About

The Historic Saugeen Métis (HSM) are a distinctive Aboriginal community – descended from unions between our European traders and First Nations Women. We are the Lake Huron watershed Métis – with a unique Métis history and culture who lived, fished, hunted, trapped, and harvested the lands and waters of the Saugeen-Bruce Peninsula, the Lake Huron proper shoreline and its watersheds, their traditional Métis territory.

The HSM traded in a regional network since the early 1800s as far as the north shore of Lake Huron and have kinship with the Wikwemikong First Nations community and Killarney Métis community.

The Contemporary Métis Community

The geographic scope of the contemporary community is described as covering over 275 kms of  shoreline from Tobermory and south of Goderich, and includes the counties of Bruce, Grey and Huron.

The Historic Métis Community

HSM ancestors were living and working in Great Lakes, particularly around the region of Nipigon, Fort William (Thunder Bay) and the Red River and the northern shores of Lake Superior and Huron. After the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) and Northwest Company (NWC) merged in 1821, the HBC took over the “Lake Huron District”. Some former NWC employees were taken on by HBC. HSM ancestors were some of the few hired by HBC and sent into the Lake Huron District. The community already had experience and ties in that region. Many HSM ancestors soon began trading independently from the companies along the shores of Lake Huron. HSM ancestors have been centralized around the mouth of the Saugeen (current day Southampton) and Menesetung (Maitland River, current day Goderich) and up the Saugeen-Bruce Peninsula since the 1820’s.