On the morning of October 22, 1993, Steve Powley and his son, Roddy, set out hunting. They headed north from their residence in Sault Ste. Marie and, at about 9 a.m., they shot and killed a bull moose near Old Goulais Bay Road, north of town.
After generations of discrimination and government attempts to suppress Métis harvesting traditions, the Powleys—like many Métis across the Homeland—were tired of being forced to hide who they were and their Métis way of life.
Having purposefully harvested the moose to feed their family, they put it on top of their truck and drove home, in the daylight, down Queen Street in Sault Ste. Marie—which was not the usual route to their house.
Steve and Roddy Powley were charged by the Ministry of Natural Resources for harvesting without a license and the unlawful possession of that moose.
Nearly 10 years to the day later, the Powley case won a unanimous victory at the Supreme Court of Canada. That decision not only affirmed the existence of a historic rights-bearing Métis community at Sault Ste. Marie in the Upper Great Lakes, but also created a legal test that remains the basis of Métis rights recognition throughout the Métis Homeland today.
Learn more about that fateful day, the Powley family’s sacrifices, and the moose that changed everything in Hunt for Justice: The Powley Story.