Skip to main content
This mid-19th-century painting from the Québec City region depicts an Indigenous hunter in typical dress. Their traditional outfit features a wide variety of pieces of clothing. We see leather moccasins worn with breeches, a belt and a justaucorps made of European fabric. There are also hand-crafted metal accessories. What inventiveness!
1840 - 1878

Indigenous presence in the second half of the 19th century

In the late 19th century, Indigenous people continued to influence daily life in and around Québec City. The Huron-Wendats lived mainly just north of Québec City in Wendake, known at the time as the “Huron Village.” They fished and hunted in the surrounding lakes and rivers. Members of the Maliseet and Abenaki nations came seasonally to Lévy Point, south of Québec City. The Indigenous presence in the region is reflected in many paintings of this era, including some by the renowned Huron-Wendat artist Zacharie Vincent.

Moose hunter

John Richard Coke Smyth This mid-19th-century painting from the Québec City region depicts an Indigenous hunter in typical dress. Their traditional outfit features a wide variety of pieces of clothing. We see leather moccasins worn with breeches, a belt and a justaucorps made of European fabric. There are also hand-crafted metal accessories. What inventiveness!
Chronoscope Can you name the different pieces the person is wearing? (unilingual French for a limited time) Source: Library and Archives Canada Document in the public domain (free of copyright) - Acc. No. R13133-303 - Date: 1840