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by Wayne Roach During the rainy afternoon of August 27, 1967, eleven canot du nord came around a bend in the Calumet Channel of the Ottawa River, on the eastern side of Grand Calumet Island, Quebec. Once a common sight, these were likely the first big canoes to paddle this way in almost a century. The village of Campbell’s Bay is located on the opposite shore of the channel. As part of the Centennial celebrations, the 8 metre canoes were scheduled to stop for the night. Coming almost 5000 km from the Rocky Mountains, these Voyageurs were going to put up their tents in the school yard. With crews of 6 or 7, there was a canoe representing each province and the Northwest Territories. Since Campbell’s Bay was the first Quebec stop on their journey to Montreal’s Expo 67, the honour of landing first was given to the Quebec boat. My grandparents lived in a house just a few hundred feet down the shore from the landing area. My family was visiting for the weekend and I was part of the crowd at the water. The sight of those canoes coming around the bend up the river has remained indelibly etched in my mind. Not being the brightest 10-year old in town that day, I knew very well that just around that bend lived the wild dogs, trappers and polar bears of the Far North. If I had ever been beyond it, I wasn’t aware of it. To me, the canoes had just made their way out of the wilderness and into civilization. Thirty years later I have a better understanding of what’s past that bend. Another 8 km of Calumet Island. But the memory of those canoes on the river has always been a strong one. A few hundred others who were also in Campbell’s Bay on that Sunday afternoon may have the same memories of it. And what is heritage if not shared memories. |