Posted on January 12, 2024 

The inaugural Pinesi Paddle, retracing Algonquin Grand Chief Constant Pinesi’s route from his annual summering place at Oka, Que. to his hunting grounds in Ottawa will begin June 26th at Oka National Park, Que. Led by Algonquins from Pikwakanagan First Nation, the 154 km, 6-day paddle along the Ottawa River will include direct descendants of Chief Pinesi, other indigenous people, and settlers, ending in Ottawa on July 1st along Pinesi’s vital portage route to the Rideau River in New Edinburgh.

The Paddle will have different meanings for each of the paddlers. For some, it will be about honouring ancestors. For others, it will be hard: about grieving loved ones and lost culture, or a drug and alcohol healing journey. For many settlers, it will be about allyship with indigenous people. For yet others, it will be a strenuous summer holiday.

The Pinesi Paddle begins in Oka and ends in Ottawa on Canada Day – with ceremonies, drumming and dancing at each end, and reconciling with communities around campfires in between.

Leaving Grand Chief Pinesi’s annual summering place at Oka, the paddlers will retrace his route back to his main hunting grounds in Ottawa. The Pinesi Paddle for Peace will end along his vital portage route to the Rideau River in New Edinburgh/Rockcliffe.

Pinesi was one of the last traditional chief residents in the Lower Ottawa River, until he was obliged to move to Algonquin Park. The daily practice of the paddling journey will include efforts towards reconciliation. This will occur amongst the paddlers themselves. But it will also take place in meetings between the paddlers who are: descendants of Pinesi (from as far away as Wisconsin, other Anishinabe Algonquin and settlers, on the one hand, and the mostly francophone communities now living along the Ottawa River, on the other.

After a smudging ceremony, the paddlers will embark from Oka National Park on June 26th and visit Rigaud to meet citizens and Mayor Frigault at Pointe-Séguin. Later that day, local historian Robert Simard will meet with the paddlers, followed by a campfire with Carillon/Pointe-Fortune citizens.

Numerous stops will take place along the route with a similar rhythm in Hawkesbury, Orignal, Fasset, Montebello, Papineauville, Plaisance Park, and Petrie Island.

The 350th Anniversary of the Seigneury of Petite Nation is currently taking place at Montebello. There, Mayor Nicole Laflamme and former Pikwakanagan Chief Wendy Jocko will unveil the Kichi Sibi Trails logo on the lighthouse. Bishop Durocher will provide his remarks. A tour and party with music will proceed.

On arrival in Ottawa, met by a flotilla and greeters on the shore, paddlers disembark at Governor Bay and proceed to the New Edinburgh Fieldhouse. At the Fieldhouse there will be welcoming ceremonies led by the traditional and council leadership of the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation (AOPFN) including Kokom Jane Chartrand, Chief Greg Sarazin, Wendy Jocko and Councillor Merv Sarazin, and local dignitaries MP Mona Fortier, MPP Lucille Collard, and Rideau-Rockcliffe Councillor Rawlson King. Paddlers will share their experiences at a Roundtable discussion, buoyed by drumming, and dancing. Chief Pinesi Day provides a way for indigenous people to celebrate on Canada Day, without celebrating colonialism.

Events coordinators are members of the AOPFN, Kichi Sibi Trails, the Archdiocese of Mont Laurier and Crichton Community Council. Financial contributions have been made by Infrastructure Canada, New Edinburgh Community Alliance, AOPFN, Tricycle, Blaney McMurtry and Innovation 7.

We commissioned Simon Brascoupé, a highly esteemed and accomplished Algonquin Artist of Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg (biography). We requested that he design logos to celebrate the cultural heritage and future of the Kichi Sibi region!

Simon Brascoupé’s work reflects his respect for the Algonquin Territory and land.  From his perspective, animals teach humans how to see the world through their eyes and actions. For example, Simon’s father taught him that the bear, when it’s wounded, will use the sap from a pine or cedar tree as medicine. An Algonquin teaching is that even though the bear is large it lives lightly on the land. Aboriginal People traditionally have learned by listen and learn from the animal world and nature for their profound insight and knowledge. The ability to observe is central to the artist’s vision of living in harmony with nature.

Simon Brascoupé

We are incredibly delighted with his work and honoured to employ his beautiful designs as our logo and as trail markers on revitalized trails (the bear for walking trails, the beaver for actively used portage trails).

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We hope you will join us!

CHIEF PINESI DAY RETURNS TO NEW EDINBURGH ON JULY 1ST

By Cindy Parkanyi

Posted on June 4, 2023 by Cindy Parkanyi

Kichi Sibi Trails, in concert with NECA and the Crichton Community Council, is once again coordinating the July 1st Chief Pinesi Day event in New Edinburgh Park (in and around the Fieldhouse) to honour Algonquin Anishinabe presence in the area.

