Georgian Bay (french: Baie Georgienne) is a large
bay of
Lake Huron, in the
Laurentia bioregion. It is located entirely within the borders of
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
, Canada. The main body of the bay lies east of the
Bruce Peninsula
The Bruce Peninsula is a peninsula in Ontario, Canada, that divides Georgian Bay of Lake Huron from the lake's main basin. The peninsula extends roughly northwestwards from the rest of Southwestern Ontario, pointing towards Manitoulin Island, ...
and
Manitoulin Island
Manitoulin Island is an island in Lake Huron, located within the borders of the Canadian province of Ontario, in the bioregion known as Laurentia. With an area of , it is the largest lake island in the world, large enough that it has over 100 ...
. To its northwest is the
North Channel.
Georgian Bay is surrounded by (listed
clockwise
Two-dimensional rotation can occur in two possible directions. Clockwise motion (abbreviated CW) proceeds in the same direction as a clock's hands: from the top to the right, then down and then to the left, and back up to the top. The opposite ...
) the districts of
Manitoulin,
Sudbury,
Parry Sound and
Muskoka, as well as the more populous counties of
Simcoe,
Grey and
Bruce. The Main Channel separates the Bruce Peninsula from Manitoulin Island and connects Georgian Bay to the rest of Lake Huron. The North Channel, located between Manitoulin Island and the Sudbury District, west of
Killarney
Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Cast ...
, was once a popular route for
steamships and is now used by a variety of
pleasure craft
Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether powerboats, sailboats, or man-powered vessels (such as rowing and paddle boats), focused on the travel itself, as well as sports activities, suc ...
to travel to and from Georgian Bay.
The shores and waterways of the Georgian Bay are the traditional domain of the
Anishinaabe
The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawat ...
g
First Nations
First Nations or first peoples may refer to:
* Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area.
Indigenous groups
*First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including:
**First Natio ...
peoples to the north and
Huron-
Petun
The Petun (from french: pétun), also known as the Tobacco people or Tionontati ("People Among the Hills/Mountains"), were an indigenous Iroquoian people of the woodlands of eastern North America. Their last known traditional homeland was sou ...
(Wyandot) to the south. The bay was thus a major
Algonquian-
Iroquoian trade route.
Etymology
Georgian Bay has been known under several names. To the
Ojibwe
The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains.
According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...
, it is known as "Spirit Lake". To the
Huron-Wendat, it is known as "Lake Attigouatan".
Samuel de Champlain, the first European to explore and map the area in 1615–1616, called it "''La Mer douce''" (the sweet/calm/fresh sea), which was a reference to the bay's
freshwater.
It was named "Lake Manitoulin" by
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
Captain William Fitzwilliam Owen.
In 1822, after Great Britain had taken over the territory, Lieutenant
Henry Wolsey Bayfield of a Royal Navy expedition named it as "Georgian Bay" (after
King George IV).
Geography
Georgian Bay is about long by wide. It covers approximately , making it nearly 80% the size of
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border ...
.
Eastern Georgian Bay is part of the southern edge of the
Canadian Shield, granite bedrock exposed by the glaciers at the end of the last
ice age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...
, about 11,000 years ago. The granite rock formations and windswept
eastern white pine are characteristic of the islands and much of the shoreline of the bay. The rugged beauty of the area inspired landscapes by artists of the
Group of Seven
The Group of Seven (G7) is an intergovernmental political forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States; additionally, the European Union (EU) is a "non-enumerated member". It is officiall ...
. The western part of the bay, from
Collingwood north, and including
Manitoulin,
Drummond,
Cockburn and
St. Joseph islands, borders the
Niagara Escarpment. Because of its size and narrowness of the straits joining it with the rest of Lake Huron, which is analogous to if not as pronounced as the separation of Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, Georgian Bay is sometimes called the "sixth Great Lake".
