On June 23, 1880, Métis and First Nations in northern Lake Superior submitted a petition as the “Indians and half breeds of the Pic River, Lake Superior,” requesting lands on which they could settle and “better their condition.” Two weeks later—on July 6, 1880—the nearby “Indians and half-breeds” on Lake Nipigon petitioned for money to pay a schoolteacher. This was followed by a similar petition the next week—July 13, 1880—by the “Indians and half breeds of Lake Helen near th

On May 27, 1893, Joshua Biron, an elderly member of the historic Sault Ste. Marie Métis Community, provided an official statement to Commissioner E.B. Borron about the events leading up the 1850 Robinson-Huron Treaty. Within his testimony, Joshua Biron described negotiations between his Métis community and Anishinaabek leader, Chief Shingwaukonse, ahead of the Treaty’s signing, recalling: “The Chief told us, that if we joined his band, became his men or soldiers – that he wo

In 2004, the Métis Nation of Ontario signed a landmark interim Harvesting Agreement with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources—the first negotiated agreement of its kind signed by any Métis Government within the Métis Homeland. The Agreement recognized MNO’s Harvesting Policy on an interim basis and provided for the recognition of a maximum of 1,250 Harvesters Cards—as well as a pathway to remove the cap on the number of recognized MNO Harvester Cards in the future based

For generations, historic Métis communities in what is now Ontario saw themselves as distinct from First Nations with whom they shared territory. This is confirmed by the Métis communities’ own words as seen in their numerous political actions to defend their own interests and rights, consistently self-ascribing as “Halfbreeds”. The historic record also confirms that, for generations, First Nations and settler populations alike viewed and respected the Métis as a distinct peo

Throughout history, Métis have been known by many different names across the Homeland, many attributed to specific Métis communities or regions. Wissakodéwin, an anishinaabemowin word meaning “half-burnt wood,” is one such name, often connected to Métis communities in the Upper Great Lakes region of the Métis Homeland. One variation of the word, wissakodéwin, spelled phonetically as “We sau co da we nin,” comes from an Anishinaabe song recorded in the summer of 1833 near Fon

Métis in the Upper Great Lakes, like others across the Métis Homeland, were given and hold unique names for themselves, recognizing their distinctiveness and relationships to others. One of those names was wissakodéwin, an anishinaabemowin word meaning “half-burnt wood.” In 2008, Métis Elder and language speaker Tom McCallum referenced the term wissakodéwin in a traditional knowledge report published by the Métis Centre of the National Aboriginal Healing Foundation when disc