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in touch with a proud heritage st chief william mccue is the last person to be born on georgina island he stands in front of the chippewas of georgina island warmemorial beowbev warren above relaxes in front of her island crafts store immi jak lr uvi the chippewas of georgina live in a community where lake simcoe is both their freedom and their isolation by lisa queen staff writer s with everything on georgina island it was the lake that determined where chief bill mccue would be born the chief- of the islands chippewas is the last persontq be born on the island his par ents deciding it was easier to stay put rather than brave travelling over lake simcoe in their boat to the mainland and making their way to a hospital while his moth er wasin labour journeying between the island and the mainland has become easier in the 42 years since mccue was born in addition to their own boats the islands 200perma nent residents and 400 cottagers can rely on a passenger ferry to shuttle them back and forth a barge carries nine vehicles and this month a new ferry which can carry 36 passengers and 15 cars or two transport trucks begins operation too large to get down the trent canal in one piece the ferry is being assembled at virginia beach in- northern georgina it will cut travel time by more than half down to about 10 min- utes 51 the new boat replaces the old ferry although the barge will still be used for backup and to travel to fox and snake islands other chippewagoverned islands despite the modern conve niences life on georgina island still centres around the trek from me island to me mainland and yet from the young peo ple to the elders there is always a desire to return to the island its home is the unfailing reply mccue is looking forward to launching the new ferry thats one of the things thats going to make life easier he said while sitting in his office in the bands twostorey admin istrative building the big thing on the island is the isolation modern technolo gy has helped us weve come a long way to making things safer for our people to travel but the lake although its beautiful and nice to have its asense of isola tion once von the island the atmosphere is serene on a warm summer day j kids play at a day camp run butoftheschoolhouse down the road women working iri the band office chat at the front counter on one side of the office butfdirig sits the community centre on the other the church lining the dusty road along the shores of lake simcoe sit cottages and the houses the i islands permanent residents live in yearround many would fit comfortably in any of york regions posh neighbourhoods other than the- lake were pretty much a normal small community its fairly middle class we dont have anybody liv ing on the street or homeless we have our own community centre here a general store ojjened last month you pretty much know everybody thats around if there is a stranger around you know theres someone around whos not from here i can usually go away and not lock my doors mccue said i remember growing up there would only have been one or two cars owned bypeople on the island now theres quite a few families that own two cars rather than just the whole com munity owning two vehicles but mccue also acknowl edges challenges facing the island the top one is attracting employment to give young peo- pie who leave to go to college or university a reason to return he would also like to build a nursing home so ailing elders can spend their last years at home meanwhile the band is work- 1 ing towards achieving selfgov ernment our whole plan is moving ahead towards selfgovernment and creating a better lifestyle for all our membership we have a good lifestyle now buyifcan be better mccue said although were moving ahead we cant forget the past i would like to see oiir language taught because its one thing were gradually losing i want to see us advance but not advance so far that we lose our roots- aaa r i in the1690s the chippewa arid mississaiiga first nations people attacked the iroquois at lake simcoe and rice lak6 arid pushed them down the trent water system into what is now new york state accordingtq a history research paper by georgina island elder wandabig canoe the chippewa were hunters and trappers arid becarriepart of wanda big canoe the fur trade but by 1710 the fur trade was no longer viable the chippewas turned to fishing on lake simcoe couchiching and georgian bay in her report big icarioe detailed land treaties with the- british but she goes on- to explain how land was subse quently taken from first nation bands y simultaneously and as a result of land surrenders for white settlements the indige nous economy was ruined and social organizations under mined christian missions were established among bands the reserve systenr was instituted and assirnilationist policies were developed by the government staff photosmike barrett our salon team members continually educate themselves to provide i pleading 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