In order to fight off starvation at Red River, the colony's Governor, Miles Macdonnell, passed his Pemmican Proclamation (1814), which prohibited the export of provisions from the colony and declared the land to be owned by the Selkirk settlers. This move was a direct blow to the supply system of the North West Company and its Métis contractors. In this speech by the Saulteaux Chief Grandes Oreilles, his resentment to the presumptuous attitude of the "land workers" (the Selkirk settlers) is obvious. It also shows how First Nations were forced to take sides in the intense rivalry that existed between the trading companies.