Category Archives: Travel

Mattawa River Tremors

2024 Trip to Eastern Canada, Geology

 

We had followed the Mattawa River from Lake Nipissing to the Ottawa Valley where it flowed into the Ottawa River at Mattawa. The east flowing Mattawa River was a very important river for a very long time.  According to Barbara Huck, in her book on the fur trade routes of North America that  I was using as sort of tour guide to this area,

 

“The east flowing Mattawa River follows an ancient fault line in the Precambrian bedrock. Though strewn with rapids and falls, for more than 6,000 years it was the main highway from the Great Lakes to the St. Lawrence. Appropriately Mattawa means “meeting of the waters.” The cataclysmic fracturing of the Earth’s crust that produced the valley with its soaring walls and visible thrust lines occurred about 600 million years ago. Even now there are tremors along the fault line, which may explain the ancient stories of spirits in the cliffs.

There was more cataclysm about 11,000 years ago, at the end of the last glaciation, as melting water from the receding ice sheets roared down the fault into the Ottawa Valley. The raging ancestral Mattawa carried great boulders with it, between Pine Lake and McCool Bay. These huge cobblestones pave an area that today is more than 15 metres above the river.”

 

All of these things that fascinate me now, were of no interest to me more than 50 years ago when I travelled this way with my buddies who had so long ago graduated from Grade 12 with me and ventured out to our road of discovery. What a pity! We are too late smart.

 

And as Barbara Huck added, “The modern Mattawa is tame by comparison, a 65.5-kilometre swath of spectacular scenery that echoes ancient native traditions, and the stories of the fur trade.”

 

The area was beautiful. And the history interesting. And we were not in a rush. Life was good; until it wasn’t. Stay tuned.

 

 

Pluralism around the Sault

2024 Trip to Eastern Canada, Colonialism, History, Indigenous People After Contact, Moral Humility, Pluralism

 

 

The Clergue blockhouse at Sault Ste. Marie

 

The Clergue blockhouse was right beside the Ermatinger house and was part of the original North West Company post at Sault Ste. Marie. Both of which were right beside our hotel.  Of course, I don’t think too many elites stayed in this block house. That was for the lessers.

This area of North America where Lake Huron and Lake Superior meet, including Sault Ste. Marie, Ignace Michigan, the Mackinac Straits, and St Joseph’s Island, were vitally important in the fur trade. There were many varied First Nations, and the French and English, and later the Americans and Canadians. Barbara Huck called it “The Crossroads of Humanity.” Often they fought each other; at other times they lived together peacefully. As Huck explained,

“For a half-century. Michilmackinac [a little south of Sault Ste, Marie] flourished. Living at a crossroads of humanity, the people of the straits were at home with diversity, unfazed by racial, linguistic, or religious  differences. A multilingual, multiracial community evolved as French traders married local Odawa and Ojibwe women. Prefacing the Metis community that would grow up around the forks of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers in Manitoba a century later, their mixed blood children soon became the dominant population of the straits.”

In Manitoba as well the Métis people became dominant, for a while.  When Manitoba became a province of Canada in 1870, 80% of the people were Métis. A lot of Manitobans have forgotten this. Some of the Indigenous people had left and the hordes of European immigrants, including Mennonites were not yet there.

It was also interesting what happened after America declared its independence from England. As Huck said,

“In 1775 the New England colonies rebelled, and the British turned to their new-found native allies.  Weighing the situation, the Odawa, Ojibwe, Winnebago, Sauk, Fox, Menominee, and Sioux decided that as rigid and obtuse as the British might be, they were not as bent on clearing and settling the land as the American rebels were.”

 

Where many nations live together, they have to make serious efforts to recognize each other and not assume, that all wisdom resides in their own community. They did learn that in the area around Sault Ste. Marie. Sadly, such lessons are sometimes hard to learn and too often not passed on to the next generation. I am a great believer in pluralism. It breeds humility, something always in short supply. Live and let live. We can all learn from each other. None of us have a monopoly on the truth. Pluralism is not always easy, but it sure beats warfare.

As Sally Gibson wrote in a chapter of Huck’s book,

“Sault Ste. Marie has long been a stopping place for travellers. Once a seamless zone of trade, the area is now separated by the Canadian-American border and twin cities name Sault Ste. Marie on either side of the St. Mary’s River Rapids. The rapids drop almost seven metres over less than three kilometres, draining Lake Superior. Travellers today can enjoy the natural beauty of the area and find remnants of the fur trade that stimulated early European settlement.”

