The Labatte family’s history in Penetanguishene embodies a pattern of Métis connection-building across generations, rooted in kinship, community life, and collective political action.  When Louis George Labatte signed the 1840 Penetanguishene “Halfbreed” Petition, he did so alongside several members of his resilient Métis community as an assertion of shared identity, mutual responsibility, and continued presence on Georgian Bay following their displacement from Drummond Islan

Dance, specifically jigs, has long been a vital part of Métis community life, connecting families and generations through a shared spirit of love and celebration. Far more than entertainment, dance created spaces where elders, adults, and children gathered, sharing rhythm, movement, and joy throughout the long winter months.  These celebrated social gatherings were frequently documented by Métis community members and non-Métis visitors alike. For example, American poet and lo

Métis oral histories contain many stories of New Year’s celebrations across the Métis Homeland, Sault Ste. Marie is no exception! They tell of Métis going from house to house for cakes and pies, with the sounds of fireworks, gunshots, church bells, and fiddle music ringing in the air, all accompanied by dancing.  Métis were so fond of this time of year that they often shared stories with non-Métis authors interested in their community’s history. In the 1920s, for example, Jam

Christmas and New Year’s celebrations were important for many Métis families and communities. Unsurprisingly, many shared and well-loved Métis holiday traditions exist across the Homeland. One such annual tradition was Métis Christmas kissing, which was particularly well-loved in the Métis community at Sault Ste. Marie. In 1951, settler Christy Ann Simons recorded her memoirs about her life growing up in the Upper Great Lakes during the late 1800s, in which the vibrant region

The Métis families of Agawa Bay, along the shores of Lake Superior, share a rich and enduring history shaped by deep love, kinship, and a collective way of life.  For more than sixty years, these Métis families—the Davieauxs, Roussains, Bussineaus, and Mirons—lived closely together, building homes, raising children, and sustaining each other through hunting, fishing, and harvesting from the land and water. Their way of life was rooted in cooperation, shared responsibility, an

Métis communities have long been known for their generosity in peoples’ times of need, even when facing immense hardships themselves. Despite the Treaty commissioner’s promise to protect the Sault Ste. Marie Métis Community’s rights, for example, Métis families were displaced from their lands on the St. Mary’s River following their exclusion from the 1850 Robinson-Huron Treaty. Many were forced to relocate over the next decades as Canada and Ontario opened the region to settl