Manitoulin

Manitoulin, the Spirit Island, stretches across the northern waters of Lake Huron. Its many neighbouring islands form a bridge between the Bruce Peninsula and the northern shore. The island holds a special place in the Anishinaabe world: Odawa people claimed the island chain, while Ojibwe communities of the north shore also used it. Fish sustained its inhabitants in summer, and the channels around its shores linked the peoples of the upper Great Lakes.

In 1648 the Jesuit Joseph Poncet established a mission on the island, but abandoned it in 1650 after Iroquois attacks dispersed the Huron. Odawa, Ojibwe and Potawatomi later returned to Manitoulin. In 1836 Odawa and Ojibwe leaders made an agreement with Lieutenant-Governor Francis Bond Head that set the island apart as a refuge for Indigenous people. The arrangement brought new communities to the island while raising lasting questions over its land.