 

Of course, once European countries arrived on the scene it did not take them long to make claims on the land. That’s what Europeans (later Canadians or Americans) do.  As Gibson said,

“The territory around Sault Ste, Marie was claimed for France by Sieur de Saint Lusson in an elaborate ceremony…recognizing the importance of the location, New France granted a seigneury on the St. Mary’s River to Chevalier de Repentigny in 1751.”

 

Of course, Gibson did not say by whose authority France did that because none of the people from Europe had any authority to make such grants. Americans always claimed land by conquest, but the locals in Canada had never been conquered. And the locals had never ceded the land. So there really was no basis for the grants. France could have used some humility.

Chevalier de Repentigny farmed the property and fortified it but he left within 5 years as soon as the 7 Years War broke out between France and England. After the French fell in that war, the English took over, but they really had no authority either. Of course, that did not stop the English from granting exclusive rights to the land in 1765 to an English trader Alexander Henry. He was given authority to the Lake Superior area. What did mean? I would say, as a recovering lawyer, that such a grant would be void for uncertainty. What area was covered by the grant, if the grant was otherwise valid?

I have always wondered what would be the legal effect of the United States placing a flag on the moon?  Would that give the Americans ownership of the entire moon?  Half the moon?  The light side of the moon? A square mile? An acre?  Or no part? How can you make such a decision? When you get right down to it claims of “ownership” are usually dubious at their root. Once more that should generate some humility.

Take another example. Indigenous people roamed the North American continent for thousands of years. Many of them were nomadic. Others were more sedentary farmers. What part did each First Nation own? How can you tell? By what right?

Really all claims of ownership are dubious?  Whether you are talking about the jungles of the Amazon or the plains of North America or the city of Steinbach?  All of them are fundamentally dubious!

I taught real estate law at the University of Manitoba Law School for about 10 years and nothing I learnt or taught there gave me any more certainty.

Life of the Elite During Fur Trade

2024 Trip to Eastern Canada, History, Indigenous People After Contact

 

 

Ermatinger House, Sault Ste, Marie, Ontario

Without realizing it, when I last read Barbara Huck’s book, Exploring the Fur Trade Routes of North America, she was writing about Sault Ste. Marie! In fact, about places right next to our hotel. Was this coincidence or miracle? And our hotel was minutes away from what she talked about in the book.

Within a couple of blocks of our hotel in Sault Ste. Marie we visited some of the places referred to in the book by Barbara Huck that I was reading that very morning. Huck even had photos in her book of the same buildings I photographed like the one above. There were some weird coincidences on the trip and this was clearly one of them.

First, the stone house of independent fur trader Charles Ermatinger was built on the shore of the St. Marys River, is obviously not an ordinary house. As Sally Gibson wrote in Barbara Huck’s book on the Canadian fur trade, the house was ‘constructed in a classic Georgian style, with ground sloping to the water, it was an imposing sight for early 19th century travellers on the waterway.”I  accept that. I certainly was impressed. Thousands of visitors go to see the house each year. It has been completely restored and refurnished.  She wrote that the house is underpinned in the basement, which I did not see from outside, by cedar logs at least 38 centimetres in diameter and “has stone walls almost a metre thick.” It was built to last through dangerous times.

This house was part of the North West Company post at Sault Ste. Marie. The Ermatinger family lived there until 1828 when they moved back to Montreal. But Ermatinger was an independent fur trader after he left the company in 1808. No doubt he and his family, consisting of a wife and 13 children, enjoyed life there.  His wife was Mananowe (Charlotte) and was the daughter of a prominent Ojibwe policy maker by the name of Katawabeda. The occupants were the elites of 2 of the founding nations of this country; Indigenous and French. That too was impressive.

As Gibson explained, “In this gracious environment, the Ermatinger family offered hospitality to both area residents and weary travellers.” Apparently, invitations to the annual caribou dinner at the house were keenly sought by locals. I know I would love to have attended one of those. It was established as a National Historic site in the 1960s.

 

Rushing is a Sin

2017 Trip to Southwest USA, Thoughts o n Travel

 

I believe it is a fundamental rule of travelling, that rushing is a sin.

In the morning before leaving our hotel, I read another chapter of Barbara Huck’s book on the fur trade which played such an important role in the history of Canada and its 3 founding nations—Indigenous, French, and English.  That is if we count any other than the first founding nation. That book  was informing my trip. Deeply enhancing the travel. The second rule of travel is that learning is one of the reasons to travel. If you are not learning anything why are you traveling.

Without realizing it, when I last read the book, it was about Sault Ste. Marie, which was exactly where we spent the night.  Was this coincidence or miracle? And our hotel was minutes away from what she talked about in the book. There were some weird coincidences on the trip and this was clearly one of them.

