Rainy River First Nations (Ojibwe : Manitoo-baawidigoong) [1] is an Ojibwe First Nation band government in Emo, Ontario, Canada.
The First Nation is an amalgamation of seven historical Rainy River Saulteaux bands. Six of them either sold or transferred their Reserves in 1914-1915 and then began the amalgamation into a single Band. The Canadian federal government made the amalgamation official in the 1960s. The seven historical Saulteaux bands forming the Rainy River First Nations (and their historical reserves) are:
The First Nation have an electoral system of government, consisting of a Chief and five councillors forming their council. Chief Robin McGinnis, and Councillors Marcel Horton, Shawn Brown, Garry Medicine, Kathy Bombay, and Will McGinnis are serving their two-year term that began in October, 2017.
The First Nation is a member of the Pwi-Di-Goo-Zing Ne-Yaa-Zhing Advisory Services, a regional Chiefs Council, which in turn is a member of the Grand Council of Treaty 3, a Tribal Political Organization serving many of the First Nations in northwest Ontario and southeast Manitoba.
The First Nation have reserved for itself two Indian reserve tracts:
With the "Rainy River First Nations Land Settlement Agreement", some of the former reserves and other lands within the First Nation's Customary Use Area lands are made available to have either additional lands set in Reserve or have the Crown oversee in Trust the land for the benefit of the First Nation.
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 Saulteaux, otherwise known as the Plains Ojibwe, are a First Nations band government in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, Canada. They are a branch of the Ojibwe who pushed west. They formed a mixed culture of woodlands and plains Indigenous customs and traditions.
Yellow Quill First Nation (formerly Nut Lake Band of Saulteaux) is a Saulteaux First Nation band government in Saskatchewan, Canada. Their reserve is twenty kilometres northwest of Kelvington. The Yellow Quill First Nation is a signatory of Treaty No. 4, which was signed by Chief Yellow-quill on August 24, 1876.
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The Couchiching First Nation is a Saulteaux First Nation band government in the Canadian province of Ontario, who live on the Couchiching 16A and Agency 1 reserves in the Rainy River District near Fort Frances.
Nigigoonsiminikaaning First Nation, formerly known as the Nicickousemenecaning First Nation and as the Red Gut First Nation, is a Saulteaux First Nation band government who inhabit the banks of Rainy Lake of the Rainy River District in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. As of January, 2008, the First Nation had a population of 290 registered people. As of 2017, it has approximately 130 on-reserve members.
Lac La Croix First Nation is a Saulteaux First Nation band government who reside in the Rainy River District of northwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Ontario-Minnesota border. It is approximately 200 km northwest of Thunder Bay, Ontario. As of January 2008, the First Nation had a registered population of 398 people, of which their on-Reserve population was 273.
Wabaseemoong Independent Nations or more fully as the Wabaseemoong Independent Nations of One Man Lake, Swan Lake and Whitedog, is an Ojibway First Nation band government who reside 120 km northwest of Kenora, Ontario and 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) east of the Ontario-Manitoba border of northwestern Ontario, Canada. As of December 2018, the First Nation had a population of 2,000 registered people, of which their on-Reserve population was 1200 registered members and approximately 100 non-Band members.
Skownan First Nation is a Saulteaux (Ojibwe) First Nations band government whose reserve community, Waterhen 45, is located 288 km north of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, on the south shore of Waterhen Lake, between Lake Winnipeg and Lake Winnipegosis. As of May, 2015, the First Nation had 1,464 registered members, of which 750 lived on-reserve.
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Rainy Lake and River Bands of Saulteaux are Saulteaux (Ojibwe) group located in Northwestern Ontario and northern Minnesota, along and about the Rainy Lake and the Rainy River, known in Ojibwe as Gojijiing.
Seine River First Nation, previously known as the Rivière la Seine Band, is an Ojibwe First Nation reserve located roughly 300 kilometres (190 mi) west of Thunder Bay, Ontario. As of November 2011, the First Nation had a total registered population of 725, of which 327 lived on their own reserve.
Mitaanjigamiing First Nation, formerly known as Stanjikoming First Nation, is an Ojibwe First Nation band government who inhabit 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) north of Fort Frances, Ontario, along the shores of Stanjikoming Bay of Rainy Lake. As of November, 2011, the First Nation had a total registered population of 142, of which 99 lived on their own reserve.
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Big Grassy First Nation is an Ojibwe or Ontario Saulteaux First Nation band government located in Rainy River District, Ontario near Morson, Ontario.
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The Kay-Nah-Chi-Wah-Nung Historical Centre, or Manitou Mounds, is Canada's premier concentration of ancient burial mounds. Manitou Mounds National Historic Site, as it was once called, is a vast network of 30 village sites and 15 ancient burial mounds constructed from approximately 5000 BP during the Archaic Period, to 360 BP; it is one of the "most significant centres of early habitation and ceremonial burial in Canada." It is located on a river stretch known as Long Sault Rapids on the north side of Rainy River, approximately 54 kilometres east of Fort Frances, in the Rainy River District of Northwestern Ontario, Canada off highway 11. It was designated as a National Historic Site of Canada in 1969.
The Batchewana First Nation is an Ojibwe First Nation in northern Ontario. Their traditional lands run along the eastern shore of Lake Superior, from Batchawana Bay to Whitefish Island. They were reserved this land in the 1850 Robinson Huron Treaty, but surrendered most of it under the 1859 Pennefather Treaty. Through purchase and land claims, it has reclaimed some territories, including Goulais Bay 15A, Obadjiwan 15E, Rankin Location 15D and Whitefish Island.
48°39′18″N93°54′25″W / 48.65500°N 93.90694°W