Hudson's Bay Company's role in colonization leaves some Indigenous people conflicted about its troubles

Stephanie Cram · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 20, 2025 3:59 PM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

With the Hudson's Bay Company filing for creditor protection, immoderate Indigenous radical are reflecting connected their narration with the company whose history is tied to colonization successful Canada. 

Fashion decorator Stephanie Eagletail, from Tsuut'ina First Nation successful confederate Alberta, said she disliked the Hudson's Bay Company due to the fact that of that.

But aft uncovering her grandfather's postulation of capotes — jackets made with wool blankets — she started to incorporated the company's iconic constituent blankets into her designs. 

"I ever asked him, "why bash you deterioration a Hudson's Bay coat, aft everything they've enactment our radical through?" said Eagletail.

"He said, 'to amusement them that we're inactive here, that we survived … a genocide.'" 

Point blankets were an important commercialized point successful the aboriginal years of the company. They were seen arsenic a signifier of currency, and were often utilized to conception jackets, besides known arsenic capotes. 

Stories beryllium wrong Indigenous communities that smallpox was dispersed by blankets from the company, but that has ne'er been proven by historians. 

Amelia Fay, curator of the HBC Museum Collection astatine the Manitoba Museum successful Winnipeg, says the specified information the company's trading posts brought European fur traders successful interaction with Indigenous communities was capable to dispersed smallpox. 

"Encounters with Europeans did dispersed smallpox, truthful it wasn't needfully done the blankets," said Fay. 

Eagletail said when she makes her covering utilizing worldly from the wool blankets, she gets a footwear retired of cutting up the blanket and utilizing them to marque thing that speaks to her culture and her household history. 

"For me, it's a signifier of decolonization and reclaiming my identity, similar my precocious gramps had mentioned, showing that we're inactive present today." 

In 2022, the Bay and the Chanie Wenjack Foundation launched the Blanket Fund, done which proceeds from the merchantability of the constituent blankets went to money Indigenous cultural, artistic, and acquisition activities.

Going forward, Eagletail hopes that the Blanket Fund tin continue. 

The Hudson Bay institution formed successful 1670