Beginning at 9 am with the Sacred Fire, the day-long program – lead by the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation – will feature drumming, singing and dancing. Councillor Merv Sarazin will be present for welcoming remarks; Opening prayers will be offered by Kokom Jane Chartrand. With an indigenous veterans honour guard, former Chief Wendy Jocko will speak about Chief Pinesi and his importance to indigenous and Canadian military history.

During both the morning and afternoon, attendees can take a land tour along parts of the revitalized Chief Pinesi Portage Trail, which was an ancient (approximately 8,000 years old) indigenous portage trail between the Ottawa and Rideau rivers. The trail is now marked by signs created by Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg artist Simon Brascoupé.

After the ceremonies, there will be an educational walk along the Rideau and a Medicine Paddle from Governor Bay along the Ottawa River (for those who are willing to get their feet wet).

This Chief Pinesi Day, people can visit the Bloodline – Miskwi and Gathering Phases – Bakaan Asiginan murals located on the side of the New Edinburgh Fieldhouse, now with a three language panel description. These colourful ceramic and paint murals were created by the Algonquin mother and daughter team of Doreen and Charlotte Stevens. Miskwi means bloodline and the mural depicts several Algonquin lineages. Bakaan Asiginan signifies the gathering of indigenous people living in harmony with nature through all phases of their lives.

Who was Chief Pinesi?
Chief Constant Pinesi (1768 – 1834) was the last traditional Algonquin Chief to have hunting grounds in Ottawa – at Rideau and Chaudière Falls. He and his four sons fought in critical battles in the Niagara on the British side in the War of 1812. Pinesi was appointed Grand Chief by Governor-General Kempt in 1830.

For over a century, Algonquin Chief Pinesi and later his son, Kigonz and other leaders, often with the Nipissing, petitioned the Government of the day that a portion of their hunting and trapping grounds be untouched by settlement. They never did receive even a small piece of their traditional territory, extending across the Ottawa Valley, and in the end were even displaced for the creation of Algonquin Provincial Park. The many petitions exist today, held in archival files, revealing the truth of a stolen land, still without treaty.

On November 11, 2022, a beautiful bronze plaque was mounted on a large chunk of ancient rock near the Rideau River, in Ottawa’s New Edinburg Park. Beautiful and enduring, this monument is intended to honour and uphold the legacy of Algonquin Grand Chief Pierre Louis Constant Pinesi (1768-1834).

Noted for his eloquence and leadership, Grand Chief Constant Pinesi was a significant figure in the history of this region. Constant is his French family name and from it we can draw the connections to Constance Bay, Constance Lake, Constant Creek, all of which are named after him.

Grand Chief Constant Pinesi was also a significant figure in the history of Canada. His life bridged time before the land was colonized, to when new settlers, loggers, and the British military became established in the region. His lifetime spanned many major historical events, including the US Revolution, the 1791 creation of the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, the War of 1812, and the increasing tide of settlers into Algonquin hunting grounds. He was the last chief to hunt and inhabit the area surrounding the confluence of the Ottawa and Rideau Rivers, before displacement by colonial inhabitation.

During his lifetime, the lives of Chief Constant Pinesi’s people (a large band of approximately 264 families) transformed from self-sufficient gathering, hunting, fishing, and trapping, to lives of increasing poverty as their lands, fish, and game were encroached upon by settlers, and the forests in which they lived were logged. Grand Chief Constant Pinesi repeatedly sought government recognition for his people’s rights to their ancestral lands. These rights were never recognized, despite his peoples’ significant military contributions to support Canada in the War of 1812.

In the historic hunting grounds of Grand Chief Constant Pinesi, this new monument seems a fitting presence. Its specific location is also significant. Upstream from the monument, the river was historically calm and deep enough to safely paddle a canoe. Downstream from the monument, the river is calm in present day because of the dam above Rideau Falls. However, before water levels were affected by the dam, the river turned into a torrent of rapids leading directly to the falls! The Algonquin considered this section of the river to be the home of the Mishipeshu – the Water Lynx who threatened to capsize travelers… As such, Chief Constant Pinesi’s monument marks the beginning of an ancient path that travelers would have walked to safely bypass the rapids and the waterfall when travelling between the Rideau and the Ottawa Rivers.

Today the monument also marks the beginning of the Chief Pinesi Portage – a modern representation of the ancient portage trail.  The embedded QR Code links to a Wayfinding Map which shows the modern-day trail, including directional and interpretive trail markers that indicate the trail heads at both rivers, the location of our commissioned mural, and culturally significant plant species alongside. We hope that you will come to see this tribute to Chief Constant Pinesi and perhaps even explore the trail!

