Saugeen First Nations Reservation

Saugeen Reservation and Carl Ahrens

In the summer of 1896, Ahrens, along with his first wife, their children, and his artist cousin, Eleanor Douglass, camped just off the Saugeen reservation near the town of Southampton, Ontario. Ahrens soon noticed that the tribe’s children were unusually fascinated by him. They often came to within a few feet of him, staring, but would run off if he smiled or said anything. When asked, the chief's wife explained that Ahrens closely resembled the son she had recently lost. Soon after, Ahrens and his family were all formally adopted into the tribe and renamed. Ahrens was given the name of the lost son, Ahsabanang, which means ‘A Cluster of Stars.’

The family moved onto the reservation and integrated themselves into the community, learned the language, and remained there for several months. The children especially enjoyed their time there. Carl Jr. (8) and Robert (6) made fast friends with the boys, who taught them how to hunt and cook gophers whenever they wanted a snack. Pauline, then age four, sat at the river's edge for hours, playing with the otters.

No historical photos from this time have been found, but the location of the camp was down the bluff from the church, along the banks of the Saugeen River. It remains a quiet and deeply spiritual place, easily found and visited today.

The only known art from Ahrens time there is this watercolor of the (then) newly built Wesley United Church.