Our Family Line Series — Index

A complete guide to all 13 episodes

This index provides a structured overview of the entire Family‑Line Series.
Each episode explores one part of a 250‑year kinship network that stretches from Hudson Bay to the Red River to the Saskatchewan plains and ultimately into British Columbia.

Use this page to navigate the full documentary series — a complete guide to all episodes and supporting materials.

A. Orientation & Foundations

  • Landing Page Our Family‑Line Series – Landing
    The project overview, purpose, and narrative framing.
  • Narrative Introduction Series Introduction
    A short, cinematic overview of the project’s scope and themes.
  • Methodology Series Methodology
    How the research was conducted, including source types, accuracy rules, and the documentary‑style narrative approach.
  • Master Narrative — Our Family Story – 3 Worlds
    A sweeping, multi‑century story that sets the stage for all episodes.
  • Kinship Line Analysis Our Kinship Lines
    A structural map of the eleven ancestral lines and how they interconnect.
  • Kinship Cluster Analysis Our Kinship Clusters
    A detailed explanation of the seven major kinship clusters, including the Saskatchewan homestead cluster.

B. The Documentary Series (Episodes 1–13)

  • Family‑Line Episodes (1–11)
    Each episode is a full documentary‑style narrative of one ancestral line.
    • Episode 1 — The Bird Line
      The northern homeland begins.
      A lineage rooted in Fort Severn, York Factory, and the inland brigades, where Cree, Métis, and HBC families shaped the northern fur‑trade world.
      Read Episode →
    • Episode 2 — The Thomas Line
      The northern interior expands.
      A family tied to the Churchill River basin, northern Cree communities, and the early generations of Métis families in the subarctic.
      Read Episode →
    • Episode 3 — The Sutherland Line
      Orkney meets the Red River.
      An Orkney HBC labourer marries into Cree and Métis families, forming one of the central ancestral pillars of your lineage.
      Read Episode →
    • Episode 4 — The Cromartie Line
      The bridge between the north and Red River.
      A northern brigadesman whose descendants connect the inland posts to the Red River Settlement and ultimately to the Bird line.
      Read Episode →
    • Episode 5 — The Hourie Line
      Red River farmers and buffalo hunters.
      A Métis family deeply rooted in St. Andrews Parish, White Horse Plains, and the prairie world of the 19th century.
      Read Episode →
    • Episode 6 — The Cook–Cocking Line
      English HBC origins meet Cree matrilines.
      A well‑documented Red River family whose descendants intermarry with the Spence, Batt, and Flett lines.
      Read Episode →
    • Episode 7 — The Spence Line
      The Cree–Orkney matriline.
      A foundational Métis family whose daughters marry into multiple lines, strengthening the kinship network.
      Read Episode →
    • Episode 8 — The Batt Line
      Another Cree–English fusion.
      A line that reinforces the Spence and Cook–Cocking connections and contributes to the dense Red River kinship cluster.
      Read Episode →
    • Episode 9 — The Park Line
      Red River Métis leadership.
      A family that links the Red River Settlement to the Cromartie line through the marriage of Catherine Park and John Cromartie.
      Read Episode →
    • Episode 10 — The Flett Line
      Orkney endurance and Cree matrilines.
      A major Métis family whose descendants include interpreters, missionaries, and political leaders — and whose daughter Jane Flett marries into your direct Sutherland line.
      Read Episode →
    • Episode 11 — The Brager Line
      A Scandinavian‑Canadian thread joins the prairie world.
      A migration story from Norway through the Scandinavian‑American corridor into Alberta and Saskatchewan, converging with the Bird and Cromartie lines and later continuing into Richmond, BC.
      Read Episode →
  • Synthesis & Reflection (Episodes 12–13)
    • Episode 12 — Our Network Summary
      The eleven lines become one story.
      A synthesis showing how all ancestral lines interconnect to form one of the largest and best‑documented kinship networks in Western Canada.
      Read Episode →
    • Episode 13 — The Conclusion Reflection
      The 250‑year journey to British Columbia.
      A final reflection on the movement from Hudson Bay to Red River to Saskatchewan and ultimately into BC, where the family continues the story today.
      Read Episode →

HOW TO USE THIS INDEX

  • Click any episode title to read the full chapter.
  • Episodes can be read individually or in sequence.
  • Episodes 12 and 13 provide the big‑picture synthesis and final reflection.
  • The Landing Page introduces the purpose and scope of the entire project.
  • You can return to this index at any time using the “Go to the Series Index” link on the Landing Page.