Christian Island

Christian Island
Aerial view of Christian Island from the southeast.
Map
Geography
LocationGeorgian Bay, Lake Huron
Highest elevation209 m (686 ft)
View of Christian Island from Cedar Point.
Ferry terminal in Cedar Point (Christian Island 30A IR) to Christian Island, with Beckwith Island on the right and Hope Island in the distance on the left.

Christian Island is a large island in Georgian Bay close to the communities of Penetanguishene and Midland, Ontario. The island, with its neighbours Hope Island and Beckwith Island, is a 5,428.1 hectares (13,413.1 acres) Ojibwa reserve, known as Christian Island Indian Reserve No. 30. Together with the 7.5 hectares (18.5 acres) Christian Island Indian Reserve No. 30A located at Cedar Point, Ontario and the 3.1 hectares (7.7 acres) Chippewa Island Indian Reserve located in Twelve Mile Sound, 27.5 kilometres (17.1 mi) north of Christian Island, it forms the land base for the Beausoleil First Nation. Christian Islands' highest elevation is 209 metres (686 feet) above sea level.

To the east of Christian Island is Giants Tomb Island, part of Awenda Provincial Park, and Beausoleil Island, part of UNESCO's Georgian Bay Biosphere Reserve (GBBR) and part of the Georgian Bay Islands National Park, consisting of 63 small islands in Georgian Bay, near Port Severn. UNESCO's Georgian Bay Biosphere Reserve covers an area of 347,000 hectares (860,000 acres) that stretches 200 kilometres (120 miles) along Georgian Bay's eastern coast from Port Severn to the French River, and is the world's largest freshwater archipelago – known as The Thirty Thousand Islands.

Together with other First Nations in the area, the Beausoleil have filed a land claim for lands situated between Matchedash Bay at Coldwater and the narrows at Lake Simcoe and Lake Couchiching.[citation needed] While the Chippewa Island reserve is shared among Beausoleil and two other First Nations, the two Christian Island reserves are not.