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Writer's pictureOntario Métis Facts

Sayer Family Pt. 3: Resilience and Independence


The merger of the North West Company and Hudson’s Bay Company in 1821 marked a turning point in the fur trade.

 

For Métis fur trade employees like Henry, Pierre Guillaume, and John Charles Sayer, the merger of the two companies brought uncertainty, as positions were reduced and once important trade routes shifted. Each of the Sayer brothers experienced and navigated this changing fur trade environment in their own way.

 

At the time of the merger, for example, John Charles Sayer was stationed in Lac La Pluie District. His new employer, the Hudson’s Bay Company, offered to reassign John Charles to the position of clerk. John Charles refused due to the lower pay, choosing instead to become a ‘freeman’ and work independently.

 

John Charles remained in the Lac La Pluie area for a year, during which time he was hired by explorer David Thompson as an interpreter and guide for regional survey work. Thompson praised John Charles as the "best adapted" person for the job, acknowledging the importance of Métis like him in bridging cultures using their fluency in a diverse array of languages.

 

Henry Sayer, who had become the clerk of Island Lake District (now northeastern Manitoba), experienced a similar transition following the 1821 fur trade merger. Henry’s family, including his wife Mary Cameron and their son Toussaint Michel—who had been born in Red River during the 1821 merger—moved to Sault Ste. Marie after Henry’s discharge from the HBC in 1823.

 

At Sault Ste. Marie, the Sayer family reconnected with their Métis relatives and community in the Upper Great Lakes. Henry remained an active fur trade participant, first as an HBC employee and then as an independent trader. The deep roots he reestablished in the region inspired his son, Toussaint Michel, to stand alongside other members of the Sault Ste. Marie Métis Community in signing the 1850 Sault Ste. Marie Métis Petition to protect the Métis River Lots along the St. Mary’s River that formed the heart of their vibrant community.

 

Pierre Guillaume Sayer, too, continued his fur trade career—first with the Hudson’s Bay Company and then as an independent trader—eventually settling at Grantown (later renamed St. Francois-Xavier), a farming settlement established by Métis leader Cuthbert Grant.

 

While Henry, Pierre Guillaume, and John Charles Sayer each navigated the changing fur trade landscape in their own way, they all remained connected to each other and their Métis way of life, and contributed to a growing sense of Métis Nationhood from the Upper Great Lakes westward.


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