About Ontario ...

OntarioSasquatch would like to give you more than just reports. If we're investigating sasquatch sightings, then we also need to inform you about the topography in Ontario, because it directly relates to this phenomenon. If these creatures exist, they're living in our wilderness areas and our forested watersheds, or at least traveling through them. So it seems logical to present you with photos of what the landscape looks like in different parts of Ontario and to explain it a bit. ...

  The Origin of the Name “Ontario”:

  There are various interpretations as to the actual origin of the name “Ontario”. The Archives

  of Ontario have found three sources and translation of the name, all of which are derived

  from an Iroquoian word. The Archives of Ontario has also found a source that disputes the

  Iroquoian translation of the three names. The three possible sources and the questioning of

  the translation are as follows:

  1. The name is said to be a variation of the word “kanadario” which means “sparkling or

  beautiful water”. This word was originally used to describe the large body of water that is

  currently known as Lake Ontario. The use of the word later grew to include the area of land

  along the shores of the lake and beyond. Source: Armstrong, G.H. The Origin and Meaning

  of Place Names in Canada, Toronto: Macmillan, 1930.

  2. The name may be a variation of the term “Onitariio” which translates to “beautiful

  lake”. Use of this term was also traced to identify the body of water currently known as

  Lake Ontario and later to include the land surrounding the lake.

  Source: Hamilton, William B. The Macmillan Book of Canadian Place Names, Toronto:

  Macmillan, 1978.

  3. The name is said to have developed from the term “Skanadario” which is reported to

  mean “very pretty lake”. Source: Beauchamp, William M., Aboriginal Place Names of New

  York, Albany: New York state Education Department, 1908.

  4. It has been stated that the translations of the names given could not have been as

  descriptive as suggested.  “In 1683 Fr. Louis Hennepin had said that the name meant

  ‘beautiful lake’, but beauty in geographical features is a concept alien to Aboriginal

  naming. In one or more of the Iroquoian languages, such as Huron, Mohawk and

  Seneca, the name probably means simply ‘a large body of water’.”

  Source: Rayburn, Alan, Place Names in Ontario, Toronto: University of Toronto

  Press, 1997.

  © Queens Printer for Ontario, 2006

  Reprinted from the Government of Ontario, Canada website, for non-commercial

  purposes only.