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Ottawa River
Kitche-sippi, La Grande Rivière,
The Grand River…the Algonquin First
Nations and French explorers of long
ago used simple eloquence to describe
the supremacy of the waterway that connected
them to the people and riches of the
interior. They knew the river was long,
that it plunged down from the deep,
cold sliver of the lake Temiskaming,
that it met a lesser river that led
to the shores of Nipissing, and on to
the epic inland seas. But only those
with the keenest sense of geography
and the greatest appreciation for the
vastness of the land -Champlain, for
one - could have realized that the mighty
river has its source deep in the wilderness,
far beyond the reaches of human habitation.
Today, we know that the Ottawa River
- named for the First Nations traders
that made it their highway to the east
- is 1,271 kilometres in length and
drains an area of 146,300 square kilometres.
We know that it is the 2nd longest river
in Canada, after the St. Lawrence, to
flow to the Atlantic Ocean. We know
that it begins deep within the province
of Quebec and scribbles its way west
through a chain of lakes to Temiskaming
before turning south and southeast toward
its St. Lawrence confluence. We know
that it gave life to the ancient Algonquin
tribes that lived on its banks and tributaries
- and that it gave birth to a nation's
capital. On today's Ottawa River, the
songs of lumberjacks have been replaced
by the shouts of thrill-seeking river
runners. Birch bark canoes have given
way to pleasure boats, cruising the
500 kilometre course of the Temiskawa
Waterway. The rocky, brush-strewn footpaths
of portaging fur traders have been turned
into riverside trails and parks, and
the bays and inlets of aboriginal campsites
have become waterfront centres and modern
marinas. In the 21st century, the Ottawa
is a different river than the one first
mapped by Samuel de Champlain, but it
is still deserving of it original name
- the magnificent grande rivière.
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