This article needs additional citations for verification .(April 2015) |
Nipissing 10 | |
---|---|
Nipissing First Nation | |
Coordinates: 46°22′N79°46′W / 46.367°N 79.767°W | |
Country | Canada |
Province | Ontario |
District | Nipissing |
First Nation | Nipissing |
Government | |
• Chief | Cathy Bellefeuille |
• Deputy Chief | Muriel Sawyer |
Area | |
• Land | 61.22 km2 (23.64 sq mi) |
Population (2011) [1] | |
• Total | 1,450 |
• Density | 23.7/km2 (61/sq mi) |
Website | www.nfn.ca |
Nipissing First Nation (Ojibwe : Nipissing, Niipsing, Nbisiing), meaning "place of little waters", is a long-standing community of Nishnaabeg peoples, who traditionally speak Anishinaabemwin, [2] located along the shorelines of Lake Nipissing in northern Ontario. They are referred to by many names in European historical records, since the colonists often adopted names given to them by other nations.
The Nbisiing Anishinaabeg have roots in both the Ojibwe and Algonquin nations, making up part of the wider grouping of Anishinaabe peoples. Their heritage is a result of the fact that the Nipissing homeland sits at a geographical crossroads, existing between the traditional territories of the Ojibwe around the Great Lakes and the Algonquin country covering much of the Kitchi-sipi watershed.
Lake Nipissing drains via the French River into Georgian Bay and, to the east of Lake Nipissing, Trout Lake drains via the Mattawa River into the Ottawa River. Living at the crossroads between two watersheds, the Nipissing were key to trade to the east, west, north and south of Lake Nipissing. The French portaged the watershed divide extensively to reach the Great Lakes by canoe from their settlements around Montreal on the Saint Lawrence River.
To the west the Nipissing trade routes extended as far as Lake Nipigon and their Ojibwa neighbours, and to the north as far as James Bay, where they traded with the Cree and, later, the English. Their trade network to the east extended as far as present-day Quebec City, also on the Saint Lawrence. The Iroquoian-speaking Huron people lived nearby to the south. Archaeological evidence shows that the Nipissing integrated some Huron styles and techniques in their pottery.
They obtained food primarily through hunting, fishing, and gathering. Their extensive trading likely allowed them to supplement their diets with corn, beans and squash as well, which were staple crops cultivated by many First Nations peoples. The land in the lake valleys would have supported some horticulture.
Today Nipissing First Nation lies between the city of North Bay and the municipality of West Nipissing in northeastern Ontario. Most members of the First Nation reside on the First Nations reserve of Nipissing Indian Reserve 10.
The Nipissing controlled trade routes that became increasingly desirable during the early French colonial period, as the French proved a large, lucrative market for the inland pelts, exporting many to Europe. The Iroquois, based south of Lake Ontario, conducted military campaigns against the competing Huron and Nipissing in the competition for furs. By 1647, the Nipissing regrouped in the Lake Nipigon area. The Nipissing continued to use their historical trade routes but at greater risk. Claude-Jean Allouez visited the Nipissings at Lake Nipigon 1667, but in 1671 he reported that the Nipissing had returned to Lake Nipissing. After returning to Lake Nipissing, some of the Nipissings relocated to the missions at Trois-Rivières and Oka, Quebec. [3] [4]
In 1850 the Nipissing signed the Robinson Treaty with the Canadian representatives of the British Crown. In the face of increasing European encroachment by settlers, they wanted to confirm their claim to the north shores of Lake Nipissing and its main waterways.
Nipissing 10, as it was formerly known, is an Indian reserve in northeastern Ontario located on the north shores of Lake Nipissing in the Nipissing District, serving as the land base for the Nipissing First Nation. The 21,007.3 ha (51,910 acres) reserve is located west of North Bay and east of West Nipissing.
The reserve comprises the communities of Beaucage, Jocko Point, Yellek, Duchesnay, and Garden Village, as well as many smaller sub-divisions. Garden Village is accessible by municipal streets in Sturgeon Falls. The other communities all have direct access off of Highway 17 West.
