HBC Point Blanket

A folded Hudson's Bay Point Blanket, Image Courtesy of HBC

A Symbol of Cultural Interaction and Exploitation

The Hudson's Bay Company point blanket is recognized as a symbol of Canadian identity, representing the history of relations between the Canada's pioneers and the First Nations peoples of Canada. Collector and expert on the point blanket, Harold Tichenor describes the blanket as "the heart and soul of the nation," yet a more in-depth glance reveals that the blanket's history has a darker side. Although Hbc has repeatedly advirtised their fundamental role in the exploration and development of Canada, they neglect to admit their history of exploiting First Nations and Inuit peoples. They have had their history branded and controversial issues of the past have been ‘sanitized, neutralized and glossed over.’ For Hbc, history is now a corporate object and therefore can be manipulated to maintain consumer interest and profit. The blanket was in fact an object of barter but its symbolism has been commericalized. It is time to explore what else the point blanket means to Canada without the commercial constructs of a corporation. By exploring how the point blanket was used for barter, the unfairness of these agreements and what the blanket means today, Canada must recognize that the point blanket is also a symbol of exploitation and the continued exaltation of a company who neglects to accept their role in the mistreatment of Canada's First Peoples.

Hbc and the Point Blanket

Founded in 1670, the Hudson's Bay Company is Canada’s oldest retailer and corporation. The company’s beginnings were founded by the pioneers, fur traders who explored Canada's arctic and vast plains. Their interactions with the First Nations and Inuit people, who acted as guides and fur trappers, were the fundamental strength of the company's prosperity. Today, the Hudson’s Bay Company is the general retail merchant and official outfitter of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The recent Olympic campaign pulls at the patriotic heartstrings of the Canadian consumer. In an attempt to re-launch itself as the company of Canadian history, Hbc has tapped into one of their most valuable resources: the company’s role in Canadian history and the products that characterize that role.

Inside the Hbc flagship stores, the company’s trademark point blankets have been restocked in abundance. What does this blanket signify to Canada? The Hudson's Bay Company will explain that the blanket represents many things Canadian. According to the Hbc website, the blanket was first introduced into the fur trade around 1780.(site) The "points" or stripes on the blanket indicate the blanket's overall size. Even before the blankets became a standardized item for trade in 1780, the Hudson's Bay boys were long dependent on the blanket's quality for long winters in Canada's north, as well as, their popularity with the First Nations people who readily accepted them for trade. The Hbc website describes that the blankets were fashioned as jackets by the Métis people and "Plains Indians" (site). Also known as "chief blankets", the blankets were especially popular among First Nations peoples because they provided camoflauge.(site) Other than a few archival photos featuring First Nations people clad in the famous point blankets, not much more is explained by Hbc about the extent to which the blankets affected the First Nations people and the lives of the fur traders, but the fact remains that the point blanket had a definite impact on the lives of these men and the cultural interactions that involved the famous Hbc point blanket.

The Production of Point Blankets for Hbc

Hbc never actually manufactured point blankets. Hudson’s Bay Company always maintained its position as a trading company, never a manufacturing enterprise. Rather, the company acquired all of the point blankets it traded through wholesale from weaving firms in England. In 1779, Hbc placed an initial order for 500 pairs of point blankets with the firm of Thomas Empson in Witney, Oxfordshire (England) (22). Traditionally, the production of point blankets required the skills of a variety of workers. A master weaver was contracted to supply blankets, and he would sub-contract the various stages of blanket-making to independent laborers. The processes of carding and spinning the wool was generally contracted out to cottage spinners, then collected and delivered to the weavers who would weave the blankets by hand. In this traditional model of production, the wool was generally acquired directly from sheep farmers, though sometimes from middlemen. During the pre-Industrial Revolution period of point blanket manufacturing, the wool generally came from farms near the mills where the blankets were produced.

The production of point blankets remained in the realm of the cottage industry during the 17th and 18th Centuries, but beginning in the 1730s, the Industrial Revolution would slowly transform the the manufacturing process. Ultimately the production of point blankets for Hudson’s Bay Company would occur in factory-based settings, where all stages of production occurred in the same location. The point blankets were often referred to as “Witney” blankets, as the Witney blanket weavers nearly monopolized the production of Hbc point blankets until the 1840s. In the early 19th Century, demand for point blankets peaked, and Hbc began to order blankets in increasing quantities from Oxford-based mills, as well as from weaving companies in central and northern England.

