Sara Mary Moore was born in Moose Factory in 1818. Her Métis father, George Moore Jr., was a steersman with the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), who had entered the company’s employ as a labourer half a decade earlier.
George and his wife, Emma, raised Sara Mary within the vibrant Métis fur trade world of traders, guides, and woodsmen along western James Bay.
In 1833, George briefly moved east “to Canada” before retiring to the Red River in 1834.
Then, about 16, Sara Mary moved to the Red River with her parents and siblings, Anne and Philip. It was in Red River that Sara Mary, Anne, Philip, their mother, and Aunt Elizabeth were all baptized on the same day in 1835.
Shortly after, Sara Mary’s father restarted his employment with HBC, moving the family back to Moose Factory. It was there that Sara Mary met HBC employee Samuel Atkinson. The two were soon married à la façon du pays.
In February 1839, Sara Mary and Samuel welcomed their first child, George, into the world. That August, the Chief Factor of the HBC post formally officiated their marriage. They would eventually grow their Métis family to include three more children.
After Samuel retired from the HBC in 1865, he, Sara Mary, and their four children moved to Mattawa—a location several Métis families had begun to retire to around this time.
Sara Mary Moore lived surrounded by her family and community for many years after her husband’s death around 1868. When she passed away in 1896, her burial was witnessed by fellow Métis community members, including Walter Ferris.