Hunting and fishing in the early 20th century

These photos record recreational hunting and fishing in the Kawarthas during the early twentieth century. Several feature Indigenous guides that made these excursions possible. Others document traditional subsistence hunting and harvesting of wild rice on Rice Lake. Together, they present differing views of this stage of our hunting and fishing heritage in Ontario. Frank J. Rus, from Pittsburgh, at his fish camp on Clear Lake, north of Lakefield. Ketchecum Hunt Club Professional photographer Fred Roy occasionally visited the Ketchecum Hunt Club. He provided this glimpse into their activities. The club was located on the east side of Lake Ketchecum (now Catchacoma), northwest of Peterborough. It had a clubhouse with dining room, sleeping quarters for 22, and a cook. Participants included local business and political leaders and invited guests from the United States. Hunt club members arriving at camp by canoe. Right, celebrating the success of their annual hunt in 1907 while Roy recorded other camps, few were as elaborate or as successful. A woman with a muskie and her Indigenous guide. Indigenous guides Lake Ketchecum, 1910 Indigenous guides from the Hiawatha and Curve Lake First Nations proved essential at Ketchecum fishing camps and excursions on Buckhorn Lake (photo below). Guiding became an essential summer activity for local Indigenous hunters and trappers by 1912-13. Buckhorn Lake Northern Ontario Smoking jerked moose meat at a camp near Night Hawk Lake in 1909. In northwestern Ontario, the Canadian Pacific Railway expansion drew anglers, hunters, and tourists to the region by the end of the 19th century. They soon relied on local Indigenous guides, too. Northeastern Ontario, however, developed more slowly. Significant silver and gold discoveries and government incentives to settle the Clay Belt attracted prospectors, investors, and settlers. The outboard motor was invented by Ole Evinrude in the US in 1909, and later manufactured in Peterborough by the Outboard Marine Corporation. Unfortunately, the rise of outboard motors contributed to the decline in steamboats and Indigenous guiding by 1930. Indigenous Perspective From 1905 to 1908, Roy also captured images of Hiawatha First Nation members hunting ducks and harvesting wild rice on Rice Lake. Hiawatha First Nation Chief Laurie Carr spoke about them. “In our traditional teachings we are taught only to take what we need; to use all that we can; and to feed our elders and our community,” she said. “Hunting, fishing, harvesting was our livelihood. That was our sustenance, how we survived.”