Today the Hudson’s Bay Company point blankets are still manufactured in England, but by John Atkinson & Sons, a division of A. W. Hainsworth & Sons Ltd.[3] While the technology has been revolutionized, the process is generally the same as when the production of point blankets was part of a cottage-based industry. Today the wool that is used in the manufacture of point blankets comes from either England or New Zealand.

The Hudson's Bay Company and Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples

The Hudson’s Bay Company was responsible for first contact between Europeans and First Nations peoples in many parts of what is now Canada, particularly in the boreal forest region where Hbc had interest in furs. Often this contact had negative effects on the Aboriginal peoples involved. Gerald Sider compares the results of the contact process on Native peoples living in the boreal forest region, and those living the arctic, where the Hbc had little interest, and concludes that “the extensive network of fur trading centres and the resulting ecological and economic effects so prevalent in the boreal forest region were mostly absent in the far north.” In general, Sider finds that Aboriginal peoples who had been less exposed to European influences such as the Hbc, fared much better in the long run, and “suffered less dramatic or fewer deleterious effects of contact.”

Terry Wotherspoon and Vic Satzewich also find that the fur trade and contact with the Hudson’s Bay Company had deleterious effects on the First Nations peoples involved. Wothersppon and Sazewich find that prior to European contact, Aboriginal peoples in North America “engaged in a diverse range of cultural practices,” and that the first European traders and colonizers relied on Aboriginal knowledge and skills to survive in the treacherous environments of Canada However, they find that as European self-sufficiency increased, “the ongoing erosion of aboriginal self-sufficiency became both a by-product and an objective of colonial policy." It was in the best interest of the trading companies to pressure First Nations trappers to trade their furs for trading post goods or cash, rather than relying on their own subsistence skills. John C. McManus finds that First Nations people typically remained in debt to the Hbc trading posts, and through analysis of the journals of the HBC trading posts, finds that “several instances of the starvation of Indians and their families during the winter season” are recorded, again showing the negative aspects of the fur trade for First Nations peoples.

The Hudson’s Bay Company created standard prices that managers of trade posts were to charge for both trade goods and furs, known as the Official and Comparative Standards. However, the head office also allowed for flexibility between the posted standard prices and the prices used by trade post managers. The point blanket was one of the principle European goods offered in trade with the Aboriginal peoples. Harold Tichenor, writing for the Hudson’s Bay Company, notes the prices charged in the fur trade, “The one Pointed Blankets are to be charged at 1 Beaver each; one and half pointed at 2 Beavers each; two pointed at 2 1/2 Beavers each.” Tichenor fails to mention the flexibility allowed in the pricing. In general the prices received by the Aboriginal trappers were much lower than the standard prices set by HBC and reported by Tichenor. Further, Wotherspoon and Satzewich find that the growing reliance on trade goods, shortages of traditional game, and the discriminatory pricing system of the HBC “created poverty, dependence, and the fragmentation of clan networks” among First Nations peoples.

The HBC Point Blanket Today

The popularity of the iconic HBC point blanket endured through the 20th century, and has continued on into the 21st. Today, the blankets are no longer used for trade between European settlers and First Nations; instead they are marketed to consumers as a bed covering and comforter. They are still sold primarily at The Bay, a Canadian department store owned and operated by the same Hudson’s Bay Company that produced the blankets over 200 years ago.

The present-day HBC point blanket maintains the 100% wool construction and green, red, yellow and indigo design of the original. The blankets are still produced in England; and though they are most widely available in Canada, they are exported to countries worldwide (notably the United States). Due to their cultural significance and iconic status, new point blankets retail between three to four hundred dollars in stores. Earlier examples of the blanket are considered collectable, and specimens in good condition may fetch hundreds of dollars at auction.

The HBC blanket is truly a remarkable example of the enduring power of a strong brand. Despite being viewed by some as a symbol of abuse suffered by North America’s First Nations at the hands of European settlers, the blanket remains a beloved icon of Canadian heritage, and the quintessential symbol of one of the world’s oldest companies.

