The legacy of the prominent Métis Nolin family began with the marriage of Jean Baptiste Nolin, a French-Canadian fur trader, and Marie Angelique Couvret, a Métis woman.
Jean Baptiste and Marie Angelique met in the 1780s at Michilimackinac, an important fur trading post and gathering place in the Upper Great Lakes. Jean Baptiste had come to the island for trade, but it was Marie Angelique’s deep connections to the land, her relations, and the emerging Métis kinship networks throughout west central North America that would ultimately shape their family’s future.
The Nolins began raising their children at Michilimackinac, which was home to many Métis families, who were emerging as a culturally and politically distinct people in the region.
In the late 1780s, the Nolins moved to Sault Ste. Marie, another important fur trading hub and a gathering place for many Métis families.
Jean Baptiste quickly became one of Sault Ste. Marie’s most influential traders. However, it was Marie Angelique Couvret’s Métis connections that helped their family secure a parcel of land on the south side of the St. Mary’s River, alongside those of other Métis families.
The Nolin’s River Lot became the family’s home and a place where the Métis way of life was further cultivated alongside that of their growing Métis community.
When the War of 1812 broke out, the Nolin men, including Jean Baptiste and his Métis sons, Louis and Augustin, fought alongside other Métis and Anishinaabe as allies to the British in defense of their homes. Jean Baptiste served as a militia captain and his sons joined as soldiers.
This period marked the beginning of the Nolins’ involvement in Métis resistance and political life that would continue across the Métis Homeland for generations to come.