Truth and Reconciliation Community Bobcaygeon along with Indigenous, City of Kawartha Lakes and other partners are planning a native plants garden at the west end of Bobcaygeon Beach Park amid a circle of 14 stones.

This circular garden and meeting place will be an exciting educational addition to the park experience for everyone. It will feature plants native to the region, along with information on how the species is used by First Nations people and the various plant species importance in the Eco system. The garden will also welcome animals and insects that enjoy shoreline environments and thrive on some of these rare native plant species.

The 14 stones were excavated from the Beach Park site during extensive park restorations from 2020-2022 and placed in a circle with an Eastern entrance, where the rising sun enters the space. The gardens will encircle the stones and feature plants like Sweet Flag, Labrador Tea, Sarsaparilla,Bee Balm, Trillium, Cardinal Lobelia, Canadian Anemone, Vervain, Lady Slipper and many more plants native to this territory.

Learning about plants / Collecting seeds

Inawanidimin
(i-nuh-wan-i-di-min)
“In relationship to each other”

Thanks to Anne Taylor from Curve Lake First Nation, there is an Anishinaabemowin name for this place of meeting and gratitude: Inawanidimin – i-nuh-wan-i-di-min-in. This translates to “In relationship to each other”. Everything is connected and has relationship so the stones, the plants, the water, the air, the animals, the fish, the
insects, the humans and all life lives in this place.

Please visit the site and let us know your thoughts and feelings about the project.
We welcome your input. We can hardly wait until the plants are bedded, flourish and bring new life and new knowledge to the community and its visitors.