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Batchawana Bay

Bay in northeastern Ontario, Canada

Summary

Bay in northeastern Ontario, Canada

Field	Value
name	Batchawana Bay
image	Batchawana Bay ON.JPG
location	Algoma District, Ontario, Canada
coordinates
etymology	Badjiwanung, Ojibwe for "swift water/current"
part_of	Whitefish Bay, Lake Superior
inflow
basin_countries	Canada
date-built
date-flooded
islands	Batchawana Island
pushpin_map	Canada Ontario
pushpin_label_position
pushpin_map_caption	Location in Ontario

| date-built = | date-flooded = | max-depth =

Batchawana Bay is a small bay in Algoma District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is on the eastern shore of Lake Superior, approximately 50 km north of Sault Ste. Marie.

The name "Batchawana" is derived from the Ojibwe word obatchiwanang (or spelled badjiwanung), meaning "current at the strait" or "narrows and swift water there", and refers to the turbulent or bubbling waters flowing between Batchawana Island and Sand Point where the lake narrows and a strong current and undertow results. The Ojibwe believed this was caused by an underwater spirit about to surface.

Geography

The bay, part of Whitefish Bay, is formed on the north side by the Whitefish Point on the Canadian side of Lake Superior. Havilland and Harmony Bays are 2 smaller sub-bays within it.

Batchawana Island, with an area of more than 5200 acre and a coastline of 20 mi, is a large and only island in the middle of the bay. This pristine undeveloped island was also reputedly the site of Spirit houses (elevated graves) of the Ojibwe. Batchawana Island and Whitefish Point are both important routes and stopovers for migratory birds.

Batchawana Bay Provincial Park is located on the northern shore of the bay, and the unincorporated place and Compact Rural Community of Batchawana Bay is on the northwest shore of the bay. The community is along Highway 563.

Nearby Batchawana Mountain () is the fourth highest point in Ontario at 653 m.

History

Batchawana Bay was an important fishing site for the Ojibwe. A trading post was established on Batchawana Island near the mouth of the Batchawana River for fur trading around 1817 or 1819 by clerks of the North West Company. After the merger of the North West Company with the Hudson's Bay Company, the post (spelled "Batchewana" or "Bachawinna" at the time) continued to operate as a HBC winter outpost for Michipicoten until 1870.

In the early 1920s, the largest fish ever recorded in the Great Lakes was caught by Frank Lapoint in the bay. A sturgeon, it was reportedly 90 years old, measured 2.25 m (7.5 ft) and weighed 140 kg (310 lb).

The bay was historically notable as the dividing point separating the two Robinson Treaty areas between the Crown and the Ojibwe people.

References

"Batchawana Bay".
(2011). "Hidden Ontario: secrets from Ontario's past". Dundurn Press.
(1991). "Faces of Lake Superior". A & M.
(1998). "Superior: Under the Shadow of the Gods". Lynx Images.
{{Cite cgndb. FBMJR. Havilland Bay
{{Cite cgndb. FBLXX. Harmony Bay
(2021). "Batchawana Island".
"Batchawana Bay Provincial Park".
"Batchawana Bay". Ontario Parks.
"Batchawana Bay".
"Batchawana Mountain".
(2009-08-12). "Mountains". [[Natural Resources Canada]].
"Historic Forts and Trading Posts of the French regime and of the English Fur Trading Companies".
(1976). "The Fur Trade in Eastern Canada Until 1870". National Historic Parks and Sites Branch, Parks Canada.
"Hudson's Bay Company: Batchewana". Archives of Manitoba - Keystone Archives Descriptive Database.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

bays-of-ontario landforms-of-algoma-district bays-of-lake-superior

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