mattersofthemoment

[Continuing the History of the Ottawa Valley by T. Currie from my supplemented 2013 lecture notes. This is part 2.]

200,000 years ago there were human beings living in Africa. About 50,000 years ago they spread to Asia and Australia. About 30,000 years ago they started migrating to North and South America. Siberian nomads were the first to come to North America. Many First Nations’ languages are related to these nomads’ language.

People from the Atlantic coast came to the Ottawa Valley about 8000 years ago. Huron and Algonquin people were allies and numbered 30,000 at their peak. They grew corn, beans and squash, hunted deer and apparently ate dogs. They lived in wigwams. The arrival of Europeans was to severely disrupt their lives. Between 1530 and 1611, 90% of these indigenous peoples died of white man’s diseases (measles, smallpox and syphilis).

After this epidemic of death there were 4 to 5 thousand Algonquins (Anishinaabes) living near the Ottawa River: 3000 at Allumette Island near Pembroke, 1000 in Manawaki P.Q. and a 1000 along the S. Nation River SE of Kemptville. They used birchbark canoes (the Rolls Royce of canoes Terry said) for transportation and fishing. In the winter, snowshoes and toboggans.

The Neutrals lived in the Niagara Peninsula while the Eries lived around Lake Erie. Along with the Algonquins and Hurons in Penetanguishene these peoples were known as the Northern Iroquoian Nation. The Wampum belt at left (courtesy the Canadian Encyclopedia) was an intricate string of cylindrical marine mollusk shells used by the Algonquin and Iroquois nations as a sacred tool of diplomacy, record-keeping and spiritual connection.

The Southern Iroquoian Confederacy consisted of the Oneida, Mohawk, Cayuga, Onandaga and Seneca tribes and had access to copper from Michigan. They lived in longhouses. They had earlier been displaced by the Algonquins and Hurons from the St. Lawrence Valley and had never accepted the loss of their territory. After failed diplomacy efforts, they headed north from 1648-67 to annihilate the Hurons and drive Algonquins further up the Ottawa Valley. These Iroquois war parties roamed the length of the Ottawa River during the 1650s and 60s, making travel extremely dangerous for anyone not part of a large, heavily-armed convoy.

French Canada would be subsequently reduced to 4000 people and it was unsafe to walk outside the gate of Quebec City. Black Robe the movie of 1991 tells the story of a Jesuit priest tasked with building a mission in New France and journeying with Algonquins of that era.

Next up, the coming of the French.

Back in 2013, Almonte historian, former high school teacher and football coach Terrence Currie gave a series of lectures on the history of the Ottawa Valley. These were extremely popular and well attended at the Galilee Centre in Arnprior. I had become good friends with Terry thru playing golf and had invited him to speak. The following series of postings is from the notes I made at that time.

Some Ancient History

During the Ice Age which started 2.6 million years ago, a 3 to 4 km thick sheet of ice covered Arnprior. As this cap receded all the soil and surface rock was scraped away exposing rock that is some 200-300 million years old. The Ottawa River became the biggest river in the world for a few hundred years as it carried the melt away. Arnprior was under the salt water Champlain Sea with beluga whales.

When the waters receded, a type of marble was exposed. Arnprior marble known as some of the best in the world, was subsequently used on the pillars of the East Block building on Parliament Hill. It’s also used around the doors and windows of the Bank of Nova Scotia building and the Daniel McLauhlin House and elsewhere in town. There were several local quarries and you can still walk on surface exposed Arnprior marble not far from our home. For its extensive history click here.

During the 18th and 19th centuries the sky’s around Arnprior would be seasonably darkened by large flocks of migrating Passenger pigeons. The most abundant bird species on Earth, billions thrived in Eastern Ontario. One flock, described as 1 mile wide and 300 miles long, took 14 hours to pass overhead! Many fed on plentiful beech tree nuts south of Smiths Falls, Terry reported. Sadly these birds became extinct after many years of commercialized over hunting for cheap food and destruction of the forests they depended on.

Terry our narrator here, passed away a few years back, here is his obituary. This series be continued.