Batchawana Bay
{{Short description|Bay in northeastern Ontario, Canada}}
{{for multi|the First Nation|Batchewana First Nation|the local services board|Batchawana Bay, Ontario}}
{{Infobox body of water
| name = Batchawana Bay
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| image = Batchawana Bay ON.JPG
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| location = Algoma District, Ontario, Canada
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| coordinates = {{coord|46|52|55|N|84|28|59|W|region:CA-ON_type:waterbody_source:GeographicalNamesBoardofCanada|notes={{cite cgndb|id= FEGTU|title= Batchawana Bay|accessdate= 2018-07-01}} (bay)||display=inline,title}}
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| etymology = {{lang|oj|Badjiwanung}}, Ojibwe for "swift water/current"
| part_of = Whitefish Bay, Lake Superior
| inflow = {{unbulleted list|Batchawana River|Chippewa River|Harmony River}}
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| basin_countries = Canada
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| islands = Batchawana Island
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| pushpin_map = Canada Ontario
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Batchawana Bay is a small bay in Algoma District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is on the eastern shore of Lake Superior, approximately {{convert|50|km|mi}} 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.{{cite book |last1=Boyle |first1=Terry |title=Hidden Ontario: secrets from Ontario's past |date=2011 |publisher=Dundurn Press |location=Toronto |isbn=9781554889563 |page=106 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uXk3yUgj1yYC&q=batchawana+meaning&pg=PA106}}{{cite book |last1=Franklin |first1=Dixie |title=Faces of Lake Superior |date=1991 |publisher=A & M |location=[West Bloomfield, MI] |isbn=9781878005144 |page=62 |edition=1st}}{{cite book|last1= Chisholm|first1= Barbara|last2= Gutsche|first2= Andrea|last3= Floren|first3= Russell|title= Superior: Under the Shadow of the Gods|year= 1998|publisher= Lynx Images|location= Toronto|isbn= 978-0-9698427-7-4|oclc= 39380117|pages= [https://archive.org/details/superiorundersha00chis/page/28 28–29]|url-access= registration|url= https://archive.org/details/superiorundersha00chis/page/28}}
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.{{Cite cgndb|FBMJR|Havilland Bay}}{{Cite cgndb|FBLXX|Harmony Bay}}
Batchawana Island, with an area of more than {{convert|5200|acre|order=flip}} and a coastline of {{convert|20|mi|order=flip}}, is a large and only island in the middle of the bay.{{cite web |title=Batchawana Island |url=https://www.batchawanaisland.com/ |website=www.batchawanaisland.com |access-date=13 September 2021 |date=2021}} 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,{{cite cgndb|id= FIDES|title= Batchawana Bay Provincial Park|accessdate= 2018-07-01}} (park){{cite web|url= https://www.ontarioparks.com/park/batchawanabay|title= Batchawana Bay|publisher= Ontario Parks|access-date= 2018-07-01}} and the unincorporated place and Compact Rural Community of Batchawana Bay is on the northwest shore of the bay.{{cite cgndb|id= FEGTT|title= Batchawana Bay|accessdate= 2018-07-01}} (unincorporated place) The community is along Highway 563.
Nearby Batchawana Mountain ({{coord|47|03|55|N|84|24|39|W|region:CA-ON_type:mountain|display=inline}}) is the fourth highest point in Ontario at {{convert|653|m|ft|0}}.{{cite cgndb|id= FEGTX|title= Batchawana Mountain|accessdate= 2018-07-01}} (mountain){{cite web|url= http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/learningresources/facts/mountains.html/#on|title= Mountains|work= Atlas of Canada|publisher= Natural Resources Canada|date= 2009-08-12|access-date= 2010-07-01|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110715052231/http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/learningresources/facts/mountains.html/#on|archive-date= 2011-07-15|url-status= dead}}
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.{{cite web |author1=Ernest Voorhis |title=Historic Forts and Trading Posts of the French regime and of the English Fur Trading Companies |url=http://www.enhaut.ca/voor1/voorhis.html#f42 |website=www.enhaut.ca |access-date=13 September 2021}}{{cite journal |last1=Anick |first1=Norman |title=The Fur Trade in Eastern Canada Until 1870 |journal=Manuscript Report Number |date=1976 |volume=I |issue=207 |url=http://parkscanadahistory.com/series/mrs/207-1.pdf |access-date=13 September 2021 |publisher=National Historic Parks and Sites Branch, Parks Canada}} 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.{{cite web |title=Hudson's Bay Company: Batchewana |url=http://pam.minisisinc.com/scripts/mwimain.dll/144/PAM_AUTHORITY/AUTH_DESC_DET_REP/SISN%20683?sessionsearch |website=pam.minisisinc.com |publisher=Archives of Manitoba - Keystone Archives Descriptive Database |access-date=20 June 2023}}
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.
See also
- Goulais Bay - adjacent bay to the south
References
{{Reflist}}