My Métis roots
Lalonde–Vasseur–Cadieux Line
Current genealogical evidence traces the Vasseur line to the fur trade–era Métis communities of the Upper Great Lakes, where French and Anishinaabe families formed enduring kinship networks that later became part of the historic Métis communities of Penetanguishene and Georgian Bay.
1. This is the historical and genealogical lineage of my paternal family, known as the Lalonde–Vasseur–Cadieux line their family history, and documentary evidence to the best of my knowledge and belief.
2. My paternal ancestry is rooted in the historic Métis communities of Penetanguishene and Georgian Bay, with extended kinship connections to Drummond Island, Mackinac, and the Red River Settlement. These connections are documented through genealogical records, census enumerations, and land registry documents.
3. Current genealogical evidence traces the Vasseur line to the fur trade–era Métis communities of the Upper Great Lakes, where French and Anishinaabe families formed enduring kinship networks that later became part of the historic Métis communities of Penetanguishene and Georgian Bay.
4. Available genealogical evidence identifies Charles Vasseur (born c. 1805) as a descendant of Jacques Hyacinth Levasseur dit Lavigne and Madeleine Ouiouiskoin.
5. By the 1830s, members of the Vasseur family had extended westward to the Red River Settlement. Louis Vasseur of Red River appears in the 1834–1835, 1838, 1840, and 1843 Red River censuses, where he is consistently identified as “Native.”
6. In 1842, Louis Vasseur of the Red River Settlement is documented in the Tiny Township, Concession 15 Land Registry as transferring land in Tiny, Ontario, to his brother, Charles Vasseur, who remained associated with the Penetanguishene area.
7. This land transaction provides documentary evidence of the familial relationship between Louis and Charles Vasseur and establishes a direct link between the Vasseur families of Red River and Penetanguishene, demonstrating a single extended kin network operating across regions.
8. The movement of family members between the Upper Great Lakes and Red River reflects a broader pattern of kin-directed Métis migration, shaped by repeated displacement following relocations from Mackinac and Drummond Island and the later imposition of the international boundary commonly referred to as the Medicine Line.
9. While some family members established themselves in Red River, other branches remained rooted in Penetanguishene and Georgian Bay. The family continued through Charles-Baptiste Vasseur and Marguerite Longlade, and later through their son Paul Vasseur (1841–1923).
10. Paul Vasseur married Marie Legris / Prisque (1845–1903), daughter of Joseph Legris / Prisque and Julie Cadeau, who was born in 1828 on Drummond Island. Julie Cadeau was the daughter of André Cadieux and Julie Evans of Mackinac, further situating the family within historic Great Lakes Métis kinship networks.
11. The Métis lineage continued through the marriage of Louis Lalonde (d. 1924), son of Hyacinthe Lalonde and Adeline Sauvé, and Marie Philomène Vasseur (1863–1940), daughter of Paul Vasseur and Marie Legris / Prisque.
12. This lineage continued into the twentieth century through my grandmother Jeanette Brown Lalonde (1927–1979), linking directly to my father Daniel J. Moreau, and ultimately to myself, Tracey-Mae Chambers.
13. Taken together, census records, land transactions, genealogical documentation, and family continuity demonstrate that the Lalonde–Vasseur–Cadieux family constitutes a continuous historic Métis kinship line, characterized by mobility, intermarriage, and sustained community affiliation rather than fragmentation or assimilation.
Year Family Event
c. 1790 Cadieux / Evans Family established around Mackinac
1828 Cadeau Julie Cadeau born on Drummond Island
1834 Vasseur Louis Vasseur enumerated at Red River as "Native"
1842 Vasseur Land transfer between Louis Vasseur (Red River) and Charles Vasseur (Penetanguishene)
1845 Legris Marie Legris / Prisque born
1863 Vasseur Marie Philomène Vasseur born
1924 Lalonde Louis Lalonde dies
1940 Vasseur Marie Philomène Vasseur dies
1979 Lalonde Jeanette Brown Lalonde dies
Lalonde–Vasseur–Cadieux Line
Current genealogical evidence traces the Vasseur line to the fur trade–era Métis communities of the Upper Great Lakes, where French and Anishinaabe families formed enduring kinship networks that later became part of the historic Métis communities of Penetanguishene and Georgian Bay.
