If you’re a play boater, the Ottawa River during spring run off is the go to location. Massive waves go in and out of prime levels. Stakeout, Cheese Wave, Molly. For kayakers, these waves are a joy to paddle, for the indigenous people here, these waves and rapids have very different origin stories.
The Algonquin’s believe that the many rapids we paddle today were created by a giant beaver, the Manitou Amik, who dammed the river as it escaped from the trickster, Wiskedjak.
For the indigenous peoples here, the Algonquin, the Ottawa river was much like a highway. Using birchbark canoes, they’d travel its many miles hunting, gathering, and fishing. Living semi-nomadically, they’d build wigwams which are easy to deconstruct, transport, and reassemble at a new location.
By the 1600’s, the French had arrived in search of beavers for fur trade. Traders continued to move northward as beavers became scarce in the southern regions. In this, the French continued to push into Algonquin lands. At first, the Algonquin and French were friendly. Many French also attempted to recruit Algonquin peoples to defend trade networks, requiring them to convert to Christianity in the process. However, the Mohawk, who sought to control the fur trade, began heavy raids on the Algonquin, slaughtering many in the process. Disease brought by European’s also spread across the Algonquin, causing populations to drop significantly.
In the 1660’s France managed to send more troops which allowed the Algonquin to reclaim some of their territories. The Algonquin’s remained allies with the French until British Colonization in the 1750’s and 60’s, when they agreed to neutrality between the two European parties. However, the British broke these agreements, selling Algonquin land without consent or consulting in the 1780’s. The Algonquin’s however, continued to fight by the British’s side in hopes that continuing to support the British would stop the selling of their territories. This proved untrue and in 1822 a majority of the remaining Algonquin territory was sold.
Horrors against the Algonquin people only continued with the introduction on Indian Residential Schools which forced indigenous children into European assimilation. These schools which ran from the late 1800’s up to as recently as 1997 abused many indigenous children and leave an indelible mark on First Nations communities.
Today the 10 Algonquin communities along the Ottawa river are negotiating for one of the largest land claims in Canada, covering around 36,000 square kilometers. While an agreement hasn’t been made, this negotiation may prove a big step in returning lands and rights in indigenous peoples, specifically along the Ottawa river.
So the next time you find yourself paddling the Ottawa River take a moment to consider all that came before you and all that is yet to come. What you can do to be a steward for the land and all peoples who use or rely on the river?
Citations:
Algonquin History in the Ottawa River Watershed. (n.d.). Ottawariver.org. https://ottawariver.org/pdf/05-ch2-3.pdf
Government of Canada; Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. (2023, March 1). Algonquins of Ontario land claim negotiations. https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1355436558998/1539789262384
Ottawa River. (n.d.). The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ottawa-river
Rice, K. (2022). Residential Schools and their Lasting Impacts — The Indigenous Foundation. The Indigenous Foundation. https://www.theindigenousfoundation.org/articles/residential-schools-their-lasting-impacts
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (1998, July 20). Ottawa River | Facts & History. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/place/Ottawa-River
Wikipedia contributors. (2023). Canadian Indian residential school system. Wikipedia. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Indian_residential_school_system
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