For generations, Métis across the Homeland, including the Georgian Bay Métis Community in the Upper Great Lakes, have relied on fishing to provide sustenance. Ice fishing was a common and important way to keep Métis families and communities fed in the winter months.    An article in the Ann Arbour Register from October 12, 1893, for example, highlights the distinctive and effective ice fishing methods used by Métis in the Upper Great Lakes: “I visited Georgian bay, a part of

Métis communities across the Homeland were active in the fur trade and significant contributors to the essential ‘overwintering’ practice. Overwintering involved living and working at remote fur trade posts throughout the winter months, often with only a few other employees and companions.  While canoe brigades and seasonal traders would return to their home bases, overwinterers would continue living near and conducting commerce with First Nations trappers, trading en déroine

Métis across the Homeland love dancing and having a good time. Kitchen parties and “half breed balls” filled with music, food, and dancing are an important part of Métis culture—historically and today. These legendary parties were often reported by non-Métis visitors to communities. In 1846, for example, William Cullen Bryant, an American poet and long-time editor of the New York Evening Post, visited Sault Ste. Marie.  He wrote about the lively Métis parties and love of danc

Reginald Alexander Nicolson was born in Moose Factory on September 3, 1892, to Allan Nicolson and Clara Caroline Vincent. He grew up in the James Bay region and worked as a bank clerk before the First World War.  Reginald’s grandfather, Thomas Vincent, was among the Métis at Moose Factory who petitioned the government for recognition and “compensation in lieu of lands”—a request shared directly with Prime Minister Thompson, who was warned that these Métis “would be inclined t

Frederick McLeod, son of 1905 Moose Factory Métis petitioner George McLeod, left his community in Moose Factory to enlist in the First World War in January 1916. After a year of training, Frederick sailed for overseas service with his unit on February 16, 1917. Upon arrival in England, the battalion was reorganized, and Frederick was reassigned to the 6th Railway Battalion, where he continued his training in preparation for entering active duty in France in April 1917. Unlike

Frederick McLeod, son of George McLeod and Isabelle McBean, was born on October 9th, 1893, into the vibrant and historic Métis community at Moose Factory. In 1905, when Frederick was at the impressionable age of thirteen, his father, George, was one of six Métis of Moose Factory, “born & brought up in the country”, to sign a petition to the government on behalf of their families and communities for “that scrip has been granted to the Halfbreeds of the North West Territory”. A