The Georgian Bay Métis Community’s distinct way of life, grounded in the region’s abundant lands and waters, has faced numerous threats by settlers from the south for generations. The 1885 Ontario Fisheries Act, for example, attempted to place restrictions on some of the Georgian Bay Métis Community’s most culturally and economically important practices. In response, Métis fishermen, such as William Dusome, organized acts of resistance. By the turn of the twentieth centur

A GROUP OF VOYAGEURS. (From photo, taken in 1895.) 1. Lewis Solomon, 2. John Bussette, 3. James Larammee, 4. Francis Dusome The Solomons were one of the first Métis families to battle the rough fall waters of Georgian Bay from Drummond Island to Penetanguishene, as part of their Métis community’s relocation after the international border was imposed upon the Upper Great Lakes following the War of 1812. Before their journey to Penetanguishene, William Solomon, his Métis wife

The families which make up Georgian Bay Métis Community have deep and enduring connections amongst each other, as well as with other Métis families and communites in the Upper Great Lakes and throughout the Métis Homeland. Many of these bonds were rooted during their shared experience of relocation from Drummond Island to Penetanguishene, in the aftermath of the War of 1812. Lewis Solomon is one example of a Georgian Bay Métis Community member whose family kinship extends

The Labattes were among the Métis families who were relocated to Penetanguishene from Drummond Island following the British ceding the island to the United States after the War of 1812. Antoine Labatte, son of Métis War of 1812 veteran Louis George Labatte and his Métis wife Julia Frances Grouette, later recounted details of their family’s 1828 journey to Penetanguishene: “We left Drummond Island in August, in a bateau, towed by the schooner Alice… We came by the outer c