Hub Staff

The 7th Annual Historic Saugeen Métis Rendezvous was held at Pioneer Park in Southampton on Saturday, August 8.

The event, which took place from 11am to 3pm, included an afternoon of Métis fiddle music and dancing, several demonstrations such as making bows and arrows; as well as vendors and refreshments, including fresh whitefish on a bun.

Canadian and US national fiddle champion, Shane Cook was on hand to entertain the crowds.

The Historic Saugeen Métis community are the descendants of the historic Métis who came to the Lake Huron shoreline in the early 1800s. The community is organized as a not-for-profit organization and operates an interpretive learning centre on High Street in Southampton, which is open to the public.

Scott Berry of Ontario Power Generation, supporters as well as attendees to the rendezvous, said, “OPG has been a supporter for a number of years. It's a good opportunity to meet the local Métis community ... We really appreciate all they do to help build the cultural significance and heritage and share it with the community. Their interpretative centre has really grown and it's a nice attraction for residents and visitors alike.”

Patsy McArthur of the Historic Saugeen Métis estimated that there were between 400 and 500 people that attended the rendezvous on Saturday and that it keeps growing ever year as do the activities that are put on. “Every year it keeps getting better,” she said. “It went really well. Everybody had fun, the kids had fun and everybody enjoyed it. It was just a nice spot for everybody to talk and meet.”

McArthur explained that the rendezvous is a traditional thing for Métis communities to do. “It goes back to the days when they would come out of the bush and rendezvous in the summer. They would meet and people would get married and get baptized and meet families who had been off in other directions,” she said.