Aboriginal Iniatives First Nation Information

First Nations Communities in Ontario: Information and
Resources

• There are 137 First
Nations communities
located in the province
of Ontario, with a
combined population of
approximately 132,000.

• The Chiefs of Ontario
(COO) is a political
forum / secretariat that
operates collective
decision-making, action
and advocacy.

• for better resolution,
this map is located at:
http://www.chiefs-of-
ontario.org/profiles/map.
html

• The 137 First Nation
communities in Ontario are
organized into four Provincial
Territorial Organizations (PTO’s):

1) Nishnawbe Aski Nation (49
communities)

2) Union of Ontario Indians (42
communities)

3) Grand Council Treaty #3 (26
communities)

4) Association of Iroquois & Allied
Indians (8 communities)

• 12 Independent communities
that do not have any affiliation
with a PTO.

• for better resolution, this map
may be located online at:
http://www.chiefs-of-
ontario.org/profiles/largemap_new
.pdf

• NAN is a political territorial organization representing 49 First Nation
communities in northwestern and northeastern Ontario.

•NAN communities are grouped by Tribal Council according to region.

• 35 of the 49 NAN communities are remote, and are accessible by air only.

•NAN encompasses the entire James Bay Treaty 9 territory, as well as
Ontario's portion of Treaty 5.

•Total land mass: covers two-thirds of Ontario, spanning an area of 210,000
square miles.

•Total approximate population of NAN First Nation members (on and off
reserve): 45,000.

•Traditional languages spoken: Ojibway, Cree, and Ojicree.

•NAN web site: www.nan.on.ca

• NAN consists of 7 Tribal Councils:
1) Windigo FN Council
2) Wabun Tribal Council
3) Shibogama FN Council
4) Mushkegowuk Council
5) Matawa First Nations
6) Keewaytinook Okimakanak
7) Independent First Nations
Alliance

The following five NAN
communities are listed as
‘Independent Bands,’ with no
affiliation to a tribal council
organization (indicated in red on
the NAN map):
Independent Bands

Independent First Nations Alliance 1) Weenusk First Nation
Keewaytinook Okimakanak
2) Sandy Lake First Nation
Matawa First Nations
Mushkegowuk Council
3) Mishkeegogamang First Nation
Shibogama First Nations Council 4) Mocreebec Council of the Cree
Wabun Tribal Council Nation
Windigo First Nations Council 5) Flying Post

Sachigo Lake
• The Windigo FN Council consists of
Bearskin Lake
seven communities that are fly-in access
only, located north of Lake Nipigon and
Koocheching
just east of the Ontario-Manitoba border
(indicated in orange on the NAN map):
North Caribou Lake
1) Sachigo Lake First Nation
2) Bearskin Lake First Nation
3) Koocheching First Nation
Cat Lake
4) North Caribou Lake First Nation
Slate Falls
5) Cat Lake First Nation
6) Slate Falls First Nation
Whitewater Lake
7) Whitewater Lake First Nation

• Windigo First Nations Council web
site: www.windigo.on.ca

• The Wabun Tribal Council consists
Wahgoshig
of six First Nation communities in
Beaverhouse
central Ontario located near the City
Mattagami
of Timmins, just west of the Ontario-
Matachewan
Brunswick House Quebec border (indicated in light
Chapleau Ojibway
brown on the NAN map):
1) Wahgoshig First Nation
2) Beaverhouse First Nation
3) Mattagami First Nation
4) Brunswick House First Nation
5) Chapleau Ojibway First Nation
6) Matachewan First Nation

• Wabun Tribal Council web site:
www.wabun.on.ca

• The Shibogama First Nations
Wapekeka
Council consists of five First Nation
Kasabonika communities in northwestern
Wawakapewin Ontario that are fly-in access only,
located north of the 50th parallel
Kingfisher Lake
(indicated in pink on the NAN map):
1) Wapekeka First Nation
Wunnumin Lake

2) Kasabonika First Nation
3) Wawakapewin First Nation
4) Kingfisher Lake First Nation
5) Wunnumin Lake First Nation

• Shibogama First Nations
Council web site:
www.shibogama.on.ca

• The Mushkegowuk Council consists of
Attawapiskat
seven Cree communities in northeastern
Ontario four of which are fly-in
Kashechewan
accessible, located along the Hudson
Fort Albany
Bay coast, and three of them highway-
accessible located near the town of
Moose Cree
Chapleau (indicated in purple on the
NAN map):
1) Attawapiskat First Nation
2) Kashechewan First Nation
3) Fort Albany First Nation
New Post 4) Moose Cree First Nation
5) New Post First Nation
6) Missanabie Cree First Nation
Missanabie Cree 7) Chapleau Cree First Nation
Chapleau Cree
• Mushkegowuk Council web site:
www.mushkegowuk.ca

Webequie • The Matawa First Nations Council consists
Nibinamik
of ten communities in northwestern Ontario,
five of which are road-accessible via the
Neskantaga
Trans-Canada Hwy 11, while the remaining
Eabematoong five that are located north of the 50th parallel
Marten Falls are fly-in access only (indicated in blue on the
NAN map):
1) Webequie First Nation
2) NibinamikFirst Nation
Aroland
3) Neskantaga First Nation
Constance Lake
4) Eabematoong First Nation
Long Lake #58
5) Marten Falls First Nation
Ginoogaming
6) Aroland First Nation
Hornepayne
7) Long Lake #58 First Nation
8) Ginoogaming First Nation
9) Constance Lake First Nation
10) Hornepayne

• Matawa First Nations web site:
www.matawa.on.ca

• The Keewaytinook Okimakanak Tribal
Fort Severn
Council consists of 6 communities in
northwestern Ontario, one of which is
located on the Hudson Bay coast, while
the remaining five are located adjacent
to the Ontario-Manitoba border
(indicated in green on the NAN map):
1) Fort Severn First Nation
Kee-