Algonquin Anishinabeg people once travelled along the Rideau and Ottawa rivers, hunting, fishing and gathering along the waterways and through thick forests in search of food. Historical accounts indicate that groups travelled by foot or canoe in the summer months, and by snowshoe in the winter. Their knowledge of the area led surveyors involved in the construction of the Rideau Canal to use them as guides through the forests and swamps. Merchants in Bytown were eager to buy their furs and new residents often relied on the medicinal knowledge and midwifery skills of the women.
The 1830 watercolour by James Pattison Cockburn shows an encampment along the Rideau River (Royal Ontario Museum).