Many thanks to Paul Johanis, for his initiative and effort to create this tribute to Grand Chief Constant Pinesi and to acknowledge the presence of his peoples and the history of this region.

Credit to Jim Stone for furnishing insight into the life of Grand Chief Constant Pinesi.

Photo credits to Dr Peter Stockdale.

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March 4, 2022

Ottawa Rewind recently drew attention to an intriguing structure:

The Mystery of the Solar Wheel.

Located in a dense forested area at the confluence of the Ottawa and Carp rivers at the foot of Chats Falls, there lies a hidden 400ft diameter wheel aligned with the Summer Solstice. Whether by coincidence or by conscious effort, someone at some point in history has made a remarkable earthen wheel in what has always been a sacred and important place in the Ottawa Valley.

Further investigation into this overgrown “wheel” reveals interesting details that will either prove it to be of a more ancient origin, or perhaps merely a more modern construction that coincidentally aligns its axis with the setting sun on the Summer Solstice.

Ottawa Rewind.com

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October 1, 2022

By Jean-Luc Pilon
Archaeologist, Former Curator of Ontario Archaeology at the Canadian Museum of History, Gatineau, Quebec.

In 2021, Jean-Luc Pilon and his daughter Laina produced Paddling Through the Past – a 46 minute video that allows viewers to virtually visit a number of locations situated between the mouth of the Gatineau River and the Chaudières Falls.  Jean-Luc Pilon and Randy Boswell (journalist and historian, Carleton University) have suggested that these archaeological sites were part of a cultural landscape that existed for thousands of years.  They have proposed that the sum of these parts, was far more significant and meaningful in ancient times than any of the sites on their own.  An important issue brought up is the way people travelled between the Ottawa and Rideau Rivers.  The probable portage route that begins in Rockcliffe Park is one of the sites explored during this canoe trip.

Paddling Through the Past – now posted by the Ottawa Chapter of the Ontario Archaeological Society.

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November 5, 2021

On Thursday, Kichi Sibi Trails was granted the privilege of two hours with Pikwakanagan First Nations Chief Wendy Jocko and Councillor Merv Sarazin. We discussed ways that the trails could be relevant, helpful, and foster the unity of the Algonquin Anishinabeg. We also discussed the possible order of ceremonies with Governor-General Simon, and the program for Chief Pinesi Day to take place on Canada Day, 1 July 2022 to open the revitalized Chief Pinesi’s Portage at Rockcliffe.

Max Finkelstein, Jim Stone, and Peter Stockdale were very grateful for this discussion so that we can be more effective and relevant. Clearly, there are multiple years of projects to accomplish at the Portage, and elsewhere along the Kichi Sibi. We may be able to work in partnership to execute or assist in achieving them. We talked about their bloodline to Chief Pinesi and about how we could fundraise to bring as many descendants as possible to the portage opening in June 2022.

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February 17, 2021

Seminar hosted by The Ottawa Recreation Association Canoe and Camping Club Presented by Peter Stockdale

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January 28, 2021

We found traces of another Ancient Indigenous Trail running from the Rideau River (between what is now Hog’s Back and Black Rapids) to the Ottawa River (to Lac Deschenes) running through what is now Pinecrest Cemetery.

We learned that the Cole family created Pinecrest Cemetery, and buried their family and intermarried families next to the trail, but we don’t know why. It is not a prominent place. Further, we found the path exit in the SE corner heading toward Black Rapids. It appeared to cross the rivulet and then NE but the Google Map suggests it may have followed a treeline along the ridge for some distance. 

Maps and texts suggest that the trail went either to Britannia or further east near the creek entrance at Mud Lake. However, following the trail as the crow flies, it would appear that it ends at this creek entering Lac Deschenes. Max Finklestein thinks this creek is important as it is paddleable above Bayshore. The water follows up to and beyond the Bruce Pit.

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November 10, 2021.

Historical Society of Ottawa
Presentation: Mapping the Ottawa Valley’s Ancient Indigenous Trails
Councillors Merv and Barb Sarazin Pikwàkanagàn First Nation, and Dr. Peter Stockdale

Councillor Merv Sarazin, Councillor Barb Sarazin, and Peter Stockdale spoke at the Historical Society of Ottawa’s monthly event. At least 103 people attended and, apparently, we received a record number of questions (and they were friendly!). An important night for Kichi Sibi Trails, and hopefully a door open for Pikwàkanagàn First Nation. Councillor Merv will be invited back next year for certain to talk about his genealogy.

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