Dusome Family Fishing and Resistance

Though originally from the Red River region, the Métis Dusome family relocated to the Upper Great Lakes region by the early 1830s, first to Sault Ste. Marie, then onto Penetanguishene where they were welcomed and integrated within the Georgian Bay Métis Community’s rich family and kinship networks, marrying into several of Penetanguishene’s Métis families, including the Longlade, Berger, Beausoleil, Trudeau, and Cadieux families. 

At Penetanguishene and its surrounding islands, members of the Dusome family took up professions rooted in Georgian Bay’s abundant waters over the coming generations. 

Francois Dusome Jr., for instance, was born in Red River in the early 1820s and later served as Penetanguishene’s harbour master in the 1890s. 

Several of Francois’ sons also became well-known Métis commercial fishers. For example, an 1876 poem chronicled Francois’ son, Fred Dusome, as one of “Seven Young Fishermen” who fished together in Penetanguishene alongside members of other Métis families including the Longlade, Giroux, Gendron, and Precourt families.

In 1898, Fred’s brother, William Dusome, resisted Ontario fishing regulations that threatened his community’s collective Métis way of life and traditional fishing economy. Dusome’s fishing camp near Gin Rock on Georgian Bay ultimately became the subject of a June 20, 1898 letter to the Department of Marine and Fisheries: 

“It was reported to me several times last summer that a half breed named William Dusome was using a seine for catching fish off this island and although I kept a lokout [sic] for him I was never able to see him using the seine but he was there much of the time. Now this summer this man has built a shanty on the island and along with three others has taken up his residence there.”

A generation later, a then-elderly William Dusome was still fishing the waters of Georgian Bay. In a 1921 Toronto Star article about the still-distinct Métis community at Penetanguishene, Dusome is described (though not by name) alongside his younger brother, Isidore, known by his nickname, “McKoy”:

“His big brother turned out to be a frolicsome lad of 86 summers, who was off on a jaunt across the bay guiding a fishing party.”

The enduring spirit and resilience of Métis fishing families, like the Dusomes, continue to inspire and uplift their Métis communities to this day.

See Our Sources

• Letter from William Baxter to the Department of Marine and Fisheries, 1898

• “Strange Old Legends Surround Penetang”

• Dusome-Clermont Family Vignette

• Upper Great Lakes Submission to the MNC Expert Panel

• Francois Dusome Jr.’s Death Certificate

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