Throughout history, travelling between Métis communities has been an important part of maintaining economic, political, cultural, and kinship connections.
While canoes were a common means of transportation throughout the lakes and river systems of the Métis Homeland, they became increasingly dangerous in winter. When lakes began to freeze, canoe routes became difficult or impossible to navigate, and cold temperatures made birch bark canoes brittle.
This meant that many Métis had to find other means of travel during winter.
Historical records describe Métis men travelling on horse-drawn sledges, dogsleds, and snowshoes during the winter season at Rainy Lake. Métis women were vital contributors, often tasked with netting the snowshoes at the posts. In December 1804, for instance, it was reported that “the women netted 3 p Snow Shoes” at Rainy Lake.
Métis often relied on snowshoes to safely and successfully undertake long journeys between communities. In Long Ships Passing: The Story of the Great Lakes, for example, a tale is recounted of a “halfbreed” who was “offered a bonus to make a trip on snowshoes from the Soo to Mackinac and return in thirty hours.”
Dog sleds and snowshoes were also essential tools for Métis mail carriers, like Louis Miron and Michel Labatte, who helped maintain vital communication between Métis communities in the Upper Great Lakes.
Many Métis continue to use these essential traditional winter technologies today.