Greg, Linda & Dave atop Mt. St. Ignace

In background, partially cloud covered is Simpson Island

    In 1979 citizens from the north shore of Lake Superior declared the forty plus islands in the Nipigon Bay of Superior to be the ‘nation’ of Nirivia. (Pronounced, Nur-riv-ee-ya.) The declaration was made to point out the splendid environmental state of the pristine islands and a voice for their preservation as a multi use recreation area. The declaration captured national attention in Canada.

    Nirivia is the only newly declared nation in North America in the twentieth century. But is it really a nation? One Nirivian pointed out that: "Our declaration is an intention to emphasize the majesty of this place rather than secede, join, or revolt against anyone. Nirivia is a vision that anyone can share once they have visited."

    Nirivia is the centre piece of an archipelago of islands that extend from Thunder Bay, Ontario to the Slate Islands off Terrace Bay, Ontario. It has been called: ‘ a place of theatric beauty’. The dominating land mass in this elongated string of forested islands is majestic St. Ignace Island. This is the largest island on the Canadian side of Lake Superior. It is 113 square rugged miles in area-larger than Bermuda, Monaco, or Liechtenstein. Bermuda at 20 square miles has 61,000 citizens. Nirivia has 0 full time citizens so visiting this little nation will not result in elbow bumping on the pathways.

ST. IGNACE ISLAND-NIRIVIA-LAKE SUPERIOR

This island is often called ‘the rock’. Most of the island is 1200 ft above Lake Superior. Geologically twisted, there are over 100 lakes and ponds on St. Ignace resulting in 26 different watersheds and several spectacular waterfalls on the small streams that make their way to lake level.

              Spirit Falls

Rooster Rock     

     The south shore of St. Ignace island is protected by a few barrier islands: Armour, Hope, Talbot, Longcroft, Angelica, Paradise and Bowman Islands. But much of the coastline is exposed to over a hundred miles of open water and can be dangerous. The south coastlines are featured with strange rock formation and five thousand year old raised beaches that often end deep in the interior of the island. The area is spectacular and pristine.