In 1845, the government opened lands north of Lake Huron for settlement and began negotiating treaties in the region. These newly opened lands included many Métis families’ River Lots along the St. Mary’s River at Sault Ste. Marie.
In 1850, the Métis were explicitly excluded from the Robinson treaties.
However, during the treaty negotiations, Anishinaabe leaders had advocated for the recognition of Métis rights to their River Lots. This advocacy prompted Treaty Commissioner William Robinson to promise that the Métis would maintain “free and full possession” of their River Lot homes.
The Métis community at Sault Ste. Marie took further action to ensure Robinson’s promise was kept. Rallying together, the Métis sent a petition to the Crown, demanding recognition of their land rights—particularly the right to the River Lot homes.
Several members of Joseph and Marguerite Boissonneau’s family, including six of their sons, were among the petition’s fifty-five signatories.
This act of Métis political advocacy was not an isolated incident. The Sault Ste. Marie petition mirrored efforts by other Métis communities across the Métis Homeland, such as the 1840 Penetanguishene Petition and many others across the prairies in the latter half of the 1800s.
The Boissonneau family had strong ties to Penetanguishene. Family histories, for example, recount that Marguerite Boissonneau passed away there in 1839. As a result, Joseph Boissonneau and his sons were likely well aware of the political activism among Métis in that historic community, such as the 1840 Penetanguishene Petition.
Despite their collective efforts, the Sault Ste. Marie Métis petition was ultimately denied.
Within a decade, land speculation in Sault Ste. Marie—including by Treaty Commissioner Robinson—led to many River Lots, including the Boissonneaus, being sold out to settlers from under the Métis community.
Unable to pass their River Lot to the next generation, the Boissonneau family—like many others—dispersed, ultimately resettling in nearby locations, including the outskirts of Sault Ste. Marie, Garden River, and Sugar Island, Michigan. However, like many Métis families across the Homeland, they maintained strong connections through kinship and mutual support.
Joseph and Marguerite’s children married other Métis, forging ties with other Métis families in the Upper Great Lakes and westward to as far as Fort Frances.
Regardless of where they ended up, the Boissonneau family’s shared Métis traditions and sense of community endured. Many members continued participating in meaningful life events for their relatives and neighbours—such as witnessing each other’s weddings and baptisms—for generations to come.