File:20150707 - 16 - Whitefish Island, Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. - "Welcome (Clean Up After Your Dog)".jpg

English: As seen in July 2015, a pair of signs welcome visitors to Whitefish Island in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada, and counsel dog owners to clean up after their pets. A teardrop-shaped, 22-acre expanse of land in St. Mary's River, Whitefish Island is a place of immense importance to the history of the local First Nations population: it was for millennia the site of a sizable Ojibwe settlement whose residents subsisted on the rich fishery in the river rapids (hence the island's name), and upon the arrival of white fur trappers in the 17th century became the site of an important trading post. The island's early-20th century expropriation from its native owners by the Canadian government on behalf of a consortium of railway companies is a shameful event in its history, but the land was thankfully never developed, and since 1997 it has once again been property of the Batchewana First Nation of Ojibways (sic) who operate it as a nature reserve, a green oasis just minutes from downtown Sault Ste. Marie where city dwellers come to experience nature walks on trails such as this, as well as what still figures among the choicest fishing spots on the Great Lakes. The rich ecosystem of the island itself also makes it a pristine home for populations of native flora and fauna such as fox, beaver, muskrat, reptiles, eagles, owls, herons, osprey, and a host of migratory birds.