Weekly Word Search: Jun 23 - Jun 27, 2025
- Ontario Métis Facts
- Jun 28
- 6 min read
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1880 Petitions in Northern Lake Superior
On June 23, 1880, Métis and First Nations in northern Lake Superior submitted a petition as the “Indians and half breeds of the Pic River, Lake Superior,” requesting lands on which they could settle and “better their condition.”
Two weeks later—on July 6, 1880—the nearby “Indians and half-breeds” on Lake Nipigon petitioned for money to pay a schoolteacher. This was followed by a similar petition the next week—July 13, 1880—by the “Indians and half breeds of Lake Helen near the Hudson’s Bay Company Post, at Red Rock, Lake Superior,” requesting both money to pay a schoolteacher as well as for lands on which they could settle.
Each of the 1880 Lake Superior petitions was signed by prominent families of the Northern Lake Superior Historic Métis Community—including members of the de Laronde, Deschamps, Bouchard, and Desmulons families—alongside those of neighbouring First Nations with whom they shared common interests and objectives.
These petitions highlight the mutual recognition, respect, and allyship historically shown by Métis and First Nations toward one another, and also the collaborative nature of Métis diplomacy and political advocacy that has manifested in many Métis communities sometimes petitioning alongside their non-Métis neighbours when shared interests emerged.
In these petitions, the Crown identified the petitioning “half-breeds” and “Indians” separately, indicating that, while allied in cause, the Métis and First Nations saw themselves and each other as distinct.
Together, these petitions underscore a long-standing Métis tradition of strategic alliance-building that extends across the Métis Homeland. When the need arose, Métis actively mobilized with First Nations to advance shared interests across cultural lines, such as collective goals in education, land, and community well-being.
Click here to view the original story and sources.
The 1893 Fort Albany Métis Petition
In 1893, Métis living at Fort Albany on James Bay petitioned Parliament “to consider favourably the claims of the Half-breeds of that Country for compensation in lieu of lands” as “compensation for the extinction of the half-breed title to the soil”.
The following year, after the government’s refusals to issue Métis scrip in the region, Métis petitioner and Archdeacon, Thomas Vincent, penned a follow up letter on behalf of Métis living around the Hudson’s Bay Post at Fort Albany. His January 31, 1894, letter states that:
“we have unanimously concluded—after due consideration—to accept money compensation for all claimants, as a Fee Simple from the Crown for our title to the soil”
Like in many historic Métis communities in what became Ontario, members of the Abitibi-Inland Métis Community, including those living at Fort Albany, had Métis family members living further west who had received Métis scrip as part of the Canadian government’s campaign intended to extinguish Métis land rights and make way for Canadian settlement.
Due to arbitrary Canadian policies, however, which limited scrip issuance to certain regions, Métis living in “Keewatin”—the name given to Rupert’s Land after 1870—or further westward were eligible to receive “Half-Breed” scrip, while those living in Ontario were not. This resulted in scrip eligibility for families of Abitibi Inland Métis Community members who had previously moved further westward, including to the Red River region, but exclusion for those who remained in Fort Albany and other Abitibi Inland Métis Community settlements.
Despite the community’s continued advocacy, including additional scrip applications and correspondence between Thomas Vincent and government officials, the Abitibi-Inland Métis Community’s calls have largely remained ignored.
Click here to view the original story and sources.
The 1840 Penetanguishene Petition
In the late 1830s, the Crown began excluding “Halfbreeds” from annual present-giving—a longstanding pre-treaty practice used to maintain diplomatic relationships with First Nation and Métis in the Upper Great Lakes.
This policy change was a significant concern for Métis in the Upper Great Lakes, who by this time had developed distinct communities with their own unique identity, governance, and way of life separate and apart from their First Nations neighbours. As noted by Indian Agent, Samuel Jarvis, both Métis and First Nations opposed this new exclusionary approach:
“Upon every occasion that I have visited the Lake Huron tribes an appeal has been made to me to remove the disability imposed upon the Class of Half-Breeds not only by the elder members of the Indian Communities but also by the Half-Breeds themselves.”
By 1839, discontent among members of the Georgian Bay Métis Community in Penetanguishene was unmistakable. Members of the Métis community surrounded Indian Agent Samuel Jarvis’s residence to confront him about the discriminatory policy change. Of this event, Jarvis wrote that:
“July last when at Penetanguishene a number of [Métis] surrounded the house I was in, for their purpose claiming and insisting upon having that which was their right, as long as the distribution of presents to the Indians was continued by government.”
On January 27, 1840, the “Half breeds residing in the town of Penetanguishene” collectively organized once again. Twenty-two members of the Métis community—including members of the Longlade, Labatte, Lavalle, Trudeau, and St. Onge families—sent a petition to the Crown to restore their inclusion in present-giving. The petition stated:
“[We] do not share in any advantage in presents issued to the Indians as a number of the half breeds, from the Sault St. Marie and other places on the shores of Lake Huron. … Therefore, your Petitioners most humbly beg your Excellency will take their case under your Excellency consideration and that your Excellency would be pleased to allow them to have the same advantages that persons of the same class (living at the Sault St. Marie [sic] and other places on the shores of Lake Huron) derive from the issue of Indian present to them and their families.”
In the Penetanguishene Petition, the Métis in Penetanguishene firmly recognize and situate themselves within a broader Upper Great Lakes Métis Community. Their appeal for justice is grounded in the principle of maintaining equity with their Métis relatives.
The 1840 Penetanguishene Petition is an early example in what would become a long history of Métis communities utilizing petitions as a tool of collective political expression—one that would be later repeated throughout the Métis Homeland, including Sault Ste. Marie, Red River, Batoche, and beyond.
Click here to view the original story and sources.
1850 Sault Ste. Marie Métis Petition
In 1850, the Métis in Sault Ste. Marie petitioned the government seeking recognition and protections for their traditional River Lot homes along the St. Mary’s River that formed the heart of their distinct Métis way of life grounded in the region’s abundant lands and waters.
Signed by members of many well-known Métis families—including the Biron, Boissonneau, Cadotte, Lesage, Nolin, Sayer, and Labatte families—the 1850 Sault Ste. Marie Métis Petition came in response to Treaty Commissioner William B. Robinson’s earlier confirmation that the Métis were in “free and full possession of their lands on which they now reside,” and emphasized that the Métis had been “born upon the soil” and had “inherited their possessions from their mothers” or “purchased from Half-Breeds or Indians”.
The 1850 Sault Ste. Marie Métis Petition’s calls for respect and restitution were further echoed by neighbouring First Nations, including Anishinaabek Chiefs Shingwaukonse-ibun and Nebainagoching-ibun, who sent in their own petition which stated that the Métis at Sault Ste. Marie are “equally the rightful and just owners” and requested that the Crown see them “protected in their lands and properties” through “a free grant from the Crown to each of the individuals.”
Despite their collective Métis and First Nations advocacy and Treaty Commissioner Robinson’s recognition, the Sault Ste. Marie Métis Community and their Anishinaabek allies continue to wait for Canada to fulfill the 1850 Sault Ste. Marie Métis Petition’s calls for equity and justice.
Click here to view the original story and sources.
The 1865 Mattawa Petition
On September 3, 1865 a group of Métis living in Mattawa petitioned alongside their Roman Catholic First Nations neighbours for additional religious services in their community.
Like many Métis people across the Métis Homeland, much of the Mattawa Historic Métis Community were devout Roman Catholics.
Likely prepared with the assistance of visiting missionaries, the 1865 Mattawa petition was submitted collectively by “des sauvages de Mattawa”—a French term, generally translated as “Indian”. In addition to numerous Anishinaabemowin signatories, many of the forty-three petitioners also belonged to known Mattawa-area Métis families, including the Langevin, McDonnell, and Dorion (Lorion) families.
The 1865 Mattawa petition also reflects a larger tradition of Métis diplomacy and collaborative political advocacy, through which numerous Métis communities across the Homeland have jointly acted alongside their non-Métis neighbours when shared interests emerged—sometimes through joint petitioning.
