The Hidden Folk of Lake Ontario
The Oakville Shoreline Encounters
Happy August! And a very merry blessed Lammas and Lughnasadh to you if you observe them.
The North American Great Lakes have a long history of paranormal events and UFO encounters. In my last post I shared my direct experience with a black diamond UFO on the banks of Lake Ontario and how the encounter changed the course of my life. Today I want to continue with the theme of Ontario mysteries and share with you another high strangeness experience from the shores of the lake. This one involves strange creatures and was shared with me through my research website.
The area of the lake where these experiences occurred is not new to me. I know the Oakville well and I have joined in on some UFO sky watches there, very close to where this encounter occurred. Oakville in the 90’s was not as built up as it is today and I remember you could still find some reminders of its rural past with pear and apple orchards. This was before urbanizing and becoming part of the Greater Toronto Area.
I have heard of at least two other separate reports made by different witnesses who I’m fairly confident were unknown to one another and who also saw strange elf or dwarf-like beings there in the late 1990s. My gratitude as always goes out to the witnesses who have entrusted me with their experiences. Everything I share with you is with their permission, and that includes editing for the sake of privacy only.
Elementals, UFOs and the Little People of Lake Ontario
“ I am so glad I found you on the internet. I am 50 years old. I was born and raised in Toronto and have had many paranormal and UFO related occurrences here, but the thing I am about to talk about which has had me puzzled for 40 years now, is so strange, I find myself constantly surfing the net trying to find anything like it or possibly related.
When I was a child in the 1970s my aunt, uncle and cousins lived in a large, old house in Oakville on Lakeshore road, right on the lake. Myself and my sister who is much older than me, would stay every weekend over there and hangout with our cousins. My aunt and uncle were hippies and there were always a lot of people around and it was fun to be there.
It was during this time that my 6 year old cousin who shared a room with his younger sister, started telling me how at night, they would see these things they called ‘gretels’ in the tree outside of the balcony door of their room, watching them.
I assumed they were raccoons, but they said that they weren’t.
One night my cousin woke me up and told me to go look out the door window. And there were 2 or 3 of these things looking at us.
They were maybe 2 or 2 and 1/2 feet tall, with big eyes, and they were not raccoons; I don’t know what they were.
I wasn’t scared by them and I didn’t feel threatened. I’m not sure if the door gave a false sense of security.
Other strange things happened in that house, strange noises, voices, things being moved around.
The adults always knew the house was strange, but they passed off the stories of three kids as just imagination until, my older cousin, who was 17, and my aunts’ sister who was around 26, went to the park that is right next to the house and sat by the beach just enjoying the sunset. There is a kind of spit that goes out into the water and as they sat there, they saw a little man, about 2 ft in height, come out of the water onto the spit, then jump back in again!
They described the same thing that we were seeing. I don’t know what this is, and we had other strange UFO related things happen around that time in Oakville as well as I did in Toronto.
The closest info I have found related to this is a suspected UFO base in Lake Ontario and strange things occurring between Mississauga and Burlington. I would be very interested to know about any other stories similar to this in the area.”
I asked the witness if they have been back to that area as an adult and if they had seen any images online similar to what they saw?
“I have seen some things in pics similar to what we saw; they are usually short, squat, goblin/dwarf/troll/brownie like creatures. What we saw was very natural looking, not so cartoonish. I guess very elemental-ish if that’s a word, lol. We weren’t scared by them at least I wasn’t. I don’t think my cousin and aunt were scared either. You are more confused and bewildered!
And you asking me this has made me realize that yes, I think now it was some kind of elemental, something in the trees and in the water. I’m sure Indigenous people would know about them. And I wonder if they are still seen in the area? The closest thing I’ve seen is a kind of Nordic (Icelandic) woodland being to be honest.”
The witness went on to have other paranormal encounters as an adult include seeing large light balls over Lake Superior and many other psychic events. Other members of the family went on to experience strange things too. I think these childhood encounters can open a doorway to a lifetime of similar experiences if we allow them to exist within our worldview.
The Memegwesiwag
Throughout history, the Oakville area has been home to different Indigenous groups namely the Neutral, Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabeg including the Mississauga. Anishinaabe oral traditions from Ontario describe the Memegwesiwag a small humanoid who is elusive and deeply connected to the natural world. These beings dwell along shorelines, rivers and forests. They generally avoid human contact, but are known to observe people from a distance and may occasionally reveal themselves to people who are receptive.
The Memegwesiwag are neither wholly benevolent nor malevolent. Instead they are understood as NHI (non-human intelligences) who inhabit the landscape alongside humanity and deserving of respect. In some traditions they may assist those who are in need, while in others they play tricks or even punish those who disrespect the land.
Norval Morrisseau was the founder of the Woodland School of Art. He occasionally painted small spirit beings alongside humans and animals within his works. This painting does not represent the Memegwesiwag, but it does the spirit of the lakes. And Morrisseau’s artwork conveys an Indigenous worldview where humans share the landscape with unseen beings and spirits.
Comparable traditions are found throughout the Great Lakes region and North America. Many Indigenous nations preserve stories of little people associated with particular landscapes, especially places where water, rock, and forest meet. Although each tradition is culturally distinct and should not be treated as interchangeable, these beings commonly share characteristics of secrecy, small stature, and a close relationship with liminal places in nature.
Encounters with small humanoid figures near lakes, rivers, wooded shorelines, and isolated natural settings continue to be reported across the Great Lakes region and I will share more of them in future posts. I find the similarities between contemporary sightings like the witness described experiencing in Oakville and more traditional Indigenous narratives striking! They may not be describing the exact same phenomenon, but they do illustrate the remarkable persistence of certain motifs across cultures and centuries. The enduring image of hidden little people inhabiting the margins of water and woodland remains one of the oldest and most widespread traditions in the lore of the Great Lakes.
Have you had a similar experience? What are you thoughts on these strange enigmatic beings? Elementals? Nature Spirits? Goblins? UFO occupants? or something else? The witness shared with me that their cousins had called these tree watchers “gretels” have you come across that term before? I haven’t and could not find anything similar. Any ideas?
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Thank you for reading! I’ll be back in a week or two with more high strangeness and mysteries for us to ponder.
Until then … blessed be xx
Another wonderful encounter . Sounds indeed like elementals to me as well. Interesting in that happened in the Great Lakes area. Reminds me of stories over in Ireland of the wee folk.
'Gretels' as in 'Hansen & Gretel'?