For generations, Métis across the Homeland have fought for their distinct rights and recognition as ‘Halfbreeds’. During treaty negotiations, many wrote to the Crown and Indian Agents requesting to be treated as a distinct group, separate from their First Nations neighbours.
On August 21, 1850, for example, Métis Hudson’s Bay Company employee John Swanston wrote from Michipicoten to HBC Governor, George Simpson, arguing for acknowledgement of the rights and claims of “Halfbreeds” in the upcoming Robinson-Superior Treaty negotiations.
Swanston contended that “Halfbreeds” should be eligible for a portion of the monetary compensation that would be paid for the lands to be surrendered in the treaty area. He pointed out that many of the “Halfbreeds” had been born and brought up in the region, unlike some of the First Nations that had recently come to reside there from the United States.
“At present I am not certain whether the Government will acknowledge the rights and claims of the half breeds, to a share of the payments to be made for the lands about to be ceded by the Indians of Lake Superior, but should hope they would, as many of them have much juster [sic] claims then [sic] the Indians, they having been born and brought up on the land.”
Métis across the Upper Great Lakes, including the Northern Lake Superior region, continue to celebrate their distinct Métis heritage today and advocate for the recognition of their inherent Métis rights.
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