Throughout the 19th century fur trade, Métis fishing was essential to the survival of Hudson’s Bay Company posts at Lac la Pluie (Fort Frances) and Rat Portage (Kenora). As HBC employees, Métis harvested fish primarily to feed the post population.
Numerous Hudson’s Bay Company records document Métis men operating large seasonal fisheries, as well as angling and spearing fish throughout the year. Whitefish, in particular, was a dietary staple at both posts, consumed by the post population as well as other traders and their families during times of scarcity.
This important tradition was often passed through Métis families for generations, as children entered into their parents’ professions.
In the instance of the Métis Guimond family from the Fort Frances area, for example, there is clear evidence of the fishing profession spanning across three generations.
From the late 1820s to the 1840s, Joseph Guimon dit Rice [sic] stands out as the only Hudson’s Bay Company employee at Lac la Pluie to have the official designation of “Fisherman”.
Upon his retirement, his son Joseph Guimond Jr. inherited his fishing responsibilities at Lac la Pluie. In 1890, Joseph Guimond (III) was employed by the Hudson’s Bay Company as an outpost manager at Northwest Bay on Rainy Lake, and in 1891 as an assistant at the Fort Frances store.
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