As I left Manitoulin that June aboard the Chi-Cheemaun ferry and watched the island disappear in the mists of Lake Huron, I was overwhelmed with a sense that there was magic in the place. I guess I felt the same things that Adam Kidd did back in 1830 when he wrote The Huron Chief . In summer's sweet enchanting smile, Around the spirit-guarded Isle. The presence of its native people adds to the mystic and spiritual quality of Manitoulin. My understanding of their culture is limited, but I believe that for the Indians, Manitoulin was a sacred place.
Today there is a large Indian population on the island, which was once entirely an Indian reserve.
Town names like Wikwemikong and Sheguiandah convey a feeling of the older civilization and society that existed here. It is probably safe to say that 100 years ago more people lived and worked in the Manitoulin Island region than today. The remains of their old camps, their paper mills, and their logging industry are scattered all over the region. From Crossways, Wm. B. Yeats, 1889. This article first appeared January 1995.