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 Allan Odawa. 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">Ojibwe</span> Group of indigenous peoples in North America

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. Ojibweg, 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 understand themselves to be Ojibwe as well, including the Saulteaux, Nipissings, and Oji-Cree.

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

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.

<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 Nipigon</span> Lake in Ontario, Canada

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">Nipigon</span> Township in Ontario, Canada

Nipigon is a township in Thunder Bay District, Northwestern Ontario, Canada, located along the west side of the Nipigon River and south of the small Helen Lake running between Lake Nipigon and Lake Superior. Lake Nipigon is located approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) north of Nipigon. Located at latitude 49.0125° N, Nipigon is the northernmost community on the Great Lakes.

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

The Wiikwemkong First Nation is a First Nation on Manitoulin Island in Northern Ontario. The Wiikwemkong Unceded Territory is the First Nation reserve in the northeast of Manitoulin Island in Manitoulin District, Ontario, Canada. Wiikwemkong 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 Anisininew or Oji-Cree are a First Nation in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba, residing in a 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> Division of the Cree Nation

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> First Nation 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 in the Treaty 3 territory, 90.4 km 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.

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.

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

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biinjitiwaabik Zaaging Anishinaabek</span> Indian reserve in Ontario, Canada

The Biinjitiwaabik Zaaging Anishinaabek is an Ojibway First Nation band government in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. Their territory is located on the Rocky Bay 1 reserve in Greenstone, Ontario, bordering on the community of Macdiarmid. In October 2008, they had a total registered population of 678 people, of which 327 people lived on their own Indian reserve. The Nation is led by Chief Gladys Thompson. The council is a member of Nokiiwin Tribal Council, a Regional Chiefs' Council, and is member of Union of Ontario Indians, a Tribal 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.

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

Nipissing First Nation, meaning "place of little waters", is a long-standing community of Nishnaabeg peoples, who traditionally speak Anishinaabemwin, 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.

References

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