Snowshoe Maker, n.d.

Zacharie Vincent, Snowshoe Maker, n.d., graphite and wash on paper, 23 x 30 cm, Château Ramezay, Montreal.
This is part of a series in which Vincent illustrates the various stages in the manufacture of snowshoes, an artisanal trade that developed into an industry in the nineteenth century. Images like this, of Indigenous craftsmen in a domestic setting, were a powerful counter-argument to the assumption that Indigenous people lived exclusively in nature. Vincent’s work, by bearing witness to the actual conditions of working people, becomes part of an important documentary tradition.
Gallery

Zacharie Vincent and His Son Cyprien, c.1851

Head of a Moose, from Nature, c.1855

Lake Saint-Charles, c.1860

Fire at the Paper Mill in Lorette, c.1862

Self-Portrait, n.d.

Huron Chief Zacharie Vincent Telariolin Painting a Self-Portrait, c.1875

Zacharie Vincent Telari-o-lin, Huron Chief and Painter, c.1875–78

Snowshoe Maker, n.d.

Camp Site (Man with Long Coat), n.d.