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Opinion: Discovery Harbour, Penetanguishene: Missing the Mark – Anishinabek News

February 3, 2025

In the summer of 2024, on our way to Garden River First Nation, my family decided to spend a day at Penetanguishene’s Discovery Harbour. While the site is a fascinating slice of early British-Canada, it entirely misses the mark on First Nation and Métis inclusion. The British post of Penetanguishene not only served as a naval and military station, it was the headquarters for the British Indian Department from c.1817 to 1856. Of the many reconstructed and preserved buildings at the site, there is no Indian Department Officer home or office. There is a Métis house, but according to a costumed interpreter, its presence is an anachronism since the Métis did not reside within the grounds of the base. Métis homes and farms were located around the post and across the water from it. Although there was mention that Penetanguishene means rolling sands in Anishinaabemowin, we failed to find any direct or comprehensive references or stories of the site’s Indigenous past, nor of the presence of First Nations during the British occupation.

Perhaps the nod to the sites Indigenous past took place when a nice costumed interpreter stationed at the parade square spoke of living conditions for enlisted troops and demonstrated the firing process of a Brown Bess Musket. During the lead up to the musket demonstration, the interpreter spoke of the musket’s potential symbolism and meanings as it was the main arm of the British military for more than 100 years – c.1722 to the mid-1800s. He told the audience that the weapon may be seen in both a negative and a positive light: negative for it accompanied the British in various wars of conquest and colonization and positive for it was the main weapon used by the Americans in their revolution. The hidden tone of the ‘musket’s many meanings’ was one of the weapon’s association with colonization. After his brief remarks about the ‘musket’s meanings’ or symbolism, he proceeded to load and fire it. Sadly, the dialogue about the musket’s symbolism failed to recognize that as allies of the British, many Anishinaabeg and other First Nations’ warriors would have used the Brown Bess, as well as Indian trade muskets, to defend our lands from the Americans. These very weapons of colonialism were also weapons used by First Nations to defend ourselves from American conquest and imperialism.

Read More: https://anishinabeknews.ca/2025/02/03/opinion-discovery-harbour-penetanguishene-missing-the-mark/

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