Manitowaning Mission 1838-1864
In the 1830s officials urged native peoples in Upper Canada to abandon seasonal fishing and hunting migrations and settle permanently in agricultural communities. To this end, the government established a mission at Manitowaning under the auspices of the Anglican Church in 1838. A school, houses, and workshops for teaching trades were constructed. The mission encouraged farming but crops were meagre. Few aboriginal people chose to settle permanently at Manitowaning, and in 1864 the mission was moved to the Sheguiandah Reserve. This mission church, erected by native parishioners by 1849, is the oldest church in Manitoulin-Algoma.
Plaque via Alan L. Brown's site Ontario Plaques. Full page here.