Understanding its potential historical significance and broader implications, the entire Métis Nation made the strategic decision to rally together in unanimous support of R. v. Powley, the Powley family and the Sault Ste. Marie Métis Community during their ten-year legal ordeal. As explained by Manitoba Métis Federation President David Chartrand in a September 24, 2003 written address to MMF citizens: “As I suggested earlier, the past week was closed by two historic decisio

The Métis Nation, its governments, and leaders have a long legacy of recognizing and uplifting the history and connection between the Upper Great Lakes Métis and broader Métis Nation, including the important historic Métis community at Sault Ste. Marie. In its intervention to the Supreme Court of Canada in R. v. Powley, the Métis National Council advanced the unanimous recognition that Métis Nation governments from Ontario-westward held for the Sault Ste. Marie Métis communi

Métis communities emerged in west-central North America from the initial marriages of European fur traders and First Nations women beginning in the late 1700s. Several generations of continuous intermarriage and community-building between the children of these unions gave rise to a new and unique culture—Métis culture—distinct from those of their European and First Nations forebears. The emergence of these distinct communities necessitated the use of new language to identif

The Metis Nation Council Accord Map

The Gordon family was among Penetanguishene’s founding Métis families who relocated from Drummond Island alongside other members of their Métis community after the Island was formally handed over to the United States. They took up a land grant across the bay from the small British naval outpost in Penetanguishene harbour. The family’s Métis matriarch, Agnes Landry (Sr.), was born on Drummond Island and spent most of her life within the vibrant Métis community in the Upper Gre

Through their strength, resilience, and ingenuity, Métis matriarchs have preserved and protected their families and communities for generations. During the influenza crisis at the turn of the 20th century, for example, Elizabeth Longlade (née Dusome) demonstrated her care and dedication by using her professional cooking skills to safeguard her loved ones in Penetanguishene. A 1942 Toronto Star article shared Elizabeth’s simple immunity-boosting recipe, crafted during the i