Malcolm (Mac) Bussineau was born on August 9, 1894, in Dunns Valley near Sault Ste. Marie, into Joseph Bussineau and Annie McKensie’s growing Métis family. Malcolm was the third brother in his immediate family to serve in the First World War. Unlike his brothers, John Joseph and George Mark, however, Malcolm did not initially volunteer to serve; instead, he made the difficult decision to remain at home to tend to the farm and support his family while his brothers were fightin

George Mark Bussineau was born on August 16, 1896, in Ophir, near Sault Ste. Marie, to Joseph Bussineau and Annie McKensie. Like many Métis families throughout the Homeland, several members of the Bussineau family took up the call to service during the First World War.  Nineteen-year-old George Mark voluntarily enlisted to serve in the First World War on January 15, 1916, joining the 119th Overseas Battalion. His decision followed that of his brother, John Joseph, who had enl

John Joseph Bussineau was born on October 19, 1890, in Cook Mills Township, into Joseph Bussineau and Annie McKensie’s growing Métis family. Baptized at Precious Blood Church in Sault Ste. Marie, John Joseph was raised in nearby Dunns Valley. On January 3, 1916, only eight months after his mother's death, John Joseph voluntarily enlisted with the 119th Battalion. He arrived in England in August 1916. In December 1916, he was transferred to the 52nd Battalion, where he rapidly

At twenty-four years old, Frank Francis Jollineau had already completed six years of military service with the 97th Regiment of Sault Ste. Marie when he volunteered to serve in the First World War. Frank Francis, a plumber by trade, enlisted with the 2nd Battalion on September 23, 1914, at Camp Valcartier, less than two months after the First World War began. He and his comrades were among the first Canadian infantry to go overseas as part of the war effort. Departing on Octo

On November 25, 1915, just weeks after his eighteenth birthday, Karl Henry Dusome volunteered for service in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, enlisting in his hometown of Penetanguishene. On his enlistment papers, he proudly listed his occupation as “Tailor,” a reflection of the trade he learned from his Métis father, John Peter Dusome, a respected tailor and business owner in Penetanguishene. Less than a year later, in October 1916, Karl Henry departed for England with the

Karl Henry, son of Métis tailor John Peter and Alice Dusome, learned the value of skill and hard work from an early age through his father's tailoring business, situated in the heart of Georgian Bay. J. Dusome Tailoring first opened its doors in 1884, more than a decade before Karl Henry's birth in November 1897. The October 1884 edition of the Penetanguishene Herald  announced the “New Tailoring Establishment” on Robert Street, advertising clothing “...made up in the Latest