Métis oral histories contain many stories of New Year’s celebrations across the Métis Homeland, Sault Ste. Marie is no exception! They tell of Métis going from house to house for cakes and pies, with the sounds of fireworks, gunshots, church bells, and fiddle music ringing in the air, all accompanied by dancing.
Métis were so fond of this time of year that they often shared stories with non-Métis authors interested in their community’s history. In the 1920s, for example, James Bassingthwaighte of the Sault Ste. Marie Historical Society documented Métis boatman and boatbuilder Emory Boissoneau’s memories of the holiday:
“Mr. Emory Boissineau has a particularly good memory of the early residents of the village, and along the shore for two or three miles, for everybody knew everybody else then and didn't they renew acquaintance every New Year, when everybody called on everybody else and had a sip of wine and a bit of biscuit or perhaps something stronger than wine?”
Boissoneau’s fondness and nostalgia for his Métis community’s annual New Year’s visiting traditions was clear:
“a bit of wistful look came into the old man's eyes and a tenderness in his voice as he recalled the good fellowship those kindly New Years of long ago.”
Many members of the Sault Ste. Marie Métis Community continue their annual New Year’s visiting traditions to this day.