British doctor Thomas Sutton clearly distinguished the “half-breeds” from both the “Chipawa-Indians” and non-Indigenous settlers during Penetanguishene’s scarlet fever outbreak of 1843 and 1844.
Dr. Sutton chronicled how the disease distinctly impacted Penetanguishene’s Métis inhabitants compared to his First Nation, British, and French-Canadian patients.
In his, Notice of an Epidemic of Scarlet Fever and Scarlet Sore Throat, Dr. Sutton wrote:
“I was desirous to notice if any difference could be observed here in the epidemic as it appeared among the Indians and half-breeds on the one hand, and the French and British on the other. I had no Indians among my patients. As to the half-breeds there was a smaller proportionate number of them attacked than of the French and British.”
Dr. Sutton’s writings about the distinct Métis population at Penetanguishene are just one example within the long history of external Métis recognition within the Upper Great Lakes.