The Hudson Bay Company’s Michipicoten Post on Lake Superior was a strategically important fur trade hub, located halfway between Sault Ste. Marie and Fort William and along the Michipicoten River route to Moose Factory on James Bay. In addition to facilitating the lucrative flow of trade goods in numerous directions, Michipicoten became an important intersection point for numerous Métis family and trade networks along both the north-south and east-west travel routes on which

As R. v. Powley  worked its way through the courts, the Métis Nation—through the Métis National Council—collectively developed and...

During the landmark 2003 hearing of R. v. Powley  at the Supreme Court of Canada, the entire Métis Nation stood together alongside the...

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 commun

During R. v. Powley’s  successful ten-year legal battle, Métis Nation governments rallied together behind the Powley family and their Sault Ste. Marie Métis Community.  The Métis Nation, for example, intervened at the Supreme Court of Canada through the Métis National Council to affirm the unanimous position of Métis Governments across the Homeland that the Sault Ste. Marie Métis Community and Powley family are, “part of the larger Métis Nation”. While acknowledging that the

R. v. Powley  brought Métis from across the Homeland together around the common cause of having the Supreme Court of Canada affirm that the distinct Métis rights enshrined in Section 35 of Canada’s Constitution in 1982 had tangible legal meaning and protections. As part of its support for R. v. Powley , the Métis Nation—through the Métis National Council—intervened at the Supreme Court of Canada in defense of the Powley family and the Sault Ste. Marie Métis Community. In its