Traditionally, the Nipissing nation is structured around families and clans (or doodems). The five doodems are: Blood (Miskwaa'aa, recorded as "Miskouaha"), Birchbark (Wiigwaas), Heron (Ashagi), [6] Beaver (Amikwaa, recorded as "Amicois" or as "Nez Percés"), and Squirrel (Asanagoo). [7] During the period of the clans' early contact with the Europeans, the Blood, Birchbark, and Squirrel clans were located on and about Lake Nipissing, the Heron clan resided primarily on Lake Nipissing but also on lands extending southward to the eastern coast of Lake Huron's Georgian Bay, and the Beaver clan was located on the northern coast of Georgian Bay, adjacent to Heron territory.[ citation needed ]
Each clan is subdivided along family lines. They govern independently but at the same time cooperatively, as part of Nipissing Nation as a whole. They respect a person's right to decide individual paths.[ citation needed ]
As of February 2009, Nipissing First Nation had a total registered population of 2,201 people, of which 886 lived on their own reserve.[ citation needed ] The 2001 Canadian Census recorded 1,378 people lived on Nipissing 10 Indian Reserve.[ citation needed ] [8]
According to the 2011 Canadian Census: [9]
The current governance of the Nipissing First Nation is elected under the custom electoral system, consisting of a chief, deputy chief and six councillors. The current council consists of Chief Scott McLeod and Deputy Chief Muriel Sawyer, along with Councillors June Commanda, Brian Couchie, Corey Goulais, Jane B Commanda, Michael Sawyer and Eric "Ric" Stevens. [10] Their three-year term ends July 31, 2018.
The Nipissing First Nation's council is a member of Waabnoong Bemjiwang Association of First Nations, which is a regional chiefs' council. The First Nation is also a member of the Union of Ontario Indians, a tribal political organization representing many of the Anishinaabe First Nations in central and southern Ontario.
In January 2014, the Nipissing adopted what is believed to be the first constitution for First Nations in Ontario. It is supposed to replace the Indian Act as the supreme law which regulates the governance of the First Nation, but has not been tested in court. [11]
Manitoulin Island is an island in Lake Huron, located within the borders of the Canadian province of Ontario, in the bioregion known as Laurentia. With an area of 2,766 km2 (1,068 sq mi), it is the largest lake island in the world, large enough that it has over 100 lakes itself. In addition to the historic Anishinaabe and European settlement of the island, archaeological discoveries at Sheguiandah have demonstrated Paleo-Indian and Archaic cultures dating from 10,000 BC to 2,000 BC.
The Ojibwe are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland covers much of the Great Lakes region and the northern plains, extending into the subarctic and throughout the northeastern woodlands. The Ojibwe, being Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands and of the subarctic, are known by several names, including Ojibway or Chippewa. As a large ethnic group, several distinct nations also consider themselves Ojibwe, including the Saulteaux, Nipissings, and Oji-Cree.
The Algonquin people are an Indigenous people who now live in Eastern Canada. They speak the Algonquin language, which is part of the Algonquian language family. Culturally and linguistically, they are closely related to the Odawa, Potawatomi, Ojibwe, Mississaugas, and Nipissing, with whom they form the larger Anicinàpe (Anishinaabeg). Algonquins are known by many names, including Omàmiwinini and Abitibiwinni or the more generalised name of Anicinàpe.
The Mississaugas are a group of First Nations peoples located in southern Ontario, Canada. They are a sub-group of the Ojibwe Nation.
The Potawatomi, also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie, are a Native American people of the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian family. The Potawatomi call themselves Neshnabé, a cognate of the word Anishinaabe. The Potawatomi are part of a long-term alliance, called the Council of Three Fires, with the Ojibwe and Odawa (Ottawa). In the Council of Three Fires, the Potawatomi are considered the "youngest brother". Their people are referred to in this context as Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and refers to the council fire of three peoples.
The Odawa are an Indigenous American people who primarily inhabit land in the Eastern Woodlands region, now in jurisdictions of the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. Their territory long preceded the creation of the current border between the two countries in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The Anishinaabe are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe, Odawa, Potawatomi, Mississaugas, Nipissing, and Algonquin peoples. The Anishinaabe speak Anishinaabemowin, or Anishinaabe languages that belong to the Algonquian language family.
Lake Nipigon is part of the Great Lakes drainage basin. It is the largest lake entirely within the boundaries of the Canadian province of Ontario.
The Municipality of Callander is a township in central Ontario, Canada, located at the southeast end of Lake Nipissing in the Almaguin Highlands region of the District of Parry Sound. The municipality is located on Callander Bay, just south of North Bay.
Garden River First Nation, also known as Ketegaunseebee, is an Ojibwa band located at Garden River 14 near Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada.
