Introduction
Provincial park in Ontario, Canada
Lake Superior Provincial ParkIUCN category II (national park)Old Woman BayLocation of the park in OntarioInteractive map of Lake Superior Provincial ParkLocationAlgoma District, Ontario, CanadaNearest cityWawaCoordinates47°35′48″N 84°44′29″W / 47.59667°N 84.74139°W / 47.59667; -84.74139Area155,646 ha (600.95 sq mi)Established1944 (1944)Visitors75,189 (in 2022)Governing bodyOntario ParksWebsitewww.ontarioparks.com/park/lakesuperior
Lake Superior Provincial Park is one of the largest provincial parks in Ontario, covering about 1,550 square kilometres (600 sq mi) along the northeastern shores of Lake Superior between Sault Ste. Marie and Wawa in Algoma District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. Ontario Highway 17 (at this point part of the Trans-Canada Highway) runs through the park. When the park was established by Ontario in 1944, there was no road access.
History
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Traces of ancient volcanic activity can be seen in rock outcrops near Red Rock Lake and several other sites. For more than 2000 years, this was long an area of occupation by various cultures of indigenous peoples. The oldest artifacts found here date to approximately 500 BC.
At Agawa Rock, near the mouth of the Agawa River, there are pictographs created by the early Ojibwe people of this region. The figures are painted on the rock with a mixture of powdered hematite and animal fats and are estimated to be 150–400 years old. The records are visual representations of both historical events and legendary figures.
The first written description of these pictographs was published in 1851 by American ethnologist, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft. As United States Indian agent in Sault Ste. Marie, he conducted extensive studies about the Ojibwe people, aided by his wife Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, who was half-Ojibwe and the daughter of a major fur trader in the city.
Pictographs at Agawa Rock. This is said to be Mishibizhiw, or Great Lynx, who controlled Lake Superior. Below are two giant serpents known as Mishi-ginebikoog in the Ojibwe language.
While the Ojibwe were forced to cede their lands to the Canadian government under an 1850 Treaty in exchange for reserves and annuities, they have preserved hunting and fishing rights to former territory. In the 1940s, the Lake Superior Provincial Park was established, and it took over an Ojibwe fishing village known as Nanabozhung within the boundaries.
From the late 20th century, the Batchewana First Nation, whose traditional territory included the village, also known as Gargantua Harbour, had long agitated to regain road access to the village. One of its reserves is Rankin Location 15D in Ontario and members have fished at Gargantua Harbour. In 2007 some 200 members, led by Chief Dean Sayers, restored a road to the village along a park trail, without a work permit. After trying to negotiate with the band, the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) filed charges against it in 2008, saying that the First Nation had damaged park property.
The First Nation contended this was a traditional fishing and ceremonial area and construction of the road was necessary to exercise their Treaty rights. In March 2015 Justice Logan dismissed all but one of the eleven counts in the case. In his decision, Logan upheld that a Treaty right existed for the Batchewana First Nation to use Gargantua Harbour for commercial fishing and agreed that the road was necessary to get to the shore. He upheld one charge against Sayers and the Band for obstruction, requiring a fine to be paid.