The 2010 Special Edition Sea to Sky Point Blanket

Hudson's Bay Company Sea to Sky Point Blanket, Image Courtesy of Hbc.

The notorious signature point blanket of the Hudson’s Bay Company is multi-striped “with black, yellow, red and green headings at each end”. But throughout time, Hbc has offered a selection of different point blankets, with each varying in their colours and release year. In year 2000, blankets with stripes in shades of brown were introduced to mark the millennium, and solid white with pink points are limited editions of 2006-2008. In addition, the “overdyed” Scarlet Point Blanket is created to symbolize the "Coast and Interior Salish First Nations in the Pacific" , and the Black and White Point Blanket is meant to represent "Canadian artist Cornelius Krieghoff". In 2009, the Hudson’s Bay Company inaugurated the launch of their special edition Sea to Sky Point Blanket as a commemorative of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.

As the original Point Blanket, the Sea to Sky is made of “outstanding craftsmanship, luxurious texture, [provides] superior warmth” and is retailed at $275.00 CDN. However, the points of this commemorate adopts the colour palette of the 2010 Winter Olympics: shades of blue and green. This color combination is intended to reflect the ocean and mountains. Moreover, there is also a patch of authenticity sewed onto the blanket to further emphasize its marking of the Olympics. At the bottom of this patch, is the Inukshuk logo, which was venerated and "first used by the Inuit [for the purpose of] communication and survival". This design is constructed of "five stone-like formations in green, two in blue, one in red and yellow". It is acknowledged as the emblem of the 2010 Winter Olympics, for the green and blues symbolize coastal forests, mountain ranges and islands,the red represents the Maple leaf and yellow portrays the sunrise. Not only is it intended to symbolize Canada, but also suggests friendship and the welcoming of the world.

Evidently, Hbc is suggesting that the implication of the 2010 Sea to Sky Point Blanket is highly provocative of the Canadian identity in relation to the First Nations, and the summation of Canada as a whole. This edition is not only directed at the locals, but international consumers as well, for it would “add some Canadian history to their home”; national identity becomes commoditized.

Conclusion

If history shapes the present, then it’s fair to imply that the longest standing corporation in the history of Canada is largely responsible for the present struggles of Aboriginal peoples in Canada. The Hbc Point Blanket may represent an embodiment of national pride and glory for some, but for those who know the history, it merely represents a symbol of colonialism and capitalistic exploitation. Depending on the individual, it both represents and misrepresents Canadian history. With Hbc introducing and pressuring Aboriginals peoples to trade and trade within an unfair pricing system, it was inevitable the Aboriginal cultural norms and self-sufficiency took a devastating setback. They were never able to make the recovery, as the power of colonialism suffocated their ability to retain cultural identity. With the world headed for Vancouver, Canada for the 2010 Winter Olympic games, Hbc re-launched this item as piece of Canadian history for everyone to bring home. In an era and place where consumerism is a lifestyle, one may need to be more aware of the background of the goods, and whether or not it falls within one’s own moral and ethical boundaries. The Hbc Point Blanket, which ironically has never been manufactured within Canada, is much more than just a memorabilia to keep warm with. As mentioned early on, it is a symbol of cultural interaction and exploitation.

Bibliography

Carlos, Ann M., and Frank D. Lewis. “Indians, the Beaver, and the Bay: The Economics of Depletion in the Lands of the Hudson’s Bay Company.” The Journal of Economic History 53, no. 3 (1993): 465-494.

McManus, John C. “An Economic Analysis of Indian Behaviour in the North American Fur Trade.” The Journal of Economic History 32, no. 1 (1972): 36-53.

Satzewich, Vic, and Terry Wotherspoon. First Nations: Race, Class, and Gender Relations. Regina: Canadian Plains Research Center, 2000.

Sider, Gerald. Living Indian Histories: Lumbee and Tuscarora People in North Carolina. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2003.

Tichenor, Harold. The Blanket: An Illustrated History of the Hudson’s Bay Point Blanket. Toronto: Hudson’s Bay Company, 2002.