The Red Sash is the story of a young Metis boy who lives near the fur
trading post of Fort William, on Lake Superior, nearly 200 years ago.
The Red Sash is the story of a young Metis boy who lives near the fur
trading post of Fort William, on Lake Superior, nearly 200 years ago.
His father spends the long winter months as a guide, leading voyageurs
into the northwest to trade with the Indigenous Peoples for furs. Now it
is Rendezvous, when the voyageurs paddle back to Fort William with their
packs of furs, and North West Company canoes come from Montreal bringing
supplies for the next season. It is a time of feasting and dancing and
of voyageurs trading stories around the campfire.
With preparations underway for a feast in the Great Hall, the boy canoes
to a nearby island to hunt hare. But once there, a storm begins to brew.
As the waves churn to foam, a canoe carrying a gentleman from the North
West Company appears, heading toward the island for shelter. The boy
helps land the canoe, which has been torn by rocks and waves. Then he
saves the day as he paddles the gentleman across to Fort William in his
own canoe, earning the gift of a voyageur's red sash.
Jean E. Pendziwol was inspired to write The Red Sash through her
involvement with Fort William Historical Park as a volunteer, and she
worked closely with the Fort's historian on the story.
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language
Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.5
Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the
beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.7
Explain how specific aspects of a text's illustrations contribute to
what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize
aspects of a character or setting)
