Bringing Indigenous Placemaking to the Credit Valley Trail
The northern trailhead of the Credit Valley Trail (CVT) will be the Crane Gathering Space, an Indigenous cultural feature at Island Lake Conservation Area, in Orangeville.
The vision for the Crane Gathering Space was developed by the Indigenous Roundtable in collaboration with CVC and CVT partners. It’s guided by the Indigenous Experience Plan (IEP), developed in 2019, which aims to bring Indigenous culture and experiences to life along the trail.
Purpose
Crane Gathering Space will nurture connections between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, provide a space for Indigenous ceremonial practices, create unique recreational experiences and serve as a publicly accessible site available for innovative educational opportunities.
Project Overview
The vision for the Crane Gathering Space was developed by the Indigenous Roundtable with the support of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, CVC and Smoke Architecture Inc.
It takes inspiration from Anishinaabe culture with animal dodems that represent different clans. The Anishinaabe Ajijaak (crane) dodem is the speaker for the clans and comes before all the others. It’s an announcer for things to come. The sandhill crane also uses Island Lake as a stopover site during its annual migration.
The Crane Gathering Space is inspired by historic fishing practices (fishing weirs) and the Ajijaak (crane) dodem. It will be prominently situated as a gateway to Island Lake Conservation Area and the Credit Valley Trail experience.
The concept for the Crane Gathering Space was developed alongside the Island Lake Conservation Area Management Plan and is intended to be:
- An inclusive space for community-building, teaching and events.
- A space for Indigenous Peoples and communities to express their culture and language, and deepen their ancestral connections, traditional understanding and knowledge of the Credit River and surrounding valley lands.
- A publicly accessible location for educational and recreational programming.
Partners
Credit Valley Conservation and partners has installed interpretive signage at the Crane Gathering Space at Island Lake Conservation Area. This project was funded in part by the Government of Canada through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario).
Welcome to the Crane Gathering Space
The Crane Gathering Space was developed by the Credit Valley Trail Indigenous Roundtable. They are an Indigenous community group leading the work to create spaces and educational experiences that connect trail users with the Indigenous history of the Credit River, as well as current Indigenous cultural practices.
The inspiration for this space comes from the Ajijaak Dodem (Crane Clan). In Anishinaabe tradition, the Ajijaak is known as an ‘echo maker’ and is the speaker for the clans. Ajijaak is an announcer of things to come. The sandhill crane also uses Island Lake as a stopover site during its annual migration.
We invite you to learn with us and make connections to Indigenous culture, nature and heritage of the Credit River and surrounding valley lands.
Frequently Asked Questions
The project is estimated to cost $1,000,000. The Credit Valley Conservation Foundation has secured $750,000 (75 per cent) of the funds needed to build the Crane Gathering Space. Learn more about how you can help support the development of Indigenous placemaking along the CVT.
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