as the Algonquin (Anishinaabemowin) word for boiler/cauldron is Akikok, and an Algonquin name for the location is Akikodjiwan. The European name comes from the French Chutes de la Chaudière, meaning "Cauldron Falls", historically translated as "Kettle Falls". The shape of the falls before its development resembled a large kettle, better known to today's English speakers as a cauldron. William S. Hunter Jr. suggested a different origin for the name in 1855: "The Word Chaudiere is the literal translation into French of the word Kanajo (The Kettle), and is . . . vastly suggestive, for the chasm into which the waters of the Ottawa (Ottawa River) discharge themselves is not unlike a kettle in shape, while the seething and frothing of the surface, in its continual whirl, assists in completing the resemblance," though Hunter himself provides no reference, historical or otherwise, to contradict de Champlain's account of the naming of the falls. From a 1909 publication, sourced on the Canadian National Museum of History's website: "While waiting thus for their prey to break cover, from up or down the river, they devoted their spare time to various occupations. To the oki, whose thunderous voice was heard in the roar of the falls, they made sacrifices of tobacco; while the Mohawks and Onondagas each gave a name to that cauldron of seething water which is known to us as The Big Kettle. The Mohawks called it Tsitkanajoh, or the Floating Kettle, while the Onondagas named it Katsidagweh niyoh or Chief Council Fire. It is possible that our Big Kettle may be a modified or corrupted translation of the Mohawk term." Akikodjiwan is the name given to the falls by some Anishinaabe peoples of this area. For Anishinaabe who gathered and traded along portage routes surrounding the Falls, the waterfall's whirlpool was the bowl of a great peace pipe, and its mists were smoke rising to the Creator. History Pre-contact Indigenous trade and travel Prior to European contact and colonization, the area surrounding the Chaudière Falls and islands was a significant meeting place between peoples in the region. Hunting grounds and temporary or semi-permanent settlements dotted the banks of the Ottawa River (Kichi Sipi), as rivers and waterways were used as highways, thanks to innovations such as the canoe. Water levels around the Chaudiere Falls would fluctuate throughout the year, depending on rain and snow melts, and would flood the islands and large