Independent Métis Fisheries | Ontario Métis Facts

Across the Homeland, fishing has been central to the Métis way of life and economy for generations. While some Métis worked directly for major employers like the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) and North West Company (NWC), many others developed and operated independent Métis fisheries that became an important part of their distinct Métis economy and way of life.

As early as 1824, for example, the HBC post manager at Sault Ste. Marie recognized a distinct independent Métis fishing economy, recording that, “The halfbreeds begin to come now of their own accord with fish.”

Sault Ste. Marie’s thriving independent Métis fisheries were also noted a generation later in the 1859 Report of the Fishery Overseer for the Division of Lakes Huron and Superior: “The half-breeds depend upon fish, from September till sugar-making… the half-breeds and Indians with nets and spears take large quantities for the American boats.”

Prosperous independent Métis fisheries also existed in other locations throughout the Upper Great Lakes, including Georgian Bay. In an 1862 report by the Superintendent for Fisheries in Lake Huron and Lake Superior, for example, the waters of Georgian Bay between Shawanaga (near present-day Parry Sound) and Matchadash Bay (near present-day Waubaushene) were said to be fished by “All Penetanguishene Halfbreeds.”

A generation later, an 1882 Michigan Tribune article remarked, “On the Georgian Bay inlets Indian and half-breeds are the fishermen—not white men.”

Today, Métis fishermen like Bernie LePage carry on the proud tradition of independent Métis fisheries and, in doing so, play a vital role in maintaining their Métis communities’ distinct Métis economies and way of life.

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