What are Hudson Bay blankets made of?
wool blanket
The Hudson’s Bay Point Blanket is a wool blanket with a series of stripes and points (markers on cloth) first made for the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) in 1779. The most iconic design is that which is white with green, red, yellow and indigo stripes; these colours are now used as an emblem for the HBC.
Were smallpox blankets used in Canada?
In 1732–33, a smallpox epidemic swept through Louisbourg, a French settlement in what is now Nova Scotia. In 1763, the British under Jeffrey Amherst used blankets exposed to smallpox as germ warfare in an attempt to subdue the First Nations resistance led by Obwandiyag (Pontiac).
Who gave smallpox blankets?
The British give smallpox-contaminated blankets to Shawnee and Lenape (Delaware) communities—an action sanctioned by the British officers Sir Jeffery Amherst and his replacement, General Thomas Gage.
Can smallpox be transmitted through blankets?
The virus can spread through these materials or through the objects contaminated by them, such as bedding or clothing. People who cared for smallpox patients and washed their bedding or clothing had to wear gloves and take care to not get infected.
Do they still make Hudson Bay blankets?
Today, Hudson’s Bay Point Blankets continue to be produced and sold in Multistripe, Millennium (four stripes in shades of brown introduced in 2000), White with black bar, Scarlet with black bar, Green with black bar and Grey with black bar.
How long can smallpox live on blankets?
However, if cotton can become contaminated with smallpox scabs in temperate climates (20°-25°C) or is already contaminated when imported at this temperature, the experiments indicate that a few particles of virus may survive for as long as 18 months.
When were smallpox blankets used?
In 1851, Francis Parkman was the first historian to document Lord Amherst’s “shameful plan” to exterminate Indians by giving them smallpox-in- fected blankets taken from the corpses of British soldiers at Fort Pitt in 1763 (Parkman 1991:646–651).