Path of Our Relatives
This elevated boardwalk was officially opened in November 2024 and provides an immersive walk through the Zoo’s “Core Woods” Carolinian Forest and connects the Zoo’s Indo-Malaya and Africa Pavilions. Not only does the boardwalk connect these two key geographic Zoo zones, but also reminds us of our connection to the natural world and the inter-connectivity of all the relatives that live within the core woods – the trees, plants, insects, birds, mammals and the waters that give life to all.
To honour this connectivity, the Zoo’s Indigenous Advisory Circle gifted the name “Path of Our Relatives” to this boardwalk.
The Anishnaabemowin and Seneca interpretations of this name are:
Miikaasing Gdinwendaaganinaanig
Anishnaabemowin
Detadiahdoh Ogwahso:dse:dak
Seneca
(MP3 recording coming soon!)
Artist: August Swinson,
Mississaugas of Scugog
Island First Nation
The art on the signage was created by August Swinson. August is an artist and member of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation, currently living in Kitchener, Ontario. August works in a variety of styles and uses a mix of hand drawn and computer generated illustrations. He worked primarily as a graphic designer and attended George Brown College in the early 1980s. Influenced by the beauty of nature and the classic Canadian landscape, and memories of his childhood living on the Scugog Island reserve, his illustrations evoke a sense of fun, and something familiar that reminds us of a more innocent age but from a new perspective.
