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

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

Métis communities across the Homeland have always shared a love of food. Stews and soups were and continue to be a warm, hearty meal during winter, using ingredients found within each Métis community’s place in the Homeland. One stew shared across the Homeland is Rubaboo. Rubaboo is a hearty stew or soup made from meat, vegetables, and water. The earliest record of this cultural dish dates back to the 1800s. Traditionally, Rubaboo was made of peas or corn with bear or pork

Métis net fishing traditions, with deep roots in the Upper Great Lakes, have played a foundational role in shaping the economic and cultural practices of Métis communities across the Métis Homeland. At the Métis community at Sault Ste. Marie, in particular, the practice of fishing using weighted nets to catch whitefish emerged as a vital subsistence and commercial activity. As Métis families from the Upper Great Lakes moved westward and travelled throughout the Métis Homeland

A common Métis way of life developed across west central North America, from the Upper Great Lakes westward, that endured over the span of centuries and connected Métis communities across vast distances through kinship, economic, and cultural ties. One example is the many petitions written by Métis communities across the Homeland, sent as proud assertions of their Métis identity and rights, and as collective responses to their pressing political issues. Not only is the ac

Throughout history, Métis communities’ distinctive political identities have often emerged as a response to external threats to their collective Métis rights and way of life. Now-famous Métis political actions include the Battle of Seven Oaks and North-West Resistance. Each event served to solidify a distinctive Métis identity and collective consciousness in present-day Manitoba and Saskatchewan, respectively. In present-day Ontario, the 1905 negotiations for Treaty 9 in