Manitowaning

Manitowaning, Ont, Unincorporated Place. Manitowaning is located on the northeastern shore of Manitoulin Island. In 1835 T.G. Anderson, superintendent of Indian affairs for Upper Canada, selected it as administrative headquarters of the newly created Indian reserve on Manitoulin Island. Though Ojibwa and Ottawa began to move onto the island in 1836, permanent settlement dates only from 1838. Anderson's dream of making this Indigenous community a model of Anglican prosperity failed in the 1840s and 1850s, partly because of the lack of sustained government support and partly because of the more effective Roman Catholic missionary activities at nearby Wikwemikong. The opening of the island to non-Native settlement in 1862 brought Manitowaning a brief economic boom; by 1880 it was the island's largest village. During the next 20 years, Gore Bay and Little Current surpassed Manitowaning, and since 1900 it has been mainly a trade and tourist centre.