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Stop the Spread of Misinformation
ONTARIO MÉTIS FACTS
Telling Our Stories and Histories.
Learn the facts about rights-bearing Métis communities in Ontario. All the images, videos, and original source materials you need with none of the spin.
Featured Stories
“Wolves won’t attack you”
Métis across the Homeland played a significant role in the fur trade, including by overwintering at remote trading posts. With their deep knowledge of the land, waters, seasons, and animals, Métis hunters, trappers, and fishers helped sustain fellow overwinterers by providing food and guidance in challenging environments. Settlers often recognized this expertise and sought out Métis harvesters as authorities on the lands and waters around them. In a 1934 Sault Star article di
The High Cost of Métis “Jobbers”
After the North West Company (NWC) and Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) merged in 1821, many longtime Métis employees chose to branch out on their own, working independently as “freemen.” As astute businesspeople, these Métis freemen recognized the continued demand for their labour as hired “jobbers” and could demand competitive wages for their work. This was certainly the case in the Upper Great Lakes region, where demand for Métis freemen jobbers, like Henry Sayer and Michel La
Fifty Years at Moose Factory
Across the Métis Homeland, Métis have used petitions as a tool to collectively protect their interests across the 1800s. From the 1840 Penetanguishene Petition in the wake of the relocation from Drummond Island to the 1882 Batoche Petition in the prelude to the Northwest Resistance and beyond, petitions were a prevalent political tool that Métis reached for to assert their distinct identity and defend their rights. Another example from Moose Factory in 1905, where a group of
Newest Stories
“Wolves won’t attack you”
Métis across the Homeland played a significant role in the fur trade, including by overwintering at remote trading posts. With their deep knowledge of the land, waters, seasons, and animals, Métis hunters, trappers, and fishers helped sustain fellow overwinterers by providing food and guidance in challenging environments. Settlers often recognized this expertise and sought out Métis harvesters as authorities on the lands and waters around them. In a 1934 Sault Star article di
Fifty Years at Moose Factory
Across the Métis Homeland, Métis have used petitions as a tool to collectively protect their interests across the 1800s. From the 1840 Penetanguishene Petition in the wake of the relocation from Drummond Island to the 1882 Batoche Petition in the prelude to the Northwest Resistance and beyond, petitions were a prevalent political tool that Métis reached for to assert their distinct identity and defend their rights. Another example from Moose Factory in 1905, where a group of
“Mister Wolf comes trailing”
Métis political organization extended beyond formal settings like councils or petitions; it was also embedded in the shared responsibilities, customs, and laws that governed daily life, including how communities practiced land-based harvesting. Across the Métis Homeland, Métis people followed land stewardship practices that helped protect the resources their families depended on. In some places, these rules were complex and formally documented, such as the Laws of the Buffalo
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