If Georgian Bay were considered a lake in its own right, it would be the fourth largest lake located entirely within Canada (after
Great Bear Lake
Great Bear Lake ( den, Sahtú; french: Grand lac de l'Ours) is a lake in the boreal forest of Canada. It is the largest lake entirely in Canada (Lake Superior and Lake Huron are larger but straddle the Canada–US border), the fourth-largest ...
,
Great Slave Lake
Great Slave Lake (french: Grand lac des Esclaves), known traditionally as Tıdeè in Tłı̨chǫ Yatıì (Dogrib), Tinde’e in Wıìlıìdeh Yatii / Tetsǫ́t’ıné Yatıé (Dogrib / Chipewyan), Tu Nedhé in Dëne Sųłıné Yatıé (Chi ...
and
Lake Winnipeg). With Georgian Bay, Lake Huron is considered to be the second largest of the Great Lakes - if Georgian Bay were excluded, Lake Huron would be the third largest (after
Lake Superior and
Lake Michigan, but still ahead of
Lake Erie
Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also h ...
and Lake Ontario).
There are tens of thousands of islands in Georgian Bay. Most of these islands are along the east side of the bay and are collectively known as the "
Thirty Thousand Islands", including the larger
Parry Island. Manitoulin Island, lying along the northern side of the bay, is the world's largest island in a freshwater lake. The
Trent–Severn Waterway
The Trent–Severn Waterway is a canal route connecting Lake Ontario at Trenton to Georgian Bay, Lake Huron, at Port Severn. Its major natural waterways include the Trent River, Otonabee River, Kawartha Lakes, Lake Simcoe, Lake Couchiching ...
connects Georgian Bay to Lake Ontario, running from
Port Severn in the southeastern corner of Georgian Bay through
Lake Simcoe
Lake Simcoe is a lake in southern Ontario, Canada, the fourth-largest lake wholly in the province, after Lake Nipigon, Lac Seul, and Lake Nipissing. At the time of the first European contact in the 17th century the lake was called ''Ouentironk' ...
into Lake Ontario near
Trenton. Further north,
Lake Nipissing drains into Georgian Bay through the
French River. In October 2004, the
Georgian Bay Littoral was declared a
Biosphere Reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
by
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
.
History
Archaeological records reveal an
Aboriginal presence in the southern regions of the Canadian Shield dating from 11,000 years ago. Evidence of later
Paleo-Indian settlements have been found on Manitoulin Island and near
Killarney
Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Cast ...
. At the time of European
contact, the Ojibwe and
Ottawa First Nations
First Nations or first peoples may refer to:
* Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area.
Indigenous groups
*First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including:
**First Natio ...
, both of whom call themselves
Anishinaabe
The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawat ...
(plural: ''Anishinaabeg''), lived along the northern, eastern and western shores of Georgian Bay. The Huron (or Wendat) and
Tionontati inhabited the lands along the southern coast, having migrated from the northern shores of Lake Ontario. Names of islands such as "Manitoulin" (from ''
Gitchi Manitou'', the Great Spirit who left the bay as a source of life for the first people) and "Giant's Tomb" are indicative of the richness of the cultural history of the area. Aboriginal communities continue to live on their territories and practise their cultural traditions.
The first
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
an to visit this area was likely
Étienne Brûlé
Étienne Brûlé (; – c. June 1633) was the first European explorer to journey beyond the St. Lawrence River into what is now known as Canada. He spent much of his early adult life among the Hurons, and mastered their language and learne ...
, who at age less than 20, in 1610 was sent to live as an
interpreter trainee with the
Onontchataronon, an
Algonquian people of the
Ottawa River. They travelled every winter to live with the
Arendarhonon people of the Huron (''Wendat'') confederacy at the southern end of Georgian Bay, in the area now called "Huronia". Brulé returned to the Arendarhonon the following year. At the same time another young interpreter trainee, a youth remembered only as Thomas, who was employed by the French
surgeon and
trader Daniel Boyer, also likely made it to Huronia, in the company of the Onontchataronon, another member of the confederacy.
