Marguerite Guilmond, the Métis matriarch of the well-known Métis Boissonneau family, was a Métis woman originally from the English River region in present-day Manitoba. As a young adult, Marguerite fell in love with Joseph Boissonneau. Joseph was born in Lower Canada in 1787 but eventually made his way westward—first to St. Joseph Island in the Upper Great Lakes before continuing farther west, where he met Marguerite. Marguerite and Joseph soon started a family together. By t

Métis communities throughout the Métis Homeland have vibrant and diverse ways of life grounded in the lands and waters that surround them. Each Métis community has developed unique food-based traditions that have sustained their families and livelihoods over generations. Small-scale farming and food growing, in particular, have taken on a varied and polarizing place both within and between Métis communities. For some, food growing has long been an important staple. For othe

Métis families across the Homeland have relied on their surrounding lands and waters to sustain themselves and their communities. Each passed down their rich place-based harvesting knowledge through stories and experiential learning. Many of these stories and the knowledge they contain have been told throughout Métis communities for generations. This includes the occasional cautionary tale. One such tale is that of Pierre (Louis) Rondeau, which was shared with journalist

As the fur trade declined, fishing became the primary occupation of many Métis in the Upper Great Lakes. This included the “little” Métis village at Killarney that relied upon the bountiful surrounding waters to feed their community and generate an ongoing income. Over the generations, many visitors to the area described the Métis fishing economy in Killarney, including their collective advocacy around the protection of Métis fishing rights that date back to as early as 1838.

The merger of the North West Company and Hudson’s Bay Company in 1821 marked a turning point in the fur trade. For Métis fur trade employees like Henry, Pierre Guillaume, and John Charles Sayer, the merger of the two companies brought uncertainty, as positions were reduced and once important trade routes shifted. Each of the Sayer brothers experienced and navigated this changing fur trade environment in their own way. At the time of the merger, for example, John Charles S

A GROUP OF VOYAGEURS. (From photo, taken in 1895.) 1. Lewis Solomon, 2. John Bussette, 3. James Larammee, 4. Francis Dusome The Solomons were one of the first Métis families to battle the rough fall waters of Georgian Bay from Drummond Island to Penetanguishene, as part of their Métis community’s relocation after the international border was imposed upon the Upper Great Lakes following the War of 1812. Before their journey to Penetanguishene, William Solomon, his Métis wife