Rama Indian Reserve
In 1830 Sir John Colborne, Lieutenant-Governor of
Upper Canada (1828-1836), settled several nomadic
bands of Indians on a reserve stretching along
the portage between the Atherley Narows and
Georgian Bay. They were placed under the
superintendency of Captain Thomas Cummersall
Anderson. The Ojibwa (Chippewa) tribe led by
Chief William Yellowhead (Musquakie) were located
at the Atherley Narrows. Pressure on the
government by land-hungry white settlers forced
the Indians, in 1836 to relinquish their holdings
and Yellowhead's band was moved to Rama in 1838-9,
where they purchased 1600 acres. By 1846 they had
300 acres under cultivation and their settlement
contained twenty houses, four barns and a school
house.
Erected by the Ontario Archaeological and
Historic Sites Board.
