For generations, Métis across the Homeland, including the Georgian Bay Métis Community in the Upper Great Lakes, have relied on fishing to provide sustenance. Ice fishing was a common and important way to keep Métis families and communities fed in the winter months. An article in the Ann Arbour Register from October 12, 1893, for example, highlights the distinctive and effective ice fishing methods used by Métis in the Upper Great Lakes: “I visited Georgian bay, a part of

While the term “Métis” is most commonly used today to recognize the culturally and politically distinct communities that emerged from Ontario westward beginning in the late 1700s, other terms such as “Halfbreed” or variations of it have also been used historically by both outsiders and the Métis communities themselves, particularly when advocating against Canadian territorial expansion. In many cases, throughout history, the terms “Métis” and “Halfbreed” have been used inte

The Labattes were among the Métis families who were relocated to Penetanguishene from Drummond Island following the British ceding the island to the United States after the War of 1812. Antoine Labatte, son of Métis War of 1812 veteran Louis George Labatte and his Métis wife Julia Frances Grouette, later recounted details of their family’s 1828 journey to Penetanguishene: “We left Drummond Island in August, in a bateau, towed by the schooner Alice… We came by the outer c

Many Métis communities across the Métis Nation Homeland had a distinctive way of building and designing their homes. Métis in the Upper Great Lakes, for example, including Sault Ste. Marie and Georgian Bay, generally lived in detached wooden houses built from cedar bark and logs. A home of the prominent Métis Cadotte family, for instance, located on Mackinaw Island, was described as, “Made of logs covered in cedar bark.” It is thought the materials used in these hou