After the imposition of the international border following the War of 1812, the Métis community living on Drummond Island, just east of Sault Ste. Marie, was relocated to Penetanguishene. While the Métis community rebuilt their lives together in their new home, preserving and celebrating their Métis traditions, they faced anti-Métis prejudice from their new neighbours, both at the nearby naval base and from the growing settler population that began arriving in the area in th

While the term “Métis” is most commonly used today to recognize the culturally and politically distinct communities that emerged from Ontario westward beginning in the late 1700s, other terms such as “Halfbreed” or variations of it have also been used historically by both outsiders and the Métis communities themselves, particularly when advocating against Canadian territorial expansion. In many cases, throughout history, the terms “Métis” and “Halfbreed” have been used inte

A.C. Osborne's "Migration of Voyageurs from Drummond Island to Penetanguishene in 1828" chronicles a defining event in the history of the Upper Great Lakes Métis Community, capturing its stories, struggles, and resilience. Following the cession of Drummond Island by the British Crown to the United States after the War of 1812, the many Métis families who called the Island home were forced to relocate—with a large number going to Penetanguishene on the southwestern shore of

Ever since their relocation from Drummond Island, Penetanguishene has been the well-documented as the home to Métis in the Upper Great Lakes. Historical records from as early as the mid-1800s show that many visitors to the area recognized the Métis community at Penetanguishene as distinct from both their First Nations and non-Indigenous neighbours. In 1849, for example, Sir Richard Henry Bonnycastle wrote that Penetanguishene was, “the nearest point of Western Canada”

British doctor Thomas Sutton clearly distinguished the “half-breeds” from both the “Chipawa-Indians” and non-Indigenous settlers during Penetanguishene’s scarlet fever outbreak of 1843 and 1844. Dr. Sutton chronicled how the disease distinctly impacted Penetanguishene’s Métis inhabitants compared to his First Nation, British, and French-Canadian patients. In his, Notice of an Epidemic of Scarlet Fever and Scarlet Sore Throat, Dr. Sutton wrote: “I was desirous to noti

In letters, journals, and reports from the 1820s through the 1850s, missionaries, government officials, and Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) personnel frequently identified Métis people and families in the vicinity of Mattawa-area fur trade posts on the Ottawa River. Métis people in the Mattawa region were often documented and referred to by various names such as ‘bois brulees’ and ‘halfbreeds’. For example, in the journal of his 1821 tour of Canada, Lord Dalhousie, the new Governo