Confluence of Cultures

Like the hub of a great wheel, with spokes radiating in all directions, the Muskoka Lakes were a node in a vast network of waterways extending throughout the Great Lakes and beyond. Paddling and portaging to Georgian Bay would connect you to Montreal and the St. Lawrence via Lake Nipissing and the Ottawa Valley. Paddling to the west would take you to Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, or to the lower Great Lakes via Lake Huron. Portaging southerly to the Severn River would take you to eastern Lake Ontario via Lake Simcoe and the Trent Valley. Lake Simcoe would also connect you to Lake Ontario via the carrying place trails along the Humber, Don, and Rouge Valleys.

These waterways and portage trails were the arteries connecting and sustaining the Indigenous cultures that inhabited the Great Lakes watershed. In addition to material commodities, such as furs, foodstuffs, medicines, tools, and household furnishings, these routes facilitated the flow of information, technology, traditional knowledge, values, and wisdom. Smaller waterways and local trails were the capillaries that carried these essentials to everyone.