The Gordon family was among Penetanguishene’s founding Métis families who relocated from Drummond Island alongside other members of their Métis community after the Island was formally handed over to the United States. They took up a land grant across the bay from the small British naval outpost in Penetanguishene harbour. The family’s Métis matriarch, Agnes Landry (Sr.), was born on Drummond Island and spent most of her life within the vibrant Métis community in the Upper Gre

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

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 Vasseurs were among Penetanguishene’s founding Métis families who relocated from Drummond Island after the War of 1812, taking up a land grant “across the bay” from the small British naval outpost in Penetanguishene harbour alongside other members of their Métis community. Born in Quebec, Charles Vasseur went west with the Hudson’s Bay Company, serving in the British military, including in the capture of Mackinaw in 1812. While at Mackinaw, Charles “married a young half-b

In the aftermath of the War of 1812, the British surrendered Drummond Island—a strategic outpost and home to a thriving Métis community—to the United States. Having fought alongside the British and Anishinaabe as allies during the war, Métis families on Drummond Island were forced to relocate upon the island’s American takeover. In recognition of their allyship and as compensation for their losses during the relocation, the British offered several Métis veterans land grants a

In 2004, the Métis Nation of Ontario signed a landmark interim Harvesting Agreement with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources—the first negotiated agreement of its kind signed by any Métis Government within the Métis Homeland. The Agreement recognized MNO’s Harvesting Policy on an interim basis and provided for the recognition of a maximum of 1,250 Harvesters Cards—as well as a pathway to remove the cap on the number of recognized MNO Harvester Cards in the future based