I took some time to think. We wanted to keep moving. But we remembered that rushing is a sin. That is our primary principle of travel. Take your time. Try not to do too much. Slow down. Take breaks. Contemplate what you have seen. Take the gentler meandering route. Let others strive for the quick, the hurried, and the sinful.  Above all, enjoy. We are the meanderers. Not the Rush ins.

Success at last: Michipicoten First Nation

2024 Trip to Eastern Canada, Indigenous People After Contact, Indigenous Treaties

 

I want to briefly consider one more treaty that affects the region we travelled to around Wawa Ontario. But this one has a happier ending.

This area we travelled through on our way to Nova Scotia is incredibly interesting. Particularly, because I learned so little of this going to school from Kindergarten to Law School I now find it very interesting to fill in at least a few of the gaps. And there are many gaps.

There are many Indigenous groups across Canada and I have discovered that they all have interesting stories. At least as far as I now know. Frankly, I have only looked at merely a few of them.

One more interesting area in the region Chris and I drove through this autumn was the Michipicoten First Nation. I have obtained information from the Michipicoten First Nation website.  According to them the history of the Michipicoten First Nation is

“a history of forced relocations that were endured by the First Nation as a result of “mistakes” and unfair actions taken by the Government of the day. From the time of the first contact in the early 17th century the Michipicoten First Nation had an established presence at the mouth of the Michipicoten River, on the northeast shore of Lake Superior. In 1850 at Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Chief Tootomenei had asked that the reserve be from the mouth of the Michipicoten River and the Harbour to the mouth of the Dore River. Instead, the Crown did not survey out the proper location but set aside the reserve of Gros Cap (Indian Reserve 49) which was located several kilometres west of the mouth of the Michipicoten River and harbour. As a result, Michipicoten First Nation did not live on Reserve land for most of its history between 1850 and 1970.”

 

As a result, they see their own history as a history of the displacement of their people. Involuntary displacements are a recurring theme in the history of Canada. It is no exaggeration to say that the history of Canada since the arrival of Europeans is a history of Europeans and their successors displacing the people they encountered here. In different ways, it happened over and over again.

By mistake or perhaps caprice, the Michipicoten First Nation were forced to settle on land that was not of their own choosing. Instead, the “best land” was sold to a development company and the Algoma Central Railway Co. (‘ACR’). Those transfers took away their best land and as a direct result they were cut off from their traditional camping grounds and waterway route. The coastal land they always used was cut off from them. There was no road into the site. Consequently, “Michipicoten First Nation did not live on Reserve land for most of its history between 1850 and 1970.”

Unfortunately, the land they were given was unsafe for a sanitation system and once again they had to move. They negotiated a deal with Ontario Hydro for land they currently occupied and Hydro agreed to build a road to their land as part of that deal.  In exchange, Hydro had the right to put a transmission line across their land. Another group attained a reserve elsewhere and occupied it until the fur trade dropped off.

Now the Michipicoten First Nation advises that,

“Michipicoten First Nation Gros Cap IR49 today and its surrounding lands include extensive coastline along the shores of Lake Superior, the addition of lands settled through various land claim settlements, including the reserves as Missanabie and Chapleau and boasts a pristine and eco-rich environment of unparalleled wilderness beauty, unpolluted waters and an abundance of wildlife, birds and indigenous plants. Fishing, hunting, and trapping are still practiced by the people and children can be taught the ways of their Ancestors.”

 

This now looks like a success story. But clearly it was an uphill struggle to obtain this land. Now (as of October 2024 when we drove nearby), in their own words,

“Michipicoten First Nation is a vibrant community with approximately 1,442 (October 2024) members dispersed around the globe, building on socio-economic independence and with a strong sense of community and cultural identity, Michipicoten First Nation strives to maintain harmony and balance with Mother Earth, neighboring First Nations and surrounding communities.”

 

In their own words, it is clear that the Michipicoten First Nation are a proud people who have created, after some sever challenges, a vibrant community.

Success at last.

Magpie Scenic High Falls.

2024 Trip to Eastern Canada, waterfall

 

 

Just past Wawa on the way south, we stopped at a fantastic view of the Magpie Scenic High Falls. There we found a gorgeous waterfall. I love waterfalls.  Along with lighthouses, wild flowers, autumn colours, and churches waterfalls are among my favourite photographic subjects. I won’t bore you with all of my photographs. I will just bore you with some of them. We stopped at this little falls for about an hour or so photographing it and reading the plaques and talking to fellow travelers.

 

The falls stand 75 feet (22.8 m) and 124 feet (38 m) wide as the locals claim, “its magnificence is definitely worth the visit.”

