ONTARIO MÉTIS FACTS

The Upper Great Lakes Métis have been consistently recognized as a proud and distinct collectivity across generations, leaving a clear and repeated impression on those who travelled through the region. In the 1830s, for example, British writer Anna Jameson documented her journey through Georgian Bay, describing the Métis men in her party as, “picked men… young, well-looking, full of glee and good-nature, with untiring arms and more untiring lungs and spirits.” Jameson’s accou

While traveling from Penetanguishene to Manitoulin Island in the mid-1800s, British writer Anna Jameson recorded encounters with the Métis men who worked as guides and paddlers in the Upper Great Lakes. Jameson’s observations aligned with those of many contemporary travellers remarking on the Métis of the Upper Great Lakes as visibly distinct and identifiable, both in manner and appearance. Clothing, in particular, marked this distinction. As Jameson noted of her Métis travel

In 1837, while journeying through the Upper Great Lakes, influential British writer Anna Jameson documented the daily rhythms of canoe travel, noting the powerful presence of music among her Métis guides and paddlers. Jameson noted how the men sang as they paddled, their lively and unified voices rising together across the water. Among those Métis singers was Lewis (Louis) Solomon, whose voice left a particularly strong impression: “The men sang their gay French songs, the ot