Ardoch Algonquin First Nation is committed to a vision that creates opportunities for members to access and engage with traditional knowledge, language and culture.  We recognize that having a sense of community and belonging is important for building and maintaining a strong sense of self as an Algonquin person.


Ancient Landscape

Turtle Holding Up The Cliff

Turtle Holding Up The Cliff

Algonquin relationships with our homeland go back for thousands of years and have been presevered in traditional stories such as Wisakedjak. There are many sacred places within our homeland that guide us and helps us to understand who we are as people, such as Kchi-Mshìkenh, the great turtle whose head sticks out of the cliff at Mazinawgamìg (Bon Echo Park). We continue to see them as vital to our survival as people.

 

Traditional Knowledge

Elders Harold and Neil Perry

Elders Harold and Neil Perry

Traditional knowledge about how to live within the Kiji Sìbì was passed down and shared among generations of people. Knowledge about manòmin, for instance, was passed down in the Perry family and the plaque above cormemorates the struggle back in the early 1980's to preserve manòmin from commercial harvesters. Manòmin has always been a strong component of Ardoch's identity as a community.

 

The Future

Youth at 2009 powwow

Youth at 2009 powwow

 Children and youth are the key to the survival of the community into the future. Members get together seasonally for cultural programming in many of the same places their ancestors did for thousands of years. They share knowledge, stories, and practical ways of living and being on the land that promote the survival and longevity of the community and our relations with the Natural World around us.