In November 1993, the Métis Nation Executive of the Métis National Council formally recognized the Métis Nation of Ontario as the “representative organization of the Métis people in Ontario.” This recognition came just weeks after the MNO’s founding was announced on October 20, 1993—coincidentally, the same week that Métis harvesters Steve and Roddy Powley were charged with illegally hunting a moose in Sault Ste. Marie. A decade later, these events ultimately led to the Métis

After the success of the landmark Powley Case at the Supreme Court of Canada, the Powleys were universally hailed as heroes of the Métis Nation. In a 2003 Grassroots News article, for example, Manitoba Métis Federation President David Chartrand celebrated the Powley family and Sault Ste. Marie Métis Community: “Our Metis Nation will remember 2003 as an historic year. It will be remembered along with other important dates in the history of our People such as 1816, 1870, an

The Abitibi Inland Métis Community has long recognized and asserted itself as a distinct Métis collectivity with deep family and kinship connections throughout the broader Métis Nation Homeland. This collective consciousness, situated within an understanding of a broader Métis Nationhood, is exemplified within the Abitibi Inland Métis Community’s 1893 and 1905 petitions for Métis scrip. The Abitibi Inland Métis Community’s 1905 petition read, in part: “We understand that

The Métis Nation of Ontario’s Founding Delegates Assembly, held May 5 to 7, 1994, included delegates from the seven historic Métis communities in northern Ontario as well as Métis with ancestral connections to more western parts of the Homeland who lived in Ontario at that time. Among the many motions passed by Founding Delegates related to core Métis rights and self-government issues were criteria for citizenship within the Métis Nation of Ontario, which stated that: “A pers

The Métis Nation of Ontario’s Founding Delegates Assembly was held from May 5 to 7, 1994, and included Founding Delegates from the seven historic Métis communities in northern Ontario as well as Métis with ancestral connections to more western parts of the Homeland who lived in Ontario at that time. Throughout the Assembly, Founding Delegates received several presentations, including those from leadership and their supporting legal counsel, and debated and passed numerous mot

In the years leading up to the landmark Métis rights case, R. v. Powley, being heard by the Supreme Court of Canada, the Métis Nation—through the Métis National Council (MNC)—undertook extensive consultations, discussions, and debates to reach a shared National Definition for citizenship in the Métis Nation. This work was led by the National Métis Rights Panel. The National Métis Rights Panel was chaired by then-Métis Nation of Ontario President Tony Belcourt and included rep