The Robinson Treaties are two treaties signed between the Ojibwa chiefs and the Crown in 1850 in the Province of Canada. The first treaty involved Ojibwa chiefs along the north shore of Lake Superior, and is known as the Robinson Superior Treaty. The second treaty, signed two days later, included Ojibwa chiefs from along the eastern and northern shores of Lake Huron, and is known as the Robinson Huron Treaty. The Wiikwemkoong First Nation did not sign either treaty, and their land is considered "unceded".
Cat Lake First Nation is an Ojibway First Nation reserve approximately 180 kilometres northwest of Sioux Lookout in northwestern Ontario, Canada, located on the central north shore of Cat Lake. As of 2021, their total registered population was 651 people.
Paudash Lake is a lake in south central Ontario southwest of Bancroft along Highway 28. The lake is located just north of Silent Lake Provincial Park in Haliburton County, 27 km (17 mi) south of the panhandle of Algonquin Provincial Park. The nearest communities to Paudash Lake are the village of Cardiff, close to the lake's Inlet Bay, and the hamlet of Paudash to the northeast of Lower Paudash Lake. Actually two lakes, 'Paudash' and 'Lower Paudash', the lakes are located on the Crowe River, near its head waters, which flows into the Trent River at Crowe Bay north of Campbellford.
Deer Lake First Nation is an Oji-Cree First Nations band government in Northern Ontario, located north of Red Lake, Ontario Canada. It is one of the few First Nations in Ontario to have signed Treaty 5. It is part of the Keewaytinook Okimakanak Council and the Nishnawbe Aski Nation. As of December, 2007, the First Nation had 1,072 registered members, of which their on-reserve population was 868.
The Anishinaabe, like most Algonquian-speaking groups in North America, base their system of kinship on clans or totems. The Ojibwe word for clan was borrowed into English as totem. The clans, based mainly on animals, were instrumental in traditional occupations, intertribal relations, and marriages. Today, the clan remains an important part of Anishinaabe identity. Each clan is forbidden from harming its representation animal by any means, as it is a bad omen to do so.
Chippewas of Rama First Nation, also known as Chippewas of Mnjikaning and Chippewas of Rama Mnjikaning First Nation, is an Anishinaabe (Ojibway) First Nation located in the province of Ontario in Canada. The name Mnjikaning, or fully vocalized as Minjikaning, refers to the fishing weirs at Atherley Narrows between Lake Simcoe and Lake Couchiching and it means "in/on/at or near the fence".
The Ojibwe language is spoken in a series of dialects occupying adjacent territories, forming a language complex in which mutual intelligibility between adjacent dialects may be comparatively high but declines between some non-adjacent dialects. Mutual intelligibility between some non-adjacent dialects, notably Ottawa, Severn Ojibwe, and Algonquin, is low enough that they could be considered distinct languages. There is no single dialect that is considered the most prestigious or most prominent, and no standard writing system that covers all dialects. The relative autonomy of the regional dialects of Ojibwe is associated with an absence of linguistic or political unity among Ojibwe-speaking groups.
Fort William First Nation is an Ojibwa First Nation reserve in Ontario, Canada. The administrative headquarters for this band government is south of Thunder Bay. As of January 2008, the First Nation had a registered population of 1,798 people, of which their on-Reserve population was 832 people.
Gull Bay First Nation or Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek is an Anishinaabe (Ojibway) First Nation band government located in Thunder Bay District in northwestern Ontario, Canada. It is approximately 175 kilometres (109 mi) north of Thunder Bay, Ontario on Highway 527 on the western shore of Lake Nipigon. As of May 2010, the First Nation had a registered population of 1,149 people, including an on-Reserve population of 328.
Dokis 9 is a First Nations reserve and community in the Canadian province of Ontario, assigned to the Dokis First Nation. The reserve is located approximately 16 kilometers southwest of central southern Lake Nipissing along the French River. It is divided into two large parts consisting of a north island, Okikendawt, and a large southern peninsula. The two land masses, which are nestled within the flows of the French river, covers 154.36 square kilometers. The French River watershed in Northern Ontario was created more than ten thousand years ago when the last ice-age receded and left a maze of rivers and small lakes. The main settlement is found on Okikendawt island which can be accessed by a gravel road which connects with Highway 64. The Land is occupied by the Dokis and its cousin tribe, the Restoule‘s. The land is well known for its hunting, fishing, fur trades, and timber.