he Ojibwe translation of "Manitoulin" means Great Spirit or God's Island. The entire area was once considered sacred ground for the native people from a large section of what is now central Canada and the north eastern United States. Just when "man" came to the island no one really knows, but archaeological digs in Sheguiandah, located 10 minutes south of the port of Little Current, show traces of human habitation over 30,000 years ago - the oldest traces of man on the North American continent. The earliest record of people living on Manitoulin was in 1865-AD by the French explorer Champlain. In 1825 Father Jean Baptiste Proulx, a missionary to the Odawa in Michigan led a number of tribesmen to what is now the village of Wikwemikong.
After the war of 1812, the government of Upper Canada was anxious to gain control of the land along Georgian Bay and to move the native peoples to Manitoulin Island. This plan was eventually realized and Sir Francis Bond Head signed a treaty with the Manitoulin Indians in 1836. At that time Indian settlers numbered only 268. By 1842 white settlers numbered 700 and the first white community was established in Manitowaning. In the 19th century Little Current became an important lumbering centre.
he Ojibwe translation of "Manitoulin" means Great Spirit or God's Island. The entire area was once considered sacred ground for the native people from a large section of what is now central Canada and the north eastern United States. Just when "man" came to the island no one really knows, but archaeological digs in Sheguiandah, located 10 minutes south of the port of Little Current, show traces of human habitation over 30,000 years ago - the oldest traces of man on the North American continent. The earliest record of people living on Manitoulin was in 1865-AD by the French explorer Champlain. In 1825 Father Jean Baptiste Proulx, a missionary to the Odawa in Michigan led a number of tribesmen to what is now the village of Wikwemikong.
After the war of 1812, the government of Upper Canada was anxious to gain control of the land along Georgian Bay and to move the native peoples to Manitoulin Island. This plan was eventually realized and Sir Francis Bond Head signed a treaty with the Manitoulin Indians in 1836. At that time Indian settlers numbered only 268. By 1842 white settlers numbered 700 and the first white community was established in Manitowaning. In the 19th century Little Current became an important lumbering centre.