Red Rock Indian Band

Last updated
Lake Helen reserve seen across Lake Helen Lake Helen IR.JPG
Lake Helen reserve seen across Lake Helen

The Red Rock Indian Band (also known as Lake Helen Reserve) is an Ojibwe First Nation band government in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. Their territory is located on the Red Rock 53 (formerly Parmachene 53) and Lake Helen 53A Indian reserves in Ontario. As of March 2017, they had a total registered population of 1,837 people. The Nation is led by Chief Marcus Hardy. The council is an independent member of Anishinabek Nation, a First Nations political organization. The First Nation is also a member of Waaskiinaysay Ziibi Inc., an economic development corporation made up of five Lake Nipigon First Nations.

Members of the Red Rock Indian Band once lived in different locations on and around Lake Nipigon. Historically, members are known to have lived at Jackfish Island, Gull Bay, and McIntyre Bay (English Mission Church) also called Grand Bay.

The Indian reserves are approximately 100 km northeast of the city of Thunder Bay and 2 km east of Nipigon. The total area covered by the two reserves is approximately 950 acres (3.8 km2). This site is also the location of Saint Sylvesters Church. St. Sylvester's Church was built in 1877, which was a Jesuit Mission. The first recorded burial was on October 3, 1880. The graveyard is adjacent to the church and people are still buried there regularly. Although a historical landmark, the Church is no longer used as the building structure is unsafe. The Red Rock Indian Band is located within the 1850 Robinson Superior Treaty area. Band members use the Parmachene area regularly, for fishing, berry picking, hunting, trapping, gathering medicinal plants, camping, and participate in traditional ceremonies. Blueberry picking in particular is enjoyed by many Red Rock Indian Band members. The Lake Helen Reserve 53A is the main community located on the shores of Lake Helen.

Al Hackner, 2-time world curling champion, is a member of Red Rock Indian Band.

The traditional Ojibwe name for the band is Opwaaganasiniing, which is the locative form of the word for pipestone.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake of the Woods</span> Lake on the United States–Canada border

Lake of the Woods is a lake occupying parts of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba and the U.S. state of Minnesota. Lake of the Woods is over 70 miles (110 km) long and wide, containing more than 14,552 islands and 65,000 miles (105,000 km) of shoreline. It is fed by the Rainy River, Shoal Lake, Kakagi Lake and other smaller rivers. The lake drains into the Winnipeg River and then into Lake Winnipeg. Ultimately, its outflow goes north through the Nelson River to Hudson Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Odawa</span> Indigenous people of North America

The Odawa, believed to derive from an Anishinaabe word meaning "traders", are an Indigenous American ethnic group who primarily inhabit land in the Eastern Woodlands region, commonly known as the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. They have long had territory that crosses the current border between the two countries, and they are federally recognized as Native American tribes in the United States and have numerous recognized First Nations bands in Canada. They are one of the Anishinaabeg, related to but distinct from the Ojibwe and Potawatomi peoples.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thunder Bay District</span> District in Ontario, Canada

Thunder Bay District is a district and census division in Northwestern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. The district seat is Thunder Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Superior Provincial Park</span> Provincial park in Ontario, Canada

Lake Superior Provincial Park is one of the largest provincial parks in Ontario, covering about 1,550 square kilometres (600 sq mi) along the northeastern shores of Lake Superior between Sault Ste. Marie and Wawa in Algoma District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. Ontario Highway 17 now runs through the park. When the park was established by Ontario in 1944, there was no road access.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Nipigon</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wiikwemkoong First Nation</span> Unceded territory in Ontario, Canada

The Wiikwemkoong First Nation is a First Nation on Manitoulin Island in Northern Ontario. The Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory is the First Nation reserve in the northeast of Manitoulin Island in Manitoulin District, Ontario, Canada. Wiikwemkoong is an unceded Indigenous reserve in Canada, which means that it has not "relinquished title to its land to the government by treaty or otherwise."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Sylvester's Church</span> Church

Saint Sylvester's Church is a Jesuit Mission on the Red Rock Indian Band on section Lake Helen 53A. It was established in 1852, and is locally called Opoo-gan-asin (pipestone). The first mass was held on February 29, 1852, in the Hudson Bay barn. Father D. Duranquette accompanied by the local Indians selected the spot on which the church was built. Jesuit Brothers decided to have this church built along their water route, which served as a rest stop before going to the Jesuit Missions at Gull Bay, White Sand, Nipigon House, Grand Bay and McIntre Bay on Lake Nipigon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oji-Cree</span> First Nation in Ontario and Manitoba

The Oji-Cree are a First Nation in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba, residing in a narrow band extending from the Missinaibi River region in Northeastern Ontario at the east to Lake Winnipeg at the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swampy Cree</span>

The Swampy Cree people, also known by their autonyms Néhinaw, Maskiki Wi Iniwak, Mushkekowuk,Maškékowak or Maskekon or by exonyms including West Main Cree,Lowland Cree, and Homeguard Cree, are a division of the Cree Nation occupying lands located in northern Manitoba, along the Saskatchewan River in northeastern Saskatchewan, along the shores of Hudson Bay and adjoining interior lands south and west as well as territories along the shores of Hudson and James Bay in Ontario. They are geographically and to some extent culturally split into two main groupings, and therefore speak two dialects of the Swampy Cree language, which is an "n-dialect":

Poplar Hill First Nation is an Anishinaabe (Ojibway) First Nation band government, approximately 120 km north of Red Lake near the Ontario-Manitoba border. The First Nation is accessible by air and winter road. In May 2016, the First Nation had a registered population of 473 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort William First Nation</span> Indian reserve in Ontario, Canada

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.

Naotkamegwanning First Nation, formerly known as Whitefish Bay First Nation and known in the Ojibwe language as Ne-adikamegwaning, is an Ojibwe Nation from the Treaty Three Territory a 45min drive from Kenora, Ontario and is near Sioux Narrows, Ontario of Lake of the Woods.

Northwest Angle 33 First Nation is an Ojibwe or Ontario Anishinaabe First Nation band government who reside in Kenora District, Ontario near Sioux Narrows of Lake of the Woods.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nipissing First Nation</span> Indian reserve in Ontario, Canada

Nipissing First Nation is a long-standing community of Nishnaabeg peoples 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.

Nokiiwin Tribal Council is a non-profit Regional Chiefs' Council located in the Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada, serving five First Nations by providing advisory services and training which will enhance the overall management skills and opportunities of the area's First Nations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Helen 53A</span> Indian reserve in Ontario, Canada

Lake Helen 53A is a First Nations reserve in Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is one of two reserves for the Red Rock Indian Band.

Animbiigoo Zaagi'igan Anishinaabek First Nation is an Ojibwe First Nation in northwestern Ontario. It has a reserve on Partridge Lake called Lake Nipigon Indian Reserve within the town of Greenstone. It is a member of Waaskiinaysay Ziibi Inc.

Red Rock 53 is a First Nations reserve in Thunder Bay District, Ontario. It is one of the reserves of the Red Rock Indian Band.

References

    49°01′52″N88°14′53″W / 49.03111°N 88.24806°W / 49.03111; -88.24806