on during her Period she would be expected to rest, and isolate herself from the community, not because it was considered a shameful experience, but a holy time in her life cycle when she was cleansed, she therefore was considered most holy during her period, and that is why some of her duties were excused.  
 
Source: The unmentionable history of the west, Nancy Millar.  
 
Many Tender Ties: Women in Fur-Trade Society, 1670-1870. Sylvia Van Kirk