On September 23, 1908, John B. Boissonneau and Elisabeth Finlayson were married in Thunder Bay, a union that brought together Métis families with ties to Sault Ste. Marie, Fort William, and Northwestern Ontario. These Métis marriages were more than personal unions; they served as community bridges, strengthening shared identity across generations by extending kinship ties. John B. was born to Francois Boissonneau and Marie Corbiere in 1888 in the Sault Ste. Marie region and r

The marriage of Charles Roussain and Elizabeth Turner reflects the deep traditions of kinship, leadership, and community responsibility that have long defined Métis family life. Their union brought together two families with enduring legacies of defending Métis rights, sovereignty, and identity across the Métis Homeland. Charles Roussain was born around 1820 and raised along the shores of Sault Ste. Marie. The Roussain family was known for its long-standing role as Métis advo

Francois Boissonneau’s marriage to Marie Corbiere, the daughter of John Corbiere and Marie Madeleine Nolin, united two Métis families deeply rooted in their community of Sault Ste. Marie. Their marriage reflected the enduring kinship networks that sustained the collective identity of the Upper Great Lakes Métis throughout the nineteenth century. Born in 1836 to Joseph Boissonneau and Marguerite Gilmont, Francois was raised within the local Métis community and grew into a well

In 1842, John Corberiere and Marie Madeline Nolin of Sault Ste. Marie were married at Ste. Croix, a church located at Wikwemikong to the southwest of Killarney. Their wedding was witnessed by Charles Lamorandiere, whose family had established the “little Métis village” at Killarney. Because of the scarcity of churches in the Upper Great Lakes region in the early 1800s, Métis people often traveled long distances for these important life events and to witness them alongside fam

Historically, Moose Factory was a prominent trading hub that served as the home and birthplace of many Métis families throughout the 19 th  century. Among them were William Moore and Jane McLeod, whose marriage reflected the strong cultural, economic, and kinship ties forming around Moose Factory during this period.  Jane McLeod was born in Abitibi in 1859 and was raised within a close-knit Métis community where family, trade, and relationships with the land were deeply inter

On January 7, 1867, Georgian Bay Métis Community members Andrew Brissette and Judith Boucher were married in Tiny Township.  Born in nearby Penetanguishene in 1847, Andrew Brissette was the son of Archange L'Hirondelle, Métis from the Lesser Slave Lake region of present-day Alberta, and Hyppolite Brissette, the fur-trader whose career was documented in A.C. Osborne's The Migration of Voyageurs From Drummond Island to Penetanguishene in 1828 .  Judith Boucher's mother, Rosette