1. This is the historical and genealogical lineage of my paternal family, known as the Lalonde–Vasseur–Cadieux line their family history, and documentary evidence to the best of my knowledge and belief.
2. My paternal ancestry is rooted in the historic Métis communities of Penetanguishene and Georgian Bay, with extended kinship connections to Drummond Island, Mackinac, and the Red River Settlement. These connections are documented through genealogical records, census enumerations, and land registry documents.
3. Current genealogical evidence traces the Vasseur line to the fur trade–era Métis communities of the Upper Great Lakes, where French and Anishinaabe families formed enduring kinship networks that later became part of the historic Métis communities of Penetanguishene and Georgian Bay.
4. Available genealogical evidence identifies Charles Vasseur (born c. 1805) as a descendant of Jacques Hyacinth Levasseur dit Lavigne and Madeleine Ouiouiskoin.
5. By the 1830s, members of the Vasseur family had extended westward to the Red River Settlement. Louis Vasseur of Red River appears in the 1834–1835, 1838, 1840, and 1843 Red River censuses, where he is consistently identified as “Native.”
6. In 1842, Louis Vasseur of the Red River Settlement is documented in the Tiny Township, Concession 15 Land Registry as transferring land in Tiny, Ontario, to his brother, Charles Vasseur, who remained associated with the Penetanguishene area.
7. This land transaction provides documentary evidence of the familial relationship between Louis and Charles Vasseur and establishes a direct link between the Vasseur families of Red River and Penetanguishene, demonstrating a single extended kin network operating across regions.
8. The movement of family members between the Upper Great Lakes and Red River reflects a broader pattern of kin-directed Métis migration, shaped by repeated displacement following relocations from Mackinac and Drummond Island and the later imposition of the international boundary commonly referred to as the Medicine Line.
9. While some family members established themselves in Red River, other branches remained rooted in Penetanguishene and Georgian Bay. The family continued through Charles-Baptiste Vasseur and Marguerite Longlade, and later through their son Paul Vasseur (1841–1923).
10. Paul Vasseur married Marie Legris / Prisque (1845–1903), daughter of Joseph Legris / Prisque and Julie Cadeau, who was born in 1828 on Drummond Island. Julie Cadeau was the daughter of André Cadieux and Julie Evans of Mackinac, further situating the family within historic Great Lakes Métis kinship networks.
11. The Métis lineage continued through the marriage of Louis Lalonde (d. 1924), son of Hyacinthe Lalonde and Adeline Sauvé, and Marie Philomène Vasseur (1863–1940), daughter of Paul Vasseur and Marie Legris / Prisque.
12. This lineage continued into the twentieth century through my grandmother Jeanette Brown Lalonde (1927–1979), linking directly to my father Daniel J. Moreau, and ultimately to myself, Tracey-Mae Chambers.
13. Taken together, census records, land transactions, genealogical documentation, and family continuity demonstrate that the Lalonde–Vasseur–Cadieux family constitutes a continuous historic Métis kinship line, characterized by mobility, intermarriage, and sustained community affiliation rather than fragmentation or assimilation.
Year Family Event
c. 1790 Cadieux / Evans Family established around Mackinac
1828 Cadeau Julie Cadeau born on Drummond Island
1834 Vasseur Louis Vasseur enumerated at Red River as "Native"
1842 Vasseur Land transfer between Louis Vasseur (Red River) and Charles Vasseur (Penetanguishene)
1845 Legris Marie Legris / Prisque born
1863 Vasseur Marie Philomène Vasseur born
1924 Lalonde Louis Lalonde dies
1940 Vasseur Marie Philomène Vasseur dies
1979 Lalonde Jeanette Brown Lalonde dies