The introduction of Ontario’s Fisheries Act made it difficult for Métis in Georgian Bay and across the Upper Great Lakes to practice their way of life. In response, the Métis in Georgian Bay pushed back.
Métis fisherman, William Dusome, was particularly active in leading Métis resistance to Ontario’s Fisheries Act in Georgian Bay.
In 1898, for example, the Department of Marine and Fisheries recorded that Métis fisherman William Dusome was persistent in refusing to adhere to fishing regulations near the Métis community in Penetanguishene. In a June 1898 letter, a department official explained:
“There is an island about 200 yards east of Gin Rock about the same size as Gin Rock. ... 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.”
Dusome—clearly identified as “a half breed”—resisted the Crown’s efforts to dictate where and how the Métis could fish. Dusome not only disregarded the Crown’s newly imposed regulations and evaded the ministry official who was out to get him, but also recruited other Métis to resist alongside of him.
This collective resistance to the Ontario’s Fisheries Act shows that the Métis in Georgian Bay were willing to fight back on colonial laws in order to defend their rights and way of life on the lands and waters of their home in the Upper Great Lakes.