Garden River
Neil Boyer, Mary Belanger, and an unknown child with a partially finished cedar mat.
In early August of 1933, Volney Jones visited the Garden River Reserve, located east of Sault Ste. Marie, Canada. In Anishinaabemowin (the language of the Anishinaabe), this region is called Ketegaunseebee and is the sovereign territory of the Garden River First Nation.
The first person Jones recorded meeting in the Garden River community was Amable (or Amab) Boissineau, who Jones identified as the chief. In his field notebook, Jones commented that Mr. Boissineau spoke English well and that his wife spoke Chippewa, French, and English. Mr. and Mrs. Boissineau agreed to house and feed Jones during his stay and may have helped Jones identify people knowledgeable about basket and mat making.
During his ten days in the Garden River commuity, Jones collected items from two families and three individuals. He primarily focused on people who had knowledge of plants and textiles that differed the family's he interviewed at Walpole Island. He collected information about the use of cedar, birch bark, and maple, as well as a variety of plants used to make natural dyes.
To learn more about the Garden River community members who Jones interviewed, click on the links below.
