At the time of its Confederation in 1867, Canada was comprised of the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, and parts of present-day Ontario extending to the height of land that lies northwest of what is now Thunder Bay.
At that time, colonial law recognized the Hudson’s Bay Company as having rights to the area known as “Rupert’s Land”—the vast expanse of west central North America that drains into Hudson’s Bay to which the Hudson’s Bay Company had been granted a Royal Charter in 1670.
In 1969, however, Canada entered negotiations with the Hudson’s Bay Company that would see it come to control the Company’s Rupert’s Land interests. Seeing the threat to their customary way of life, Métis in the Red River famously resisted Canada’s attempted land transfer—a collective Métis action known today as the Red River Resistance.
The Red River Resistance reignited Canada’s desire for a straightforward transportation route between Fort William (Thunder Bay) and the Red River, and spurred the development of the “Dawson Road” that had first been proposed by surveyor Simon J. Dawson in 1859 but had only seen approximately twenty-five miles completed in its first decade.
In 1870, Rupert’s Land was formally transferred to Canada through the Rupert’s Land and Northwest Territory Order. To ensure legal and peaceable access westward, the 1870 Order committed Canada to addressing the land claims of “Indians”—the territory’s original First Nations and Métis inhabitants. As the Supreme Court of Canada later stated:
“This meant dealing with the indigenous peoples who were living in the western territories… The government policy regarding the First Nations was to enter into treaties with the various bands, whereby they agreed to settlement of their lands in exchange for reservations of land and other promises. The government policy with respect to the Métis population ... was less clear.”
Canada’s “less clear” Métis policy was particularly complicated by the region’s unique geography. Métis living in “Keewatin”—the name given to Rupert’s Land after 1870—were eligible to receive “Half-Breed” scrip, which was Canada’s preferred method for extinguishing Métis title to the land at the time. Those living in Ontario were not.
The Métis of Rainy Lake and Rainy River (whose descendants make up what is known today as the Northwestern Ontario Métis Community) lived partially in what was then Ontario and partially in Keewatin. This resulted in some members of the Métis Community being eligible for scrip and some not—and complicated just and lasting settlement of the Métis community’s inherent rights.
While this unfairness was acknowledged—and some Métis along the Dawson Road, like Michael Morisseau, were compensated and recorded in the Dawson Route Paylists prior to treaty—Canada did not take steps to fully remedy it.
In 1873, Canada signed Treaty No. 3 with various First Nations in northwestern Ontario. While Métis individuals participated in the treaty-making process as interpreters and witnesses, the Métis community was excluded from signing.
This exclusion, in keeping with Canada’s policy to not negotiate treaties with Métis, left the Métis of Rainy Lake and Rainy River to further navigate Canada’s unfair and complicated system for the time being.