In 1615, Brulé's employer, the
French explorer Samuel de Champlain, made his own visit to Georgian Bay and overwintered in Huronia. He was preceded that summer by a
Récollet
The Recollects (french: Récollets) were a French reform branch of the Friars Minor, a Franciscan order. Denoted by their gray habits and pointed hoods, the Recollects took vows of poverty and devoted their lives to prayer, penance, and spiri ...
missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
,
Joseph Le Caron Joseph Le Caron, O.M.R., (c. 1586 near Paris – March 29, 1632 in Gisors, France) was one of the four pioneer missionaries of Canada, (together with Father Denis Jamet, Father Jean Dolbeau, and Brother Pacifique du Plessis, all Recollect fria ...
, who would live among the Huron in 1615–1616 and 1623–1624. Another Récollet missionary, Gabriel Sagard, lived there from 1623–34. The French
Jesuit Jean de Brébeuf began a mission in Huronia in 1626. In 1639 he oversaw the building of the mission fort of Sainte-Marie, Ontario's first European settlement, at what is now the town of
Midland. The reconstructed Jesuit mission,
Sainte-Marie among the Hurons
Sainte-Marie among the Hurons (french: Sainte-Marie-au-pays-des-Hurons) was a French Jesuit settlement in Wendake, the land of the Wendat, near modern Midland, Ontario, from 1639 to 1649. It was the first European settlement in what is now the ...
, is now a historic park operated by Huronia Historical Parks, an agency of the
Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Culture. Also nearby is the
Martyrs' Shrine, a Catholic church dedicated to the
Canadian Martyrs, Jesuits who were killed during
Iroquois
The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...
warfare against the Huron around Georgian Bay in the 17th century. The Bay appears on maps of the time as "Toronto Bay".
Penetanguishene
Penetanguishene , sometimes shortened to Penetang, is a town in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the southeasterly tip of Georgian Bay. Incorporated on February 22, 1882, this bilingual (French and English) community has a populati ...
, the location of an Ojibwe village located at the southern tip of the bay near present-day Midland, was developed as a
naval base
A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that u ...
in 1793 by
John Graves Simcoe
John Graves Simcoe (25 February 1752 – 26 October 1806) was a British Army general and the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada from 1791 until 1796 in southern Ontario and the watersheds of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior. He founded Yor ...
, first
Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada
The following is a list of lieutenant governors of Ontario and the lieutenant governors of the former colony of Upper Canada. The office of Lieutenant Governor of Ontario was created in 1867, when the Province of Ontario was created upon Confed ...
. In 1814, during the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...
between Great Britain and the United States, one of the battles was fought in southern Georgian Bay. On August 17, at the mouth of the
Nottawasaga River
The Nottawasaga River is a river in Simcoe County and Dufferin County in Central Ontario, Canada. It is part of the Great Lakes Basin, and is a tributary of Lake Huron. The river flows from the Orangeville Reservoir in the town of Orangeville, ...
near Wasaga Beach, the British
schooner HMS ''Nancy'' was sunk by three American vessels. Several weeks later, ''Nancy'' was avenged when British boarding parties in the
De Tour Passage
The DeTour Passage Underwater Preserve is a preservation area in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located in Lake Huron, it completely surrounds Drummond Island and includes all of DeTour Passage and adjacent sections of Lake Huron and the St. Mary's ...
surprised and captured two of the three American vessels.
The first nautical charts of Georgian Bay were made in 1815 by Captain
William Fitzwilliam Owen, who called it Lake Manitoulin. Captain
Henry Bayfield, who made more detailed charts of the bay, renamed it in 1822 after King George IV. His charts are the basis for those in use today.
The
Canadian Hydrographic Service traces its history back to 1883, when it was originally established as the Georgian Bay Survey, tasked with charting and improving knowledge of the bay after a steamship wrecked there the previous year, killing 150 of its passengers.
