BARKSKINS examines the mysterious massacre of settlers in the vast and unforgiving wilds of 1690s New France that threatens to throw the region into an all-out war. Likely suspects abound — the English, the Hudson’s Bay Company, and a band of Kanien’kehá:ka (Iroquois) possibly in league with the English looking to drive the French from the territory — but who or what brought these settlers to such a tragic end?
National Geographic’s new eight-part limited series, BARKSKINS, created by Elwood Reid and based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Annie Proulx, transports viewers to the wild frontier of the late 17th century. BARKSKINS premieres this Memorial Day, Monday, May 25, at 9/8c with back-to-back episodes over four weeks.
BARKSKINS is set in Wobik, a small settlement in what is now the Canadian province of Quebec. As the Catholic Church sends Jesuit priests to convert the indigenous people, France sends indentured servants to populate its territory, along with “Filles Du Roi” (“Daughters of the King”), young women to be matched with husbands, start families and help the colonies prosper. This disparate group of outcasts, rogues, and innocents must navigate brutal hardships, competing interests, and tangled loyalties at the crossroads of civilization: 1690s New France.
