Portaging to the capital: How an Indigenous portage linked a country to its future
On the Indigenous portage trail near Princess Ave. & Lisgar Rd, Rockcliffe.
This may be one of Canada's most important portage trails historically, providing a strategic military link between Kingston's Fort Henry and the rest of the country. The Rockcliffe Park to Stanley Park portage proves how Ottawa was the best choice for Canada's capital. For eons, Indigenous peoples have canoed through this region, portaging over land to access waterways and bypass obstacles (rapids, falls, and other non-navigable sections). To get around Rideau Falls from the Ottawa River to the Rideau River and then on to Kingston and Lake Ontario, required a portage. From this spot, a paddler truly could access the whole of North America. Shortly after the first settlers came to this area in 1800, this Indigenous portage would have provided a valuable link between Kingston's Fort Henry on Lake Ontario to Montreal and the Upper Great Lakes during the War of 1812. As a backdoor to Kingston, it enabled supply and messenger vessels to avoid confronting the American naval forces on Lake Ontario to secure our territory. Later, this provided decision makers a valuable lesson why Ottawa would make the obvious choice for the capital city.
Our walk guide will retell the story of his own teen-aged French Canadian ancestor Antoine Godard dit Lapointe, who served in the Canadian Voyageurs Corps that supplied various forts during the War of 1812, following the routes of his other Indigenous ancestors.
The walk begins at the Ottawa River in Rockcliffe Park and ascends a gentle slope with uneven ground along a trail leading to the edge of the Rideau River.
At the start of this walk, John will call upon the National Capital Commission (NCC) to re-establish a new canoe launch at a known Indigenous encampment, as based on archaeological evidence. This would be the first canoe launch to commemorate an Indigenous paddling presence on the river for millenia, honour the role of the Canadian Voyageur Corps, and serve the needs of today's paddling community to re-establish a natural connection between the two rivers.
This route was originally mapped by John Savage in collaboration with non-Indigenous people during the pandemic, who used his intellectual property without acknowledgement to secure funding from various levels of government for a trail commemoration. John will be reclaiming his story about the use of the waterways and portages on behalf of the Indigenous community, to re-assert their Indigenous right to tell their own stories and interpret their own history in accordance with the Truth And Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action. He will reaffirm how the City of Ottawa, Federal Government, and other non-Indigenous funding agencies need to stop funding pretendian organizations that push aside Indigenous people to corrupt their stories and intellectual property.
This portage walk will help demonstrate an opportunity for our community to take back our paddling heritage on the Ottawa River on behalf of everyone. It will also provide a nice little route you can take your friends and family along to retell the story of how why this portage may be a key reason why Ottawa became our capital.
