Ardoch Algonquin First Nation

The Rice Celebration was very successful, with approx. 1800-2000 people in attendance.

The day began with the Ontario Provincial Police Aboriginal Drummers Opening the event at the bridge at Ardoch.

Guest speakers were from the Union of Ontario Indians and the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, along with Inspector Ron George of the O.P.P. Commissioners office. The Mayor of North Frontenac and both Chiefs of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation spoke.

The unveiling was conducted by brothers Harold and Neil Perry, descendents of Mary Whiteduck, the elder that planted the rice some 150 years ago.

The event moved to Plevna where a Pow Wow was held with a large turn out. The Harold Perry canoe was won by Wayne McNammee of Perth Ontario.

The day was concluded by an old time Country and Western dance held outside that was at capacity levels.

The day was a success, and was well received by all who attended.

Plans are being made for a second annual Pow Wow next year and the O.P.P. drummers are already committed to attend in 2005.

When the manomin was ripe in late summer of 1979 a commercial non-native harvester in a mechanical rice harvesting boat, licensed by the Province of Ontario, robbed the Ardoch Community of its wild rice harvest. The stands of wild rice in the river below Ardoch had been cared for and harvested by Aboriginal people from around Eastern Ontario for over 130 years. The following year a hearing under the Wild Rice Harvesting Act was held at the request of the Ardoch Community. The decision was to return the harvesting rights to the Aboriginal people. In 1980 the harvest was carried out by the people who had managed it for generations. Just three days before his retirement, James Auld, the Minister of Natural Resources, reversed the decision of the Hearing and allowed the issuing of a licence to the non-Aboriginal harvester.

In August and September of 1981 the people of the Ardoch Algonguin First Nation and their allies from Alderville, Tyendenaga, Curve Lake and Hiawatha fought a 27-day stand-off against Ontario to protect their jurisdiction and responsibility for the manomin (wild rice) which grows in the Mississippi River near Ardoch. The wild rice at Ardoch has been shared for over a hundred and thirty years with pickers from Alderville and Curve Lake. It is the manomin that was preserved from Rice Lake when the Trent Canal destroyed its habitat there.

On August 30 the Premier of Ontario ordered the Ontario Provincial Police and the Ministry of Natural Resources to get the commercial harverster onto the River.

Hundreds of police and MNR were employed in the operation. The airboat never made it to the water. The next morning on August 31 the community dug up the road entrances to the Lake and liberated a part of the Algonquin homeland for 27 days. Harold Perry now an Elder and the Honourary Chief of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation led the battle and the subsequent court cases that followed. In 1982, Alan Pope the Minister of Natural Resources admitted that there was an unsettled question of jurisdiction and that the Province had no right to impose its authority over the manomin. No subsequent Provincial government has threatened to lay claim to the rice.

By all estimates Ontario should have been able to crush any resistance and win the hearts and minds of the public. It had all of the resources to do so. The Davis Tories were enjoying the greatest popularity of any government in decades. There were greater forces however; spiritual forces that would not let the manomin go. As long as the people were unwilling to let it go the spirits of our ancestors would protect it. Many great warriors, men and women, Indian and non-Indian came to the banks of Mud Lake to stand along side our ancestors. It was this struggle that gave rise to Algonquin pride and determination. This is why Algonquins from Sharbot Lake, Bob’s Lake, the Fall River, Eel Lake, Eagle Lake, the Big Rideau, the Tay River, Mattawachen, Calabogie and Ottawa are proud to claim the name Ardoch as their own. The confrontation at Ardoch also brought many non-Aboriginal people to understand and support the fight for Aboriginal rights and self determination.

This year the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation (AAFNA) is celebrating that struggle. We would like to recognize the Ontario Provincial Police for their capability of ensuring the safety of all people involved in the conflict. We want to recognize the many Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal people who gave of themselves both during the struggle and to support our community afterwards.