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 Ojibwa reserve, known as Christian Island Indian Reserve No. 30. Together with the Christian Island Indian Reserve No. 30A located at Cedar Point, Ontario and the Chippewa Island Indian Reserve located in Twelve Mile Sound, north of Christian Island, it forms the land base for the Beausoleil First Nation. Christian Islands' highest elevation is 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 that stretches 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. While the Chippewa Island reserve is shared among Beausoleil and two other First Nations, the two Christian Island reserves are not. Background Christian Island is primarily forest. The bedrock is limestone, and the soil is mainly sand, remnants of Glacial Lake Algonquin. A prehistoric species of grass, known as Forked three-awned grass or unofficially as "Ice Age Grass," has been found on the Island. This is linked to its glacial beginnings. Forked three-awned grass is designated as a species at risk. Originally, Christian Island was known by its Huron name Gahoendoe. The three islands were, in the 19th century, collectively known as the Christian Islands: Beckwith Island was called Faith Island, while Christian Island, which is the largest of the three, was known as Charity Island. In 1649, thousands of Huron refugees and a few Jesuit missionaries from Sainte-Marie among the Hurons took refuge during the winter on the island during the Huron-Iroquois wars. The Jesuits called the island St. Joseph Island. With insufficient food, many of the First Nations people starved during the winter. The island's occupation by Huron Catholics and Jesuits was the basis for its name of "Christian" Island. Specifically, it was named in honour