The Red River Métis practice a mixed, seasonal economy, including small-scale farming, fishing and trapping, gathering, wage-earning in the transport and maintenance fields and, for some, independent trade and commerce. However, for the majority of the Métis, the collective and family hunting of buffalo constitutes the main means of subsistence, supplying the colony with fresh and dried meat, and with pemmican for the fur trading posts.
The 19th Century sees the emergence of a class of Métis merchants who seek profit in the growth of the North American trade in buffalo hide. The Breland, Dease, Delorme, Ducharme, Gingras, Hamelin, Kittson, and Mackay families are among the most influential representatives of this Métis middle class, who earn major revenues in the buffalo robe trade, and accumulate horses, wagons, and landed property. The building of flour mills is also a sign of subsistence- and trade-related activities in the colony.

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