The Métis families in Mattawa did not exist in isolation from other Métis families and communities. They were connected to other Métis families and communities across west central North America.
Métis families came to Mattawa from across west central North America, eventually forming their own distinct identity within the region.
The Atkinson-Moore family, for example, that eventually put roots down in the Mattawa region, had its origins in Moose Factory—part of the Abitibi Inland Métis Community—and familial ties to the Red River settlement.
Sara Mary Moore, born in Moose Factory in 1818, was the daughter of Hudson’s Bay Company steersman, George Moore Jr. and Sara Moore. In 1834, George briefly retired from Hudson’s Bay Company service and moved the family to Red River, where Sara Mary, her mother, Emma Good, and siblings Anne and Philip were baptized the following year.
However, when George rejoined the HBC as a guide and steersman in the following years, the family returned to Moose Factory. There, in 1839, Sara Mary married HBC employee Samuel Atkinson. Their eldest children were born in Moose Factory, while others may have been born while Samuel was stationed at inland posts, such as New Brunswick House.
Sometime after Samuel’s retirement in 1865, the family, including Sara Mary and four of their children, moved to and put down roots in the Mattawa area.
Comments