Indigenous Resort Offers Escape To Northern Wilderness

First Nation owned and operated, Sunset Lodge, near Brunswick House First Nation and the town of Chapleau, has enjoyed a successful first year of operation and is quickly developing as a first rate wilderness experience venue in Northern Ontario.

The lodge, owned and managed by Kevin Tangie, former Chief of Brunswick House FN and current Economic Development Officer (EDO) for Chapleau Cree FN, had a good first summer season 2018 with only word of mouth promotion and is developing as an easy escape to the northern wilderness.

“I am pleased with the steady development of Sunset Lodge and happy that this resort is so easy for people to get to at any time of the year,” explained Tangie.

He brings plenty of experience to his position as a resort owner based on his work in government as a Chief and Council member. He has also held positions in economic development, administration and management.

The Sunset Lodge was handed down to Tangie through family connections and since 1963 has been catering in the past to mostly hunting and fishing enthusiasts. Although Tangie plans to maintain the operation with these traditional pursuits in mind he also has plans on promoting the lodge as a wilderness experience with an emphasis on teaching and learning experiences for First Nation and non-Native young people.

“More and more communities, organizations and groups are realizing the value in providing our First Nation youth and non-Native young people with programming that involves wilderness environments, traditional and survival cultural teachings and life skill workshops. The Sunset Lodge is the perfect environment for this type of programming and it meets such an important need in this modern day of constant bombardment with technology, peer pressure and the complexity of dealing with growing up,” explained Tangie.

The Sunset Lodge opened in May of 2018 and during the summer hosted two groups of First Nation youth from Brunswick House FN. These sessions for the youth featured land based teaching and power point presentation on language, the medicine wheel, grandfather teachings as well as a craft component and survival activities instruction. This group is also slated for attendance this summer also.

“It was very satisfying to see the youth enjoying a day out here at the lake and to know that they were learning something valuable. I saw them learning how to start a fire from scratch and how to prepare for a trip into the wilderness and what items to include in a pack. They also participated in bird house painting and I was amazed at some of the creations they came up with. They had a good lunch, shared stories on the land and there was much laughter,” commented Tangie.

Tangie is planning for more youth programming from the various First Nation and non-Native organizations and groups and as well in promoting the lodge as a great getaway and workshop venue for staff development with the corporate world and the various businesses, government agency and organizations. He is also maintaining the lodge as a popular first rate destination for hunting and fishing. The cabins are set up for self catering with stoves and fridges but catering can be provided for groups if the need arises.

Sunset Lodge is located on Unegam Lake 40 kilometers south of Chapleau off of Highway 129 on Sunset View Road. The main complex is 85 feet by 35 feet and can accommodate many people for workshops, classroom style learning and gathering needs. Six cabins are available and they have indoor plumbing as well as kitchens. All kitchen and cooking utensils as well as bedding are provided. The grounds are ideal for all sorts of outside events, campfires, gatherings and wilderness learning and has great swimming with a designated beach area.

Hunting and fishing enthusiasts have been coming to the camp for decades and Unegam Lake is stocked with walleye as part of a fish hatchery stocking program provided by Brunswick House FN. There are also two trout lakes near by. The lodge also caters to families with inclusive packages for vacations in a pristine setting.

“This is a seasonal operation at this point but I am planning for the future to expand things and move towards a year round resort. I would like to develop more on site experiences and hope some day to have a zip line set up that would combine the thrill of the ride with a dip in our clean, fresh northern lake,” said Tangie.

In addition to the cabin accommodations the lodge also provides boat rentals, bait minnows for sale along with fishing and hunting trips. The lake is surrounded by pine trees and provides many opportunities for dazzling northern star lit skies, lucky northern light nights and wildlife sightings.

For more information and to arrange a booking you can call (249) 493-0047 or contact the Sunset Lodge on their Facebook page by searching for @sunsetlodgeandcabins.