The Valley of the Lost Attawandarons… A Rafting Learning Adventure 1 Hour West of Toronto

The Grand River Valley is the ancestral home of the Iroquoian Attawandarons. In the valley itself, there is an awe that holds the lost presence. No one can drift down the river unaware that someone has been here before.

Paris, Ontario (PRWEB) September 10, 2006 -- The great Attawandarons are a tribe existing only on bits and pieces of paper. Their magnificent valley on the Grand River now stands silent. The last full blooded Attawandaron was recorded in a census living displaced near the Lake Michigan in the 1780’s. In the valley it is said, “where there is sumac, there is a dead Indian”. The reason being that sumac thrives on light soils…and for the Attawandarons such soil was an easy place to bury their dead.

This is a valley steeped in aboriginal native history. If one looks hard… there are flint artifacts… village grind stones… and native burial grounds. There is no one here to morn the dead… in fact no one knows the dead are there.

The Grand River Rafting Company offers “Learning Adventures” for all. They use rafts that allow everyone to explore the valley and participate in safety. These guided rafting trips allow everyone to experience everything together.

The guides teach on native history, edible plants and wildlife. They do family trips that combine hiking, paddling and hands-on teaching. The impact of these learning adventures on all ages is amazing… no one leaves disappointed.

Many have never swam in a river… or tasted fresh water springs… or rubbed plant medicine on the skin. As old stories are told… lost words re-form on a child’s tongue. People smile as they play in the water… youthfulness engages all… it is a different place on the river… something the native people always saw. It is strange how what was once common, is now new.

People marvel at the “croaking” noise of the pterodactyl blue herons… they freeze when coyotes howl… and jump when a beaver tail smacks. They marvel at soaring vultures and red-tail hawks… and delight in the daily fishing antics of osprey. They get excited when a deer flags its tail or a turkey appears… even a lone goose or a clam-washing coon holds the eye. Things that an Indian would simply take in… now rivet people’s attention. Everything is strangely new.

The idea of “rafting learning adventures” is new, a floating classroom that is catching people’s attention. Anyone can rent a canoe/kayak and paddle to the end. But a learning adventure is different… there is no rushing through. Instead there is an acute awareness of totally enjoying an alien experience that seems so comfortable. Yet makes us ask…

What has happen…what have we lost…where have we been?

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