Métis families across the Homeland have relied on their surrounding lands and waters to sustain themselves and their communities. Each passed down their rich place-based harvesting knowledge through stories and experiential learning.
Many of these stories and the knowledge they contain have been told throughout Métis communities for generations. This includes the occasional cautionary tale.
One such tale is that of Pierre (Louis) Rondeau, which was shared with journalist A.C. Osbourne and immortalized in his collection of accounts entitled, Migration of Voyageurs from Drummond Island to Penetanguishene in 1828.
Rondeau, like many others, relocated from Drummond Island to Penetanguishene in 1828, ultimately settling with his wife at old Fort Ste. Marie on the Wye River. While similar to their Drummond Island home in many ways, the recently relocated community’s new environment also posed new challenges.
According to Rosette Boucher’s (nee Laramee) account, for example, Rondeau found a root of la carotte a moureau (wild parsnip), while planting potatoes at his old Fort Ste. Marie property.
Understanding its toxic properties, Rondeau’s wife, Sophie, quickly took it away from him.
However, Rondeau’s hunger soon got the best of him. While his wife was preparing dinner, he decided to eat some. Rondeau was poisoned and died shortly after. He was buried at St. Ann’s Church in Penetanguishene.
Antoine Labatte’s account also holds a similar retelling of Rondeau’s cautionary tale, but with one important difference: “His wife said it was good to eat.”
These accounts demonstrate the closely held connections of Métis families within the Georgian Bay Métis Community. They also highlight the profound impact that forced relocation has had on many Métis communities’ ways of life, including the Métis community at Penetanguishene in the Upper Great Lakes.