The Labatte Family: Connecting Across Generations

The Labatte family’s history in Penetanguishene embodies a pattern of Métis connection-building across generations, rooted in kinship, community life, and collective political action. 

When Louis George Labatte signed the 1840 Penetanguishene “Halfbreed” Petition, he did so alongside several members of his resilient Métis community as an assertion of shared identity, mutual responsibility, and continued presence on Georgian Bay following their displacement from Drummond Island in 1828. That act of solidarity emphasized their continued sense of community and reflected deep relationships that were already firmly in place, which the Labatte family would continue to reinforce again and again in subsequent generations through marriage and community life.

Louis George’s son and fellow 1840 Penetanguishene Petition signatory, Michael Labatte, for example, married fellow Drummond Islander, Archange Berger, further strengthening the already-deep kinship within the Georgian Bay Métis Community. Michael later added his name to the 1850 Sault Ste. Marie Métis Petition, demonstrating how these local family ties extended into the broader political network of the Upper Great Lakes Métis. 

Michael’s sister, Louise Labatte, continued this pattern when she Pierre Blette, also a former Drummond Islander, in Penetanguishene. Their daughter, Louise Labatte, in turn married Michel Boucher of Penetanguishene’s Métis Delaronde family, again joining two long-standing Métis families within the same community and contributing to sustained community connections.

Across more than four generations, the Labattes consistently married Métis partners, raised families within their closely knit Métis community, and acted collectively with their Métis neighbours. This was not accidental or episodic. It was one deeply rooted Métis family among many sustaining a living Métis community in Penetanguishene through kinship, shared obligation, and deliberate connection.

See Our Sources

• Labatte Family VMFL Document

• Labatte Family Vignette

• Penetanguishene Halfbreed Petition, 27 January 1840

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