Across the highway from The Headwaters on Tunnel Island is an area called the Common Ground. On October 22, 2011 Teika Newton, the Community Research Coordinator for the Common Ground Research Forum led a group of interested people on a hike of the Common Ground – a Precambrian shield area at the north end of Lake of the Woods that drains into the Winnipeg River. The mouth of the river is dotted with small islands, the largest of which is Tunnel Island, once known as Steep Rock Island or Kagapekeche in Ojibway, meaning “A place to stay over”. It is at the mouth of the Winnipeg River that Headwaters is located.

Since we have moved to Headwaters, hikes through the Common Ground on Tunnel Island have become regular part of our lake itinerary, whether it is for exercise, to check up on the numerous turtles in the area or to walk down to the dam to see the height differences between the Winnipeg River and Lake of the Woods. But never had we had the opportunity to participate in a tour that explained the history of the area and the importance of the Common Ground.

To the north east of Tunnel Island is Old Fort Island, once the site of the Rat Portage Hudson Bay Trading Post during the fur trade era. As early as 1999 the Town of Kenora had developed a vision for these lands to become part of a “Legacy Project”. The Rat Portage was identified as an important historic site by the City of Kenora and Grand Council Treaty #3 on September 9, 2005. Hearkening back to their regional initiative, the leaders noted that this shared path could literally be described as actual “Common Ground.”

Since that time, the stakeholders have continued their commitment to the principle of shared stewardship of the Rat Portage “Common Ground” and the Anishinaabe elders and spiritual leaders from neighboring First Nations communities, and political leadership from the City of Kenora and Grand Council Treaty #3 have participated in traditional Anishinaabe ceremonies to honour the Common Ground.

Following our historic tour of Tunnel Island we participated in a traditional smudge ceremony led by Stan McKay, former Moderator of the United Church of Canada and a leader in Canada’s aboriginal community.

For more information on the Common Ground go to www.cgrf.ca/