From the earliest days of the Métis Nation, Métis communities and their leaders have recognized the value of maintaining a unified voice across the Métis Homeland—from the Upper Great Lakes westward—and have consistently achieved shared victories for all Métis by standing together as one.
Early examples of Métis organizing and collective advocacy across geographically distant Métis communities for the shared benefit of all are numerous.
In 1816, for instance, Métis from as far east as Sault Ste. Marie responded to Cuthbert Grant’s call to action ahead of the Battle of Seven Oaks. In the weeks following Grant’s request, Métis from Sault Ste. Marie—including William Morrison, Eustace Roussain, and John Charles Sayer—were charged with rallying allies to provide additional support to Grant at Red River.
This act of Métis unity and collective organizing across distances was reciprocated in 1849 when rumours spread throughout the northwest of two thousand Red River Métis traveling to Sault Ste. Marie to support the Métis and Anishinaabe’s joint resistance at Mica Bay. So strong and serious was the threat of a collective Métis resistance that the Hudson’s Bay Governor, George Simpson, was personally briefed on the matter in Red River.
That same year, Louis Riel Sr. rallied Métis in Red River in defence of Guillaume Sayer in what would eventually become a defining victory in the Métis fight for their right to free trade. Sayer was born in the Upper Great Lakes, where his family maintained deep roots for generations, particularly in Sault Ste. Maire.
The clear linkages between these historical acts of Métis collective action and unity across geographically distant Métis communities—and the deep political and family connections that they demonstrate—have been highlighted in modern studies of the Métis Nation, including the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.
This history of Métis collective organizing for the benefit of all Métis has continued into the present era, leading to numerous shared victories for the entire Métis Nation, including the landmark Powley decision, establishment of the Permanent Bilateral Mechanism with the Government of Canada, and negotiation of the Métis Veterans Legacy Program, among others.
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