Photography Collection of Muskoka

History of the Region

The District Municipality of Muskoka lies on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabeg, specifically the Ojibwe. The name Muskoka comes from the name of an Ojibwe or Chippewa tribe chief named Musquakie, which means "not easily turned back in the day of battle" .

The Moose Deer Point First Nation, located west of Port Carling, on Georgian Bay, descends from a group of Pottawatomi from the midwestern United States who moved to what is now Southern Ontario in the 1830s.

The Ojibwe settlement of Obajewanung (“gathering place”), at present-day Port Carling, predated the arrival of Europeans to the Muskoka area. It was surveyed in 1860 by Vernon Wadsworth, who documented 20 Ojibwe homes and farmland. As more White settlers arrived, the residents of Obajewanung were forced to relocate to Parry Island, near Parry Sound. The island’s rocky landscape could not be farmed, making survival difficult for the community. Ojibwe continued to spend summers in Port Carling for decades after the relocation.

In 1881, a group of Protestant Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) relocated to Muskoka from Kanehsatà:ke, near Oka, Quebec, after a dispute with the Catholic Church over land and religion. The community they founded continues today as the Wahta Mohawk territory, located just west of Bala. The Wahta Mohawks share an additional reserve called Indian River with the Chippewas of Rama. It occupies one hectare next to Port Carling. First Nations in the area are signatories to the Williams Treaties, created in 1923. In addition, the District Municipality of Muskoka is home to the Moon River Métis, whose administrative offices are in Gravenhurst.

"Source: Wikipedia, The Canadian Encyclopedia"