Haweater is a designation given to a person born on

Manitoulin Island Manitoulin Island is an island in Lake Huron, located within the borders of the Canadian province of Ontario, in the bioregion known as Laurentia. With an area of , it is the largest lake island in the world, large enough that it has over 100 ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. The name derives from the prevalence of

hawberries ''Crataegus'' (), commonly called hawthorn, quickthorn, thornapple, Voss, E. G. 1985. ''Michigan Flora: A guide to the identification and occurrence of the native and naturalized seed-plants of the state. Part II: Dicots (Saururaceae–Cornacea ...

among the island's vegetation. Originally it was reported that early settlers got their

vitamin C Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits and vegetables, also sold as a dietary supplement and as a topical 'serum' ingredient to treat melasma (dark pigment spots) ...

intake by eating hawberries, and thus avoided

scurvy Scurvy is a deficiency disease, disease resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, feeling tired and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, anemia, decreased red blood cells, gum disease, ch ...

. A person who has lived on Manitoulin Island, but was not born there, may be considered an honorary haweater. Originally, a haweater was a settler who come to Manitoulin Island in the early days, and settled here. They ate hawberries to help with scurvy, thus indigenous gave them the name Haweater. Later, that definition was changed by Haweaters to those non-indigenous born on Manitoulin Island. While some view this term as racist or elitist, Haweaters adore the term for themselves as it gives them a title that offers ownership of the island, and by extension, supposed control over those moving to Manitoulin Island.

Culture

An annual cultural festival in Little Current is known as Haweater Weekend and takes place on the August

Civic Holiday Civic is something related to a city or municipality. It also can refer to multiple other things: General * Civics, the science of comparative government * Civic engagement, the connection one feels with their larger community * Civic center, a c ...

weekend. As well as concerts, sports, and recreational events, this festival is marked by the distribution of Haweater dollars, a

community currency A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

, and the production and sale of hawberry-flavoured products such as

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...

and jam. It originated in 1967 in the middle of the Sixties Scoop, and the same date was chosen as the Wikwemikong Cultural Festival which began in 1960. Haweaters only recognize Haweater Weekend as the main festival on the island and often omit the Wikwemikong Cultural Festival from being mentioned as an event. A Haweater is also a 1 dollar commemorative coin minted for the island from 1969 to at least 2001. The coins depict various events and locations on the island.

References

Manitoulin Island Culture of Northern Ontario {{Ontario-stub