Métis in the Nipigon area have maintained a deep sense of their distinct Métis identity and community, organizing and acting collectively across many generations. In 1880, for example, Métis in the Nipigon area signed several petitions in which they identified themselves as “half-breeds”, distinct from their First Nations relatives and neighbours. The first petition, submitted by the “Indians and half breeds of the Pic River,” requested reserve lands. Another petition fro

The Roussain family, from the historic Métis community at Sault Ste. Marie, have been prominent advocates and organizers throughout Métis history, from the Upper Great Lakes to the Red River. In 1816, for example, Eustace Roussain rallied Métis in the Upper Great Lakes to support Cuthbert Grant’s efforts against Lord Selkirk’s troops in the Red River, culminating in the Battle of Seven Oaks. Eustace was later charged for his role in the conflict. Louise Roussain, another Saul

Many members of the Upper Great Lakes Métis Community utilized their knowledge of the lands, waters, and local peoples to maintain meaningful employment as guides and interpreters. Lewis Solomon, a member of the Métis community at Penetanguishene, was one of those guides. Lewis was born on Drummond Island in 1821 and later moved to Penetanguishene during the community’s relocation in 1829. As a young adult, Lewis pursued “a tolerably fair education” that afforded him a “c

After the War of 1812, the Nolin family began to expand their connections and influence westward beyond the family’s home at Sault Ste. Marie in the Upper Great Lakes. Louis Nolin, the eldest son of Jean Baptiste and Marie Angelique, moved westward to the Red River settlement, where he became an interpreter for Lord Selkirk and the Hudson’s Bay Company. This was a crucial role, as the Red River area was a center of growing tension between the Métis, European settlers, and f

Throughout history, Métis across the Homeland have found employment using their fluency in a diverse array of languages. Prominent language-based Métis professions have included interpreters and guides. Many passed their language-based vocations down between generations. Lewis Solomon, a well-known member of the Georgian Bay Métis Community, for example, followed in the footsteps of his father, William, who was an Indian interpreter for the British Government. Like many M

Growing up in the heart of the historic fur trade, the Sayer brothers—Henry, Pierre Guillaume, and John Charles—were part the emergent Métis kinship network that extended throughout west central North America. Their father, John Sayer, was a trader who married Obemau-unoqua, an Indigenous woman, in the traditional manner known as à la façon du pays. Born around Lake Superior between the 1780s and 1790s, Henry, Pierre Guillaume, and John Charles Sayer were raised within the bu