For generations, Métis in the Upper Great Lakes have used their deep connection to and knowledge of the waters to earn a living for their families, creating prosperity through water-based professions like captaining, guiding, and commercial fishing. Boat building became another vital livelihood for many Métis families around Georgian Bay as government regulation, settler tourism, and broader economic changes caused traditional Métis economies to decline in the late 19th and e

Throughout the fur trade era, Métis employees of the Hudson’s Bay Company and North West Company—such as Thomas Favill, Nicholas Chatelain, William Sinclair, William McKay, Bte. Jourdain, and Joseph Guimond—held numerous and diverse occupations in the Rainy Lake region. Métis workers often served as versatile jacks-of-all-trades alongside non-Métis apprentices, post-masters, and clerks. Diverse Métis occupations included fishery operations, net making, hunting, cutting cord-w

Like many Métis, the Métis of the Abitibi Inland and western James Bay regions began transitioning away from traditional fur trade occupations in the early 20th century. Many entered employment in new and rapidly growing regional industries such as the railroad and forestry. Despite these profound economic changes, hunting remained an integral part of life for the Abitibi Inland Métis Community. The continued practice and importance of the Abitibi Inland Métis Community’s tra

After the height of the fur trade, commercial fishing became a way of life for many Métis communities, including those in the Upper Great Lakes. Beginning in the 1830s and 1840s, records began referencing Métis or “Half-breed” fishermen along the eastern shore of Georgian Bay, particularly around Penetanguishene. The emergence of commercial fishing as a Métis way of life in the Upper Great Lakes is explored, among others, by Dr. Arthur Ray in An Economic History of the Robins