Cape Croker Park was a dream come true when it opened in 1967. Now as then, the Park provides seasonal employment for community members and students.

Another dream came true in 2018 – Ziibaakdakaan Maple revived the tradition of making ziiwaagmide, maple syrup in our centuries-old ziibaakdakaan, maple sugar bush. The following year, a new state-of-the-art processing facility was up and running. At sunrise in the early morning of March 9, 2020, a "First Tap Ceremony" was held at the start of the maple sap run. Guests from far and near attended and enjoyed a feast of pancake and maple syrup. This ceremony was held to pay respect to the ancient maple forest who provides so much – sap for medicine and maple syrup, fire wood for heating and cooking, shade on hot summer days, and beauty all year round.  The plan is to have an annual First Tap Ceremony on the full moon closest to the first sap run.

We have a traditional story about a great turtle rising up out of the water to become land. Indeed, when you are on top of Jones Bluff or Sydney Bay Bluff, you are standing and walking on land that was once under water. We also have stories about catastrophic floods and how the islands in Georgian Bay came into being after the ice age. These stories of the land are traditional stories; some people call them geo-myths. They are based on empirical observation and experience.

Some 430 million years ago the Saugeen/Bruce Peninsula was part of a great barrier reef living in a warm tropical sea. The sea was part of the supercontinent, Pangea. And this whole area was located about 10 degrees south of the equator. Between the first two dinosaur periods (Triassic and Jurassic), Pangea broke apart. North American slowly drifted to where we are now, which is almost halfway between the equator and the north pole. The 45^th parallel is just a couple of degrees north of Rabbit Island (Barrier Island). You can see the island from the Park’s boat launch.

If you were around 10,000 years ago, after the ice-age, looking out from the on top the escarpment would be as if looking out over the Grand Canyon. Hard to imagine, but it’s true. A giant beaver (castoroides ohioensis) figures prominently in a story that tell of this time and the flood waters that fill up that great expanse.

We are part of the Anishinaabek Nation or Three Fires Confederacy, a confederacy in existence longer than the Dominion of Canada. Our people are the Ojibway also known as Chippewa, Odawa and Pottawatomi. Our language is Anishinaabemowin. We call ourselves Anishinaabek.

Our history tells us that we have inhabited the Peninsula and traditional territory since time immemorial. During the mid-1600s and early 1700s, as part of the Three Fires Confederacy, our ancestors fought and died reclaiming these territories from the Iroquois. We have been at peace with our southern neighbours since that time.