Check out our Special Seasonal Colouring Page: Métis Mail Carriers
The Upper Great Lakes is known for its snowy winters with high winds, once making it hard for families to stay connected during winter. They often relied upon mail carriers, many of which were Métis, to make long, treacherous winter journeys between communities to stay up to date on events of the day.
Dogsleds and snowshoes were standard methods of travel for Métis mail carriers during the winter months. For example, famed Métis mail carrier Michael (Michel) Labatte regularly made the 500-kilometre trip from Penetanguishene to Sault Ste. Marie, with the help of a team of dogs and snowshoes.
His fellow Métis mail carrier, Louis Miron, also relied upon dogsleds in the treacherous winter months. Miron later recounted some of his winter journey in a 1904 publication of The Story of Baw-a-ting:
“We went by Mississaqua to La Cloch den cross de lac to Manitawaning den back to the mainlan’ at Killarney…. In de winter we pack de mail bag on a dog sleigh and follow de rivere down when we could and sometam we haf to tak to de wood and den it was hard.”
It wasn’t just letters that Métis mail carriers delivered. They were often relied upon to deliver essential goods that Métis communities relied upon during the stormy winter months.
The bravery, sacrifices, and resourcefulness of these and other Métis mail carriers during the winter months were essential to connecting Métis settlements throughout the Upper Great Lakes into a cohesive Upper Great Lakes Métis Community that remains alive and connected today.