News Archives — Page 284 of 619

Before the settlers: Learning the Indigenous history of Kawartha Lakes

Before the settlers came: Learning the Indigenous history of Kawartha Lakes

May 16, 2021

How do we tell the history of a people and a place when we have tried to erase that people from that place? The people I am referring to are the Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg, the original people of what is most recently called Kawartha Lakes. How do we recount their history when most people don’t even know their name?

Do we begin with the treaties, the official documents of 1818 and 1923 that the Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg were forced to sign, ceding control of their land and later their hunting, fishing and gathering rights to the colonizers?

Do we discuss how a people who did not consider the land something that could be “owned” or “sold” thought these were agreements to share the land peacefully, not agreements that relinquished their rights completely?

Santosh Patel: Putting down roots in Kawartha Lakes

May 15, 2021

Lining Lindsay’s Victoria Avenue boulevard are 110 trees, all planted in 1997 when Lindsay was named a Green Streets Canada Community by the Tree Canada foundation. Of the six species chosen, some flower and fruit, some have fall colour, all are hardy, trouble-free and of modest size. Ideal choices for a town street.

Ideal for my small backyard, too, I’m thinking, as replacement for a cankered dogwood. Sourcing the trees takes me to Santosh Patel, the owner of Rockwood Forest Nurseries, which is located roughly midway between Lindsay and Fenelon Falls and open April through November.