Following their relocation from Drummond Island after the War of 1812, members of the historic Georgian Bay Métis Community became founding permanent residents of what would later grow into the Town of Penetanguishene and nearby Tiny Township.  A generation later, many elderly Georgian Bay Métis Community members, like Lewis Solomon and Elizabeth Longlade (nee Dusome) remembered Penetanguishene’s pre-settlement era when the future town site was “mostly a cedar swamp, with a f

Members of the Georgian Bay Métis Community were among the Penetanguishene area’s earliest permanent residents following their Métis community’s relocation from Drummond Island to Penetanguishene after the War of 1812. Many of the Georgian Bay Métis Community members who became Penetanguishene’s founding residents held memories of the town’s earliest days, including the day of their Métis families’ arrivals to the area in the late 1820’s, when even the British military establ

The spring maple sugar harvest has been an important seasonal Métis community tradition for generations. For many, the annual maple sugar harvest has involved the entire family.  In a late March 1853 journal entry, for example, Mattawa postmaster Colin Rankin noted of the Métis Langevin family that it was “Mme. Langevin and family” who “started out to their sugary”. This built upon earlier entries, including one from early January 1849 in which the Langevin family was noted a

Rosette Boucher (nee Larammee) was born on a cold December 12, 1815 to Jaques Adam Laramee, North West Company employee and War of 1812 veteran, and Rosette Cloutier, a “half-breed woman” from Mackinaw Island in the Upper Great Lakes.  Rosette’s upbringing was grounded in her Métis community’s traditional way of life, including participating in the annual spring sugar camps common among Métis families throughout the Upper Great Lakes. In 1828, however, at just thirteen years

Rosette Boucher (née Larammee), born on Drummond Island on December 12, 1815, is a unique and valuable Métis storyteller whose voice continues to resonate today. Boucher is notable as one of only two Métis women whose accounts are featured in A.C. Osborne’s The Migration of Voyageurs from Drummond Island to Penetanguishene in 1828 .  Growing up in a Métis family deeply tied to fur trade travel and military life, Rosette was surrounded by stories and carried them with remarkab

Born in 1847, Elizabeth Longlade (née Dusome) was a proud Métis matriarch whose strength and personality shone through in the everyday moments of her life. Her story, shared in a 1942 interview with the Toronto Star , captures her memories, determination, and independence. Elizabeth married Charles Longlade in Penetanguishene in 1866, 76 years prior to the article's publication. Together, they built a life rooted in family and hard work. For decades, Elizabeth worked alongsid