Over the years, 32 lighthouses were built on Georgian Bay. Six of them were designed with limestone towers; these were built in the 1850s and are known collectively as the Imperial Towers. Some of the 32 can be toured by the public, some cannot, and some are accessible only by tour boats or private boat.
Legend of Kitchikewana
Wyandot legend tells of a god called Kitchikewana, who was large enough to guard the whole of the Georgian Bay. Kitchikewana was known for his great temper, and his tribe decided the best way to calm him was with a wife. They held a grand celebration, and many women came. Kitchikewana met a woman named Wanakita here. He decided that this was the woman he wanted to marry, and started planning the wedding immediately after she left. But when she was invited back, she told Kitchikewana that she was already engaged. Enraged, Kitchikewana destroyed all the decorations, running to one end of
Beausoleil Island and grabbing a large ball of earth. Running to the other end, he tossed it into the Great Lakes. Thus, the 30,000 Islands were created. The indentations left behind by his fingers form the five bays of Georgian Bay: Midland Bay, Penetang Bay, Hog Bay, Sturgeon Bay, and
Matchedash Bay. He then lay down to sleep and sleeps there still as
Giant's Tomb Island.
The town of Penetanguishene now has a large statue of Kitchikewana on its main street. There is a YMCA summer camp for youth located on Beausoleil Island, in southern Georgian Bay, named after Kitchikewana. YMCA Camp Kitchikewana, or Kitchi for short, has been located in
Georgian Bay Islands National Park since 1919. Originally operated by the Midland YMCA, it is now the residential camp for youth from the YMCA of Simcoe/Muskoka.
Settlements
Collingwood has now passed
Owen Sound as the largest city on the bay. Owen Sound served for a long time as a shipping and rail depot for the
Upper Great Lakes. The towns of Midland and Penetanguishene and villages of
Port Severn and
Honey Harbour are at the southeastern end of the bay and are popular sites for summer cottages, as are the many bays and islands on the eastern coast. Collingwood,
Meaford, and
Wasaga Beach are located at the southern end of the bay, around
Nottawasaga Bay
Nottawasaga Bay is a sub-bay within Georgian Bay in Southern Ontario, Canada located at the southernmost end of the main bay. The communities located on Nottawasaga Bay are Meaford, The Blue Mountains, Collingwood, Wasaga Beach and Tiny.
...
. Owen Sound,
Wiarton, and
Lion's Head are located on the
Bruce Peninsula
The Bruce Peninsula is a peninsula in Ontario, Canada, that divides Georgian Bay of Lake Huron from the lake's main basin. The peninsula extends roughly northwestwards from the rest of Southwestern Ontario, pointing towards Manitoulin Island, ...
along the southern and southwestern shores of the bay, while
Tobermory is located at the northern tip of the Bruce Peninsula on the Main Channel. The passenger ferry travels from Tobermory across the Main Channel to
South Baymouth on Manitoulin Island.
Parry Sound, the world's deepest freshwater port, is located on the eastern shore of the bay.
There are communities of summer cottages on the north and east shore and on the adjacent 30,000 Islands. These include areas such as Cognashene, Wah Wah Taysee,
Sans Souci,
Pointe au Baril and
Byng Inlet. Most of these cottages are accessible only by water.
Images
See also
*
Canadian Shield
*
Christian Island (Ontario)
*
Galipeau Island
*
Royal eponyms in Canada
* ''
True North II
''True North II'' was a small, 10.6 metre glass-bottom tour boat that sank on June 16, 2000, in of water off of Tobermory, Ontario, Canada, in Georgian Bay, while transporting a class of 13 students from an overnight field trip to Flowerpot Islan ...
''
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Native Languages of the AmericasShultzman, L. 2000. ''First Nations Histories''. Accessed: 2006-03-28.
*
Georgian Bay Islands National Park of Canada on the
Government of Canada Site
{{Authority control
Bays of Lake Huron
Bays of Ontario
Southwestern Ontario
Biosphere reserves of Canada