News

The Portage Path Collaborative

(Akron, Ohio. August 25, 2025) The Portage Path, Akron’s tribute to the Native people that first occupied the land here, will be celebrated in a series of events October 5– 6, 2025. The Portage Path was created by Indigenous people who populated the area for millennia before the first Europeans arrived and is an 8-mile trail crossing the watershed divide between the Cuyahoga River and Tuscarawas River, one of the oldest, most visible landmarks on the North American continent.

The Portage Path was marked by the Summit County Historical Society in 1999, when for the first time, monumental sculptures at each terminus were connected by fifty markers in the shape of Indian broad blades over the 8-mile trail.

September 1-November 30 Summit Metro Parks Fall Hiking Spree

The 62nd Summit Metro Parks Fall Hiking Spree runs September 1 through November 30. This year’s Fall Hiking Spree theme is “Greener Future” to encourage small changes that reduce waste, conserve energy and support a thriving local ecosystem to benefit native wildlife and our community. For information, including trails and locations, visit hikingspree.summitmetroparks.org.

Sunday, October 5, 10:00-12:00 pm History of the Portage Path and Artist Talk

Summit Metro Parks will present a walk guided by a Summit Metro Parks archaeologist. Participants will learn about the history of this vital link between North American waterways and at the northern terminus will learn about the monumental sculpture of an American Indian created by artist Peter Jones (Onondaga/Seneca). Jones created the statues at the northern and southern termini of the Portage Path. The walk will begin at 10:00 at the Big Bend parking area in Sand Run Metro Park, 1337 Merriman Rd. https://www.summitmetroparks.org/program- events/history-of-the-portage-path/

The ninth annual Portage Path Walk will take place on Sunday October 5, 2024. A one-kilometer walk will begin at the vacant lot directly across the street from the Portage Path CLC. Large format graphics and an informational table about the historical context of the path will be available . The walk, open to the public, will be led by members of the Northern Cheyenne nation who will be drumming and dressed in regalia. The walk ends at the John Brown House, 514 Diagonal Road where additional exhibits can be viewed. A 2:00p.m. program will include drumming and singing. www.walkportagepath.org. The walk is co-sponsored by the City of Akron.

Monday, October 6

The Collaborative will sponsor in-school activities around Summit County, including appearances by Indian nation representatives. Participating Akron Public School teachers are creating lesson activities aligned with the visits. (Contact Adam Motter, amotter@apslearns.org)

BACKGROUND

• Akron City Council in 2018 declared the first Monday in October as “North American First People’s Day,” a day to honor Indian history, life and culture. It was extended to the entire county in April 2019 by Summit County Council. The initiative was prompted by students at The Lippman School of Akron, which has a longstanding exchange relationship with the Northern Cheyenne Nation of Montana.
• Students from Lippman, Portage Path CLC and the Cheyenne Nation joined together in 2016 to create a web-based mobile app that provides extensive information about the Indian trail, including its history and the natural world that it traverses. The app can be accessed at www.walkportagepath.org.
• The Portage Path Collaborative includes The Summit County Historical Society, The Lippman School, Summit Metro Parks, Akron Public Schools, the Akron-Summit County Public Library, Stewards for Historic Preservation and The University of Akron Institute for Human Science and Culture/ Cummings Center for the History of Psychology. Two individuals, La Donna Blue Eye, a member of the Choctaw Nation and Akron artist Chuck Ayers are also members of the group.

• First Peoples Day

• A brochure outlining the historic trail and the history of Native peoples who used the Portage Path has been published and is free and available at the Historical Society and at Metro Parks’ F.A. Seiberling Nature Realm.
• The sculpture of a Native American portaging a canoe was designed and sculpted by Peter Jones who resides and works on the Alleghany Indian Reservation in Salamanca, New York. He graduated from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe in 1965 and has been honored with national awards recognizing his lifetime commitment to perpetuating Haudenosaunee traditions and to restore and pass on ancestral knowledge and traditions, connecting Native peoples to their greatest assets.