 

In this area, the Magpie River is a likely remnant of an ancient glacial spillway caused when the massive continental ice sheets that covered most of Canada started to recede. The ice here was at least 1 mile deep at the time it started to melt about 10,000 years ago.

 

At that time the shoreline of Lake Superior was much higher than it is today. When that massive ice sheet melted a great weight was lifted off the land and that land, and huge rock base started to rebound upwards. This is called isostatic rebound and is still occurring to today and will continue for thousands of years to come. It rises approximately 10 inches per year.

 

It will continue for thousands of years more.  A few years, an organization of which I am a member, Native Orchid Conservation Inc. had a members’ night at which we invited Professor James Teller to speak to us.  He is the world expert on Lake Agassiz the massive lake that was created when the continental ice sheets melted and I talked to him about Lake of the Woods where we have a cottage. He told me that eventually the south end of the lake, where we have a cottage will be swamped when water from the lake comes over the top as a result of continued isostatic rebound He assured me though that when it happens I will be long gone, because that won’t happen for a few thousand years more. Those who have cottages on the north end of the lake won’t have this problem, but depending on where they are they might be a long way from the shore line.

After a short stop at Magpie Scenic High Falls we kept on travelling south along the Trans-Canada Highway.

 

Quite Boasting: Canada’s Most Famous Pianist

2024 Trip to Eastern Canada, Music

Glenn Gould at High Falls

There was another attraction to this area of High Falls, just south of Wawa—it was favoured by Glen Gould Canada’s most well-known and respected pianist. But he was also its most eccentric.  According to Heritage Canada, Gould “revolutionized the way the world listens to the classics.”  Apparently, he had perfect pitch at age 3.  Compare that to me.  Imperfect pitch at age 75. He appeared with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at age 14 to rave reviews and international acclaim. After that his fame spread world wide.

One of his more interesting concerts was with the New York Philharmonic on April 5, 6, and 8 of 1962 when it was conducted by Leonard Bernstein.  According to the Canadian Encyclopedia “Bernstein delivered a pre-concert speech to the audience noting his disagreement with Gould’s interpretation, which featured unusually slow tempos, departures from Brahms’s dynamic and phrase markings, and the highlighting of counterpoint and motives.” It was a case of two eccentrics facing off against each other. The Encyclopedia also called it “his most notorious concert.”

In time, he found that the instrument of his choice was the recording studio. He despised concerts, but produced many recordings. He was also famous for his eccentricities. He wore a trademark heavy overcoat, with cap, scarves and fingerless gloves. He was also a deep hypochondriac.

To my surprise I found out he frequently came here.  He always stayed at the same Hotel, the Wawa Motor Inn and always stayed in the same room, 102. And as the photo above shows, he came to High Falls.

 

It appears that one of the things he liked here was that even during the height of his fame, few people recognized him despite his odd attire. That attire drew little attention in Wawa.  According to Heritage Canada, Wawa was “a place where he retreated to enjoy the solitude and beauty and restore his soul and revitalize his creative muse, all in virtual anonymity.”  Who knew?

I don’t really agree with Gould on this point but this is what he said, “solitude nourishes creativity and collegial fraternity tends to dissipate it.” Gould was brilliant and I’m just a ‘wannabe from Wawa.”

The land south of Wawa is spectacular. Of the 8030 kms (4,990 mi) of the Trans-Canada Highway this area south of Wawa through Algoma County is considered one of the finest.  I agree. It has been listed as one of the 9 greatest drives in Canada.

Those are fine words. Not so modest words. Well, there is a time for some quiet boasting, even in Canada.

Modest and not so modest

2024 Trip to Eastern Canada, Nature

 

 

 

 

I have taken meandering to new levels.  People might think we stayed in the Wawa area for 2 weeks. That might have been interesting but actually we kept moving after a stop of a couple of hours.  The above photo is actually west of Wawa and East of Gloria’s motel which I blogged about earlier.

East of Gloria’s motel I stopped to photograph another of the islets I love so much. Again, the islet is a modest island. A few trees on a small pile of rocks jutting out of a lake. But I think they are magnificent. Not really modest at all. But modest in words. They don’t brag like our neighbours to the south. Humility is not a bad thing. I find it becoming. This islet had just a splash of colour. Here the turning of the leaves was just beginning.

The land south of Wawa is spectacular. Of the 8030 kms (4,990 mi) of the Trans-Canada Highway this area south of Wawa through Algoma County is considered one of the finest.  I agree. It has been listed as one of the 9 greatest drives in Canada. Those are fine words. Not so modest words. Well there is a time for some quiet boasting, even in Canada.