Our first virtual speaker session of the year was held on September 27, 2023, and featured a pre-recorded presentation by Jim Stone, supported by Merv Sarazin who introduced Jim and remained with the presentation to answer questions and provide additional background. Jim, a retired Foreign Service officer and amateur historian, focussed his presentation on the life of Grand Chief Pierre Louis Constant Pinesi (1768 – 1834) and the turbulent times in which he lived. Jim also provided a more general history of the Alongkin* peoples of the Ottawa area in the 150 years or so prior to Chief Pinesi’s birth. Jim is not Indigenous himself and assembled the information for his presentation from published and archival sources, not traditional Alongkin knowledge, though he has consulted with the people of Pikwakanagan First Nation where a number of Chief Pinesi’s descendants live.

Jim described that, starting in the early 1600s, things began to go badly for the Alongkin people of the Ottawa valley. They were ravaged by a series of European diseases and their consequences. Later, they were driven from their lands by the Iroquois who were expanding their territory. As a result, the Ottawa valley became nearly depopulated. It was not until the signing of the Grand Peace of 1701 between the French, Alongkin, Iroquois and others, that the Alongkin began to return to this area.

Jim explained that prior to the influx of settlers, Alongkin family hunting grounds were fairly fixed and well respected. Chief Pinesi described his hunting grounds as being south of the Ottawa River, centered on the Rideau River. The exact boundaries, which would have followed natural land forms, are today unknown. Based on a meeting documented by Philemon Wright that he had with two Chiefs who were protesting his logging activities, it is possible that Chief Pinesi had some access to or use of lands to the north of the Ottawa River. Chief Pinesi and his family, he had 12 children, many of whom died young, would have travelled widely in his hunting grounds. He would also have travelled throughout the greater territory, especially to the Lake of Two Mountains, now Oka, where there was a summer gathering of Alongkin, Nipissing and Mohawk peoples, along with a French Catholic Mission.

Just prior to the 1800s, settlers began arriving in the Ottawa watershed. This resulted from the British domination of North America established by the Treaty of Paris in 1763 and spurred on by the American Revolution, which ended in 1783. Loggers cleared the forests, destroying the habitat of the animals hunted by the Alongkin, and settlers divided the land for farming. Both groups also competed for the same fish and animals that fed Chief Pinesi, his family and the other Alongkin people. Construction of the Rideau Canal was especially devastating. The dams required for the waterway, such as at Hog’s Back, transformed the river into a series of essentially long lakes, destroying fishing grounds at the base of rapids and flooding traditional camping and cultural sites along the shores and on its islands. The large workforce also accessed the same natural food sources, driving some species to near extinction in the area.

Chief Pinesi and four of his sons were among the many Indigenous warriors, Alongkin, Nipissing and Iroquois, who fought with the British in the war of 1812. Indigenous warriors are known to have fought at Queenston (October 13, 1812), Odeltown (August 19, 1812), Chateauguay (October 26, 1813) and Beaver Dams (June 24, 1813). Alongkin and Nipissing warriors were prominent in the capture of Colonel Boerstler's Detachment of 512 US soldiers at Beaver Dams. Jim emphasized that these warriors fought as allies, not as soldiers of the British army. Merv Sarazin commented that had it not been for the impact of Indigenous warriors, Canada as we know it might not exist, having fallen to the Americans at that time.

Jim pointed out that much of Chief Pinesi’s life was dedicated to attempting to protect his people’s rights to their ancestral lands and to their way of life. He submitted about 20 petitions, in conjunction with other Alongkin and Nipissing Chiefs, to the governments of Upper and Lower Canada seeking their acknowledgement to Alongkin title to their lands, compensation for lands already lost to settlers, and restrictions on further settlement. The governments did not act upon these petitions, despite the observation by Chief Pineisi that the Alongkins had helped defend the British interest in the area. In 1819, in response to pressure from the increasing number of settlers, the government of Upper Canada signed a treaty with Mississauga Chiefs that included the Alongkin lands of the Rideau River watershed, including Chief Pinesi’s family hunting grounds. No treaty for land compensation was ever signed with the Alongkin.

Chief Pinesi and his wife both died in August 1834 as a result of a Cholera epidemic that was sweeping Upper and Lower Canada. Jim believes that they are buried in the second Catholic cemetery at Lake of Two Mountains, though no record of the exact location of these graves survives.

You can watch Jim’s full presentation on the HSO YouTube channel.

A more complete written version of Jim’s work with footnotes can be downloaded from Grand Chief Constant Pinesi – Kichi Sibi Trails (kichisibiancienttrails.ca) .

Additional, Merv Sarazin referred to the book “The Ancestors are Arranging Things”, by Noreen Kruzich, available for purchase online or from the Ottawa Public Library.

*The term “Algonkin” is used to refer to the Anishinabeg living in the land claimed by Chief Pinesi on both sides of the Ottawa River and all its tributaries from Oka to Mattawa, including the headwaters of the latter river. The term Algonquin refers to a much larger group of Indigenous people. This term parallels that used by Noreen Kruzich in her book "The Ancestors are Arranging Things".

Grand Chief Pierre-Louis Constant Pinesi (1768-1834) witnessed great and tragic changes during his lifetime. The traditional land upon which Chief Pinesi's family gathered, hunted, fished, and trapped is where the Nation's Capital is situated today — before those ancient and crucial livelihoods collapsed under the unending wave of European settlement and deforestation.

Chief Pinesi, who fought bravely alongside the British during the War of 1812, saw his many petitions to the Crown for recognition of his people's ancestral rights left unanswered.

Jim Stone has conducted extensive research into the life and legacy of Chief Pinesi, working in consultation with members of the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation, including direct descendants of Chief Pinesi.

Introduction by Merv Sarazin, Band Councillor, Pikwakanagan First Nation.

Almost 50 guests attended our first speaker presentation of the year, hosted by the Main Branch of the Ottawa Public Library on September 9, 2023. Prior to the presentation, Dianne Brydon, President of the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa took a few minutes to describe some of the outstanding events they have in their upcoming season. For more details on their organization and their presentations, please check out the BIFHSGO website.

We were then pleased to welcome Peter Atkinson, a retired educator from Ottawa, who spoke to us about his father, noted broadcaster Gord Atkinson. Peter focussed on a 13-year period of Gord’s extraordinary career when he introduced Rock & Roll music and the musicians who played it to Ottawa, to Canada and in some cases to North America. Gord was “Ottawa’s Oldest Teenager”.

Gord was recruited by radio station CFRA in Ottawa from radio station CHUM in Toronto in February 1954, based on the national success of his program featuring the music of Bing Crosby. Arriving in Ottawa, he soon determined that there was a market for the new music known as “Happy Beat”; the term “Rock and Roll” being considered as too risqué. The station attracted an older audience and their management was reluctant to try new things but eventually Gord convinced them to allow him to run a show of new music on Saturday afternoons, considered to be a dead time on the radio. He called his show the “Campus Corner”, a name he borrowed from the shoe department of the Ogilvy’s department store on Rideau Street. Gord ran the show from the Freiman’s department store in the Westgate Shopping plaza and it featured a mix of live performances and recordings. It was an immediate and overwhelming success soon outgrowing that venue and by 1963 changing to a Monday to Friday time slot and its name to the “Campus Club”, which eventually totalled some 30,000 members.

Gord created his own “Platter Poll” based on requests from his own listeners, rather than from nationally compiled lists of hits. Some of these listeners tuned in to late night radio from pioneering Rock & Roll hotbeds such as Buffalo and Rochester, allowing him to always be among the first to play new songs and new bands, often beating the major U.S. broadcasters by months.

Gord was also at the centre of the concert scene in Ottawa. He introduced the first “Happy Beat” concert in Ottawa, headlined by Bill Haley & His Comets, but also featuring Chuck Berry and the Platters. His best remembered concert was the April 3, 1957, appearance of Elvis Presley, one of only 3 such appearances outside of the United States throughout Elvis’ career. Elvis was eager to play Ottawa as he knew that his music was being well received and played here, based on the fan mail he had received. Later, in 1964, Gord took a group of some 40 Club members to see the Beatles in Maple Leaf Gardens. Returning home he told his family that he hadn’t heard them at all because of the constant screaming of the crowd.

Gord hosted a series of wildly successful talent shows at the Ottawa Coliseum, called the “Campus Hop”. This provided a venue for emerging local talent to perform and gain exposure – among many others, this helped launch the career of Vern Craig, later of the Staccatos, and the very popular Hugh Scott.

Speaking of the launching of careers, Gord introduced and promoted two local performers who would go on to become mega-stars in the entertainment world. Both Paul Anka and Rich Little owe their start to Gord Atkinson. Gord was the first in the world to play Paul Anka’s first big hit, Diana , Paul bringing the record to him for that purpose. Paul and Rich remained life-long friends with Gord and his family.

Life as a radio DJ, especially at that time, was highly competitive, demanding long hours and hard work. Gord maintained as successful a family life as he did a professional one, this due, in large part, to his wife Elaine, who raised their seven children and kept everything together and running.

Gord stepped away from the “Campus Club” in 1967 to run CFRA’s sister FM station, CFMO. He continued as a broadcaster with his other show “Show Bill” that he had started when first coming to Ottawa. Gord was also heavily involved in charitable work, most notably being one of the chief organizers, along with Rich Little of the 1982 Frank Sinatra concert that raised over $1,000,000 for a neo-natal unit at the Civic Hospital.

Peter has recorded many fascinating stories along with lots of photos, often previously unpublished, in his highly recommended book, “ Gord Atkinson: Ottawa’s Oldest Teenager”, which can be purchased at upcoming HSO in-person speaker series presentations at the library or through the Showbill website.

Rogers TV kindly recorded the lecture series on Ottawa's history given by Phil Jenkins for the Historical Society of Ottawa in April 2023.

Here is a list of the episodes: