Canadian History in Entirely Precedented Times

By Jacob Richard

“Show patriotism by supporting the Hudson’s Bay Company,” declares a recent letter to the editor in the Vancouver Sun. Lamenting the news that the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) is on the verge of financial collapse, the letter writer argues that there is “nothing more tragic to becoming the 51st state than to see the Hudson’s Bay close for good.” With the US-Canada trade war dominating headlines, if Canadians “really want to show their devoted patriotism and loyalty to our nation … then get down to your local Hudson’s Bay store.”

So, here we are in the middle of a North American trade war, and Canadians are being given a providential task. As the HBC puts one foot in the grave, it appears – for some – as though Canadians will have to resurrect this fallen icon themselves. But what do we owe this “Canadian” behemoth? Does a trade war justify our loyalty to aging imperial icons?

As Robert Engelbert recently argued for Active History, there is nothing really “unprecedented” about the trade war of today. Through tariffs, boycotts, threats, and even a few real invasions, Canada has always held firm with the United States.

The truth is, we are living in entirely precedented times. While the details may differ, poor Canada-US relations are a return to normalcy. It’s our recent cooperation that sticks out as novel, not this current souring of affairs.

Akin to Canada-US relations, the HBC and Indigenous peoples have also been cycling through periods of cooperation and antagonism for over 350 years. A legacy that, long and impactful, is worthy of our attention, especially with the eerily parallel re-introduction of bison back onto the Canadian plains.

Rather than give it life-support, maybe it’s time we say goodbye to the HBC. But before we do, let’s quickly look back at the former precedent of our bison.

The Bison Precedent

In November 1825, Gen. Henry Atkinson of the United States Army finally finished his long and arduous tour along the upper Missouri River. Successfully treating with the Indigenous nations that lived there, Atkinson sent a formal request to William H. Ashley to provide him with a “sketch of the country.” Ashley’s Rocky Mountain Fur Company (RMFC) was beginning to draw serious interest from the United States government, especially regarding his ground-breaking expeditions across the Rockies.

Writing back to Atkinson on December 1^st, Ashley described a country where the “weather was fine, [and] the valleys literally covered with buffaloe.” In fact, the bison were not just “innumerable” but also key to summer and winter travel. Ashley recalled:

“The snow was now so deep that had it not been for the numerous herds of buffaloe moving down the river, we could not possibly have proceeded. The paths of these animals were beat on either side of the river and afforded an easy passage to our horses. These animals were essentially beneficial to us in another respect … leaving the grass exposed to view, which was the only nourishment our horses could obtain.”[1]

Rather famously, it did not take long for the bison population to collapse. While the longer version of this familiar story is tired, it’s worth noting that the bison population bottlenecked in just over half a century.[2] Under the care of trading companies like the HBC and RMFC, bison were killed en masse to fuel a massively overtaxed trading network. Whether for pemmican, robes, or for policies designed to remove Indigenous peoples from their lands, the bison suffered massively in the late 19^th century. By 1889, there were only a few hundred left.

With that in mind, we need to understand that the disappearance of the buffalo is the irregularity. This change symbolized a divergence from a long tradition of plentiful bison.

Return of the Buffalo

Now for some good news: a recent CBC article on the return of bison from Yellowstone to Canada. This year, eleven plains bison from the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana were delivered to the Mosquito, Grizzly Bear’s Head, Lean Man (MGBHLM) First Nation in Saskatchewan. These eleven bison “will join 22 plains bison the community received from Elk Island National Park in Alberta in 2023,” bolstering the ongoing effort to repopulate North America with its native bison herds.

This transfer of bison is part of the 2014 “Buffalo Treaty,” which is a multi-nation agreement to “recognize BUFFALO as a wild free-ranging animal and as an important part of the ecological system; to provide a safe space and environment across our historic homelands, on both sides of the United States and the Canadian border, so together WE can have our brother, the BUFFALO, lead us in nurturing our land.”

More than just a herd, these bison are helping these Assiniboine reconnect with their Nakota kin in the United States. In that same article, MGBHLM Chief Tanya Stone reiterated her belief that “if we come together as a Nakota people and nation to nation and alliances, it … strengthens us as a people.” She said that for her community, “seeing [the bison] on the road and crossing the border was a dream come true.” Far from problematic, the border crossing is a symbol of hope and burgeoning alliances for these resurgent plains nations.

Conclusion

In contrast to recent events, this exchange of bison represents a return to the precedent. The precedent has been the abundance of bison in North America. The precedent has also been multi-national Indigenous alliances. For thousands of years, bison swarmed this continent and were the heartbeat to Indigenous culture and politics on the plains. The absence of bison, not their recent re-introduction, is the aberration.

At the same time, the death rattle of the HBC could also be a return to normal. With the HBC on the way out and the bison on the rise, nature seems to be healing. The long scar of colonialism still haunts Canada, but the rise and fall of these North American symbols should reassure us that the continent is decolonizing, in its own poetic way. 

We are living in entirely precedented times. Now more than ever, history seems to give us the reassurance we need to push onwards. Like the bison returning to Canada, something does not need to be “unprecedented” to be important. Sometimes, being precedented makes it even more so.

Jacob Richard is a History Ph.D. Candidate at Queen’s University. An Acadian from Thunder Bay, he researches the fur trade in nineteenth-century North America.

Suggested Reading

Benchetrit, Jenna. “ Hudson’s Bay is in limbo after filing for creditor protection. Here’s what you need to know.” CBC, 2025.

Colpitts, George. Pemmican Empire: Food, Trade, and the Last Bison Hunts in the North American Plains, 1780-1882. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014.

Daschuk, James. Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation, and the Loss of Aboriginal Life. Regina: University of Regina Press, 2013.

Englebert, Robert. “Trump needs a history lesson. Maybe we all do.” Active History, 2025.

Hoy, Benjamin. A Line of Blood and Dirt: Creating the Canada-United States Border Across Indigenous Lands. New York: Oxford University Press, 2021.

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[1] William H. Ashley, “The Ashley Narrative,” in The Ashley-Smith explorations and the discovery of a central route to the Pacific, 1822-1829, with the original journals, by Harrison C. Dale (Cleveland: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1918), 123.

[2] See George Colpitts’ Pemmican Empire or James Daschuk’s Clearing the Plains.