A LIVING HISTORY

The Mayans once said that the state of the Land is reflected in the state of the Mind and that the state of the Mind is reflected in the state of the Land. The physical landscape and resources is a foundation for how people live just as our attitudes and practices mark the landscape. Changes in the natural landscape may guide us to the changes in evolution; expression; perception; and our collective culture.

The Land Between has a rich cultural heritage. Vanished Villages, remnants of battles and travels, cedar rail fences, cemeteries, roads and trails, buildings, and above all, stories, are all scattered amidst this rolling topography. The First Nations people used it as key east-west corridor. Trails over land, and travel over water, especially through the large rivers and the channels of the Trent Severn Waterway, were how the landscape was navigated. Chert for making tools and artefacts was abundant here. The land, being open, supported hunting, and being strewn with waterways and lakes held an ancient fishing economy. Here, the American Eel, now extirpated, was within its northernmost range limit, and was a plentiful resource providing both food and tools. A brief period of European settlement introduced agriculture, mining and lumbering, but these proved mostly unproductive and gave way to scattered settlements, second-growth forests, and a number of ghost towns. People in The Land Between continue to appreciate the landscape, pass on their unique stories, and share new ones with old-timers and new faces in the region.

The Land Between Circle includes First Nations, Historians, Archaeologists, and academia who help to guide cultural heritage research within The Land Between. Working with students from Trent University and Sir Sandford Fleming College, we are charting chronicles, historic place names, remnants, features and footprints. We are delineating the aged patterns that echo the state of the resource and which celebrate the heritage of The Land Between.

Archaeological studies, chronicles and research are posted on our Science and Discoveries page