Learn the facts about rights-bearing Métis communities in Ontario. All the images, videos, and original source materials you need with none of the spin.
For generations, Crown governments have encountered, recognized, and acknowledged Métis or “Half-Breed” communities in northern Ontario and surrounding the Upper Great Lakes that were culturally distinct and politically independent from their First Nations and Euro-Canadian neighbours. In 1847, for example, an Indian agent in southern Ontario noted the presence of a distinct Métis population to the north in the Upper Great Lakes, drawing clear distinctions between First Natio
Fort William, on the north shore of Lake Superior, became an important gathering location within the historic fur trade when the North West Company relocated their Lake Superior district headquarters there in 1803. Annual gatherings at Fort William brought together North West Company employees from across its vast geographic network. These gatherings at Fort William became known as the ‘Great Rendezvous’. The Rendezvous was an important part of the annual fur trade cycle. It
Métis in the Nipigon area have maintained a deep sense of their distinct Métis identity and community, organizing and acting collectively across many generations. In 1880, for example, Métis in the Nipigon area signed several petitions in which they identified themselves as “half-breeds”, distinct from their First Nations relatives and neighbours. The first petition, submitted by the “Indians and half breeds of the Pic River,” requested reserve lands. Another petition fro
