Mattawa, Ontario

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Downtown Mattawa on Highway 533.

Mattawa is a town in northeastern Ontario, Canada at the confluence of the Mattawa and Ottawa Rivers in Nipissing District. Mattawa means "Meeting of the Waters" in Ojibwa. In 1615 Etienne Brulé and Samuel de Champlain were the first Europeans to pass through this area.

In the past, Mattawa was an important place, due to its location along the voyageur's canoe route from Montreal to the Great Lakes. It was a hub for both the fur and lumber trade.

In 2007, Mattawa and the townships of Bonfield, Papineau-Cameron, Mattawan, and Calvin united to create a newly-branded Mattawa Voyageur Country in order to promote the region.^[1]

1 Attractions
- 1.1 Voyageur Days
2 Media
- 2.1 Radio
- 2.2 Print
3 Demographics
4 Notable Residents
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Attractions

Mattawa is the home of many wooden statues depicting historical figures from the Mattawa area, such as Champlain, Pierre-Esprit Radisson, Médard des Groseilliers, and others. The Mattawa District Museum is host to a 17 ft. wooden statue of Big Joe Mufferaw, a local folk hero. These statues are scattered throughout the town of Mattawa and in two locations outside the town on nearby Highway 17.^[2]

The nearby area contains over 200 kilometres of year-round ATV trails, known as the Voyageur Multi Use Trail System (VMUTS).

[edit] Voyageur Days

Every summer since 1997, the Mattawa Voyageur Days Festival is held the last weekend of July. It is organized by the Town of Mattawa and takes place behind the Museum on Explorer's Point. Some of the events include a regional talent night, lumberjack competition, and canoe race. Live music is a large part of the Festival, and has in the past included such notable Canadian musicians as April Wine, Trooper, Honeymoon Suite, Chuck Labelle and David Wilcox, among others like "Musique Ete" and Local singers like, Akeem Ouellet.

As part of tradition, on the Sunday of the event at dusk there is a choreographed fireworks show.

Mattawa Voyageur Days celebrated its 10th anniversary in July 2007, selling out of its 7,000 admission wristbands before the event had begun. In 2008, Festivals and Events Ontario listed Mattawa Voyageur Days as one of the Top 100 Ontario Festivals.^[3]

[edit] Media

[edit] Radio

Mattawa is served by two low-power AM repeaters of Greater Sudbury's CBC Radio stations:

AM 1090 - Première Chaîne
AM 1240 - CBC Radio One
FM 102 - The Fox
FM 100.5 - Easy Rock
FM 106.3 - The Moose

[edit] Print

Mattawa's weekly newspaper The Mattawa Recorder has been in publication since 1972. It is owned and published by Tom and Heather Edwards.

[edit] Demographics

Highway 17 in Mattawa.

According to the Canada 2006 Census:

Population: 2,003
Dwellings: 942
Area (km²): 3.66
Density (persons per km²): 548

Additionally, 40% of Mattawanians are Francophone, although the seasonal nature of local employment results in population and demographic fluctuations throughout the year.