A Brief, Illustrated History of Landscape and Aboriginal Peoples
in the Muskoka River Region
Presentaon to the Lake of Bays Heritage Foundaon Annual Meeng
by
Marn Cooper (Archaeological Services, Inc., Toronto)
and
Andrew Stewart (Strata Consulng, Inc., Toronto)
15 August 2009
At the end of the last Ice Age, 11,000 years ago, as the connental glacier melted it flooded lowlying areas south of it, including today’s Great Lakes and surrounding lowlands. On this map,
the purple line represents the shoreline of glacial Lake Algonquin, which flooded the HuronGeorgian Bay-Lake Simcoe basin for about 1000 years.
This ancient lake was at a level about 10 m higher than the present Huron-Georgian Bay level.
The land was depressed by the weight of the ice – it has since rebounded – and so traces of this
shoreline are now found as much as 100-150 m above the present water level in Georgian Bay.
Further south, where today this shoreline passes through an open landscape of ploughed
fields, archaeologists can search these fields for traces of people who lived on the shore of Lake
Algonquin, known to archaeologists as Palaeo-Indians. Several Palaeo-Indian sites containing
11,000-year-old stone tools have been found on this shoreline, as shown here.
Sources: Freeman 1979, Stewart 2004; Storck 2004.
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This book is the best general account of the
archaeology of the earliest selement of southern
Ontario by people immediately aer the Ice Age
(11,000 – 10,000 yrs ago).
The cover illustraon shows people hunng
caribou at a me when the southern Ontario
landscape was similar to subarcc tundra -- lightly
forested with spruce trees with open areas.
The margin of the connental ice sheet was
somewhere along, or just north of, the French
River.
Above the hunters in the illustraon is a
disncve type of stone dart or spear point that
Palaeo-Indians made during this period out of a
rock called chert (like flint), which was quarried
from the Niagara Escarpment near Collingwood.
These are the kinds of stone tools that archaeologists find along the Lake Algonquin shoreline.
Source: Storck 2004. Illustraon (drawing by Ivan Kocsis) courtesy of UBC Press and the Royal Ontario Museum,
used on the cover of Journey to the Ice Age by Peter Storck (UBC Press and Royal Ontario Museum, 2004)
In the Muskoka region, the shoreline
is less disnct; ploughed fields,
where archaeologists can usually
clearly see if arfacts are present,
are scarce. You can, however, see
traces of the shoreline east of
Highway 11. Because sediment in
this area of the Canadian Shield is
generally thin, these traces tend to
be only weakly visible.
On this map, you can see that Lake of Bays represents a former inlet of glacial Lake Algonquin
and that Peninsula and Fairy Lakes formed the mouth of this inlet.
Sources: Bajc 1994; Bajc and Henry 1991; Long 1989.
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Not all Palaeo-Indian sites are found
south of Lake Simcoe. This spear
point from the Late Palaeo-Indian
period comes from a site located
on the Algonquin shoreline in the
region of the Lake of Bays inlet.
Source: Allen 2002.
In addion to glacial lake
shorelines, other natural features
are of interest to archaeologists.
The Lower Oxtongue River
floodplain on Lake of Bays formed
over the last 10,000 years by the
flooding and meandering acon
of the river channel and the
accumulaon of sand and mud in
its floodplain.
This is the kind of seng where archaeological sites typically get buried and preserved.
Further upstream, to the right, is a record of older flooding and deposion by glacial outwash
sands at the end of the Ice Age.
To the west and north of the lower Oxtongue River are shallow-water sands deposited in glacial
Lake Algonquin.
Sources: Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Natural Heritage Informaon Centre, Natural Areas Information,
http://nhic.mnr.gov.on.ca/MNR/nhic/areas.cfm; Bajc 1994; Bajc and Henry 1991; Geddes and McClenaghan 1984;
Ontario Geological Survey 2003.
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The level of Lake Algonquin fell drascally at the end of the Palaeo-Indian period, to well below
present Georgian Bay levels. Water levels in the Great Lakes only reached their modern levels
(which are sll fluctuang within a narrower range) between about 4000 and 5000 years ago. At
this me, during the period that archaeologists refer to as the Late Archaic (about 4500 – 2900
years ago), people established camps on or near shorelines and traveled along river and lake
routes that are essenally familiar to us today (disregarding the changes to hydrology brought
about by canals and dams built in the 19th and 20th centuries).
Sources: Allen 2002; Ellis et al. 1990; Karrow and Warner 1990; Long 1989; The Archaeology of Ontario: hp://
www.ontarioarchaeology.on.ca/summary/contents.htm.
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The mouth of the Severn River, at the southwest edge of the Muskoka Lakes region, is known as
an important locaon in central Ontario during various periods, including especially the Middle
Woodland period (AD 0 – 500), a me when ceremonial mounds were built across Ohio and in
many river valleys of the Great Lakes region, including the Trent River valley. This image is an
example of a collecon of arfacts and raw materials from a site that was probably a Middle
Woodland ceremonial mound removed by coage development of this built-up area during the
mid-20th century. Sources: Allen 2002; The Archaeology of Ontario: hp://www.ontarioarchaeology.on.ca/
The materials and arfacts in the last slide were imported from all over the Great Lakes region
during the Middle Woodland period (possibly even from Labrador) via routes of travel following
major rivers and lakes. Sources: Allen 2002; Spence et al. 1990.
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This Petroglyph site located on
Sparrow Lake was menoned but
not visited by Dewdney during
his extensive documentaon of
pictograph sites in Ontario. It
was relocated by ASI during the
Heritage Master Plan for Muskoka
in 1993. To date, it is the only
example of aboriginal rock art in
the Muskoka District.
Sources: ASI 1994, Dewdney and Kidd
1967
This map shows some of the Iroquoian- and Algonquian-speaking
peoples and naons in central Ontario that were recorded by the
Jesuits who were living among the Huron in the Orillia-to-Midland
area during the first half of the 17th century.
Source: Heidenreich 1987.
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Picking up the story from the historical record in the 19th century, it is not known whether the
Anishinaabeg, the aboriginal peoples living in the eastern Georgian Bay-Muskoka region during
the late 18th and early 19th century (who eventually seled at places like Rama, Parry Island and
Beausoleil and Chrisan Islands), were directly descended from some of the groups shown in
the last slide (e.g., the Sagahanirini in western Muskoka), or whether these early 19th century
peoples were part of a southeastward movement of people known today, collecvely, as the
Anishinaabeg who, following the dispersal of the Huron in 1649, moved down from the north
shore of Lake Huron and Lake Superior during the late 17th century.
Western Muskoka came to be occupied by families affiliated with the Muskoka band, who
were permanently based at Coldwater, then moved to Beausoleil Island (1842), then to
Chrisan Island (1856). Southern and eastern Muskoka was used by families – with names like
Yellowhead and Bigwin -- from Rama (now Mnjikaning).
Families based at places like Rama and Beausoleil Island in the winter would travel to the
Muskoka region in spring to establish gardens as well as to hunt and trap (deer, bear, muskrat,
beaver) and trade in the area around their selements. James Bigwin (Bigwind) and Chief
William Yellowhead (Mesquakie), who disnguished themselves in the War of 1812 (at the
Bale of York, 27 April, 1813), were from Rama. Bigwin had his selement on Bigwin Island
In Lake of Bays and at Cedar Narrows (today’s Dorset) leading into Trading Lake. Yellowhead
had a selement at Kehkapekon (Bracebridge portage). Menominee, well known to mid-latenineteenth-century Muskoka selers, hunted between Lake of Bays and Mary Lake, eventually
establishing a farm at Menominee Lake before moving to Parry Island in the 1870s.
Sources: ASI 1994; Malcomson 2008
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As shown in this map of his route, John Bigwin (son of
James) would travel during spring, for 45 years, from Rama
down the Severn River through Washago to Morrison Lake,
through Lag Lake, to Muskoka Bay, up the South Branch
of the Muskoka River to Lake of Bays, ending at Cedar
Narrows and Trading Lake where he had his selement and
garden. Source: ASI 1994
Chief John Bigwin
Source: Avery 1974:4
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Another source of
informaon about the
area are the maps and
diaries of the early
surveyors such as David
Thompson, who crossed
from Georgian Bay to the
Oawa River in the fall of
1837, accurately mapping
the lakes and rivers of the
Muskoka and Madawaska
system en route.
Earlier, Alexander Sherriff encountered Mohawks from Lake of Two Mountains (Oka) who were
trading in the Muskoka-Algonquin region. Mohawks eventually came to sele here (Wahta) in
the 1880s from Oka, having been familiar with the area from earlier guiding and trading acvity.
Source: Franks 1985
Around Lake of Bays are place names
and sites originang in aboriginal
selement and land-use. The
narrows at Trading Lake is where
Bigwin grew potatoes and corn and
fished.
As late as 1923, he collected birch bark in this area for making canoes. Paint Lake, a place of
selement for a Mnjikaning family, was also a source of red ochre (iron oxide) that, when mixed
with fat, was used for body paint and petroglyphs (rock art). Bigwin Island was used as both
selement and burial ground. It contains the cemetery for Chief Bigwin’s ancestors and is the
place he expressed his wish to be buried, but in the end, wasn’t. There is film footage of Bigwin
vising Bigwin Island cemetery in the 1930s. Menominee Lake is where Menominee established
his farm by 1871 and crops were being grown on Norway Point in the early nineteenth century.
Source: ASI 1994
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This map shows how hunng territories of families (named) extended into the
Muskoka region from Parry Island in the late 19th century (informaon recorded
in the 1930s by anthropologist Diamond Jenness). Territorial boundaries were
generally avoided and features along these boundaries, e.g., Moon River,
Skeleton (originally Paukuh [Spirit] Lake) were somemes associated with bad
manidou. Source: Jenness 1935
These images are photographs
taken during the Hayes canoe trip
to Algonquin Park in 1897, four
years aer the Parks creaon.
Guides were hired at Rama because of their inmate knowledge with the shield area to the
north including Muskoka, Algonquin Park and Haliburton. The large photographic collecon
including many more images of the Rama guides is housed in the Algonquin Provincial Park
archive. Source: Tozer and Strickland 1986
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This map shows the locaon of First Naon reserves in the
District of Muskoka and the surrounding area.
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During the early 1990s, Archaeological Services
Inc. prepared a heritage master plan for the
District of Muskoka and the Wahta Mohawks to
guide development and recommend strategies
for avoiding or migang damage to heritage
resources by development. Sources of informaon
for this 3-volume report came from the record
archaeological sites registered with the Ministry of
Culture, exisng collecons of archaeological
materials in private hands, historical records, and other sources. The study documents 11,000
years of selement and land use in this region through knowledge of archaeological sites,
resident knowledge, and historical records.
Sources Cited:
Allen, W.A. 2002 Wa-nant-git-che-ang: Canoe Route to Lake Huron through Southern Algonquia.
Ontario Archaeology 73:38-68. hp://www.ontarioarchaeology.on.ca/publicaons/pdf/oa_73_
part_05.pdf
ASI [Archaeological Services Inc.] 1994 Report of the Master Plan of Archaeological Resources of
the District of Muskoka and the Wahta Mohawks. 3 vols. On file at the District Municipality of
Muskoka office.
Avery, S.G. 1974 Reflecons: Muskoka and Lake of Bays of Yesteryear. Herald-Gazee,
Bracebridge.
Bajc, A.F. 1994 Quaternary Geology of the Huntsville-Penetanguishene Area, Central Ontario.
Ontario Geological Survey, Open File Report 5882 [includes Bajc and Henry 1991]
Bajc, A.F. and A.P. Henry 1991 Quaternary Geology of the Huntsville-Bracebridge Area, Southern
Ontario [map sheet]. Ontario Geological Survey, Open File Map 161, scale 1:50,000.
Presentaon to the Lake of Bays Heritage Foundaon 2009,
page 12 of 13
Dewdney, S. and K.E. Kidd 1967 Indian Rock Painngs of the Great Lakes. University of Toronto
Press, Toronto.
Ellis, C.J., I.T. Kenyon and M.W. Spence 1990 The Archaic. In The Archaeology of Southern
Ontario to AD 1650, edited by C.J. Ellis and N. Ferris, pp 65-124. Occasional Publicaon 5.
Ontario Archaeological Society London Chapter. London.
Franks, C.E.S. 1985 David Thompson’s Exploraons of the Muskoka and Madawaska Rivers.
In Nastawgan: the Canadian North by Canoe and Snowshoe, edited by B.W. Hodgins and M.
Hobbs, pp 24-37. Betelgeuse Books, Toronto.
Freeman, E.B. Geological Highway Map, Southern Ontario. Ontario Geological Survey map 2441.
Geddes, R.S. and M.B. McClenaghan 1984 Quaternary Geology of the Kawagama Lake Area,
Nipissing and Muskoka Districts and Haliburton County. Ontario Geological Survey Map P. 2705,
Geological Series – Preliminary Map, scale 1:50,000.
Heidenreich, C. 1987 Selements and Missionaries, 1615-1650. In From the Beginnings to 1800,
edited by R.C. Harris and G.J. Mahews, Plate 34. Historical Atlas of Canada, volume 1, R.C.
Harris and G.J. Mahews general editors. University of Toronto Press, Toronto.
Jenness, D. 1935 The Ojibwa Indians of Parry Sound, their Social and Religious Life. Bullen 78,
Anthropological Series 17. Canada Dept of Mines, Naonal Museum of Canada, Oawa.
Karrow, P.F. and B.G. Warner 1990 The Geological and Biological Environment for Human
Occupaon in Southern Ontario. In The Archaeology of Southern Ontario to AD 1650, edited by
C.J. Ellis and N. Ferris, pp 5-35. Occasional Publicaon 5. Ontario Archaeological Society London
Chapter. London.
Long, Gary 1989 This River: the Muskoka. Boston Mills Press, Erin, Ontario.
Malcomson, Robert 2008 Capital in Flames: the American Aack on York, 1813. Robin Brass
Studio, Montreal.
Ontario Geological Survey 2003 Surficial Geology of Southern Ontario. OGS Miscellaneous
Release Data 128. 2 vols (set of 2 CDs containing digital spaal data for GIS).
Spence, M.W., R.H. Pihl and C.R. Murphy 1990 Cultural Complexes of the Early and Middle
Woodland Periods. In The Archaeology of Southern Ontario to AD 1650, edited by C.J. Ellis and
N. Ferris, pp 125-169. Occasional Publicaon 5. Ontario Archaeological Society London Chapter.
London.
Stewart, A. 2004 Intensity of Land Use Around the Holland Marsh: Assessing Temporal Change
from Regional Site Distribuons. In The Late Palaeo-Indian Great Lakes: Geological and
Archaeological Invesgaons of Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Environments, edited by
Presentaon to the Lake of Bays Heritage Foundaon 2009,
page 13 of 13
L.J. Jackson. and A. Hinshelwood, pp 85-116. Mercury Series Archaeology Paper 165. Canadian
Museum of Civilizaon, Ganeau.
Storck, P.L. 2004 Journey to the Ice Age: Discovering an Ancient World. UBC Press, Vancouver.
Tozer, Ron and Dan Strickland 1986 (4th revision) A Pictorial History of Algonquin Provincial Park.
The Friends of Algonquin Park and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Whitney, Ontario.
Presentaon to the Lake of Bays Heritage Foundaon 2009,
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