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

Métis women played an essential role in provisioning the fur trade posts of the Abitibi Inland and western James Bay regions. Métis women from the Abitibi Inland Métis Community are documented hunting, trapping, and snaring a variety of birds and game, including geese, partridges, beaver, martins, and rabbits. Fishing—especially for whitefish—was common too. In addition to hunting, snaring, and fishing, Métis women actively participated in maple sugar production, as well as o

Métis across the Homeland are connected through shared culture, including material items such as clothing. A common piece of winter clothing worn by many Métis from Ontario-westward was the capote. The capote is a thigh-length coat with full-length sleeves which could come with or without a hood or cape. Early capotes were made with Hudson’s Bay Company Point Blankets, often identified by the colourful stripes around the blanket. These blankets were fashioned into coats for M

Métis communities in what is now Ontario have relied on big game as a source of winter food for generations, with moose being amongst the most important. Many historical records document Métis hunting moose, including in the Upper Great Lakes. For example, an 1893 report by James Cleland Hamilton in The Georgian Bay: An Account of its Position, Inhabitants, Mineral Interests, Fish, Timber and Other Resources describes: “A ‘moose yard’ is then a bonanza for the hunter, genera

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

Joseph Turner Jr. was born into the Métis world of the coastal and inland fur trade posts of western James Bay in 1816 and was baptized alongside his siblings, Elizabeth and Philip, at Moose Factory on June 30, 1822. Joseph Turner Jr.’s father, Joseph Sr., had worked at the Hudson’s Bay Company depot at Moose Factory and its connected inland posts since 1799. Like many of the Métis “factory boys” who grew up at the fur trade posts of James Bay, Joseph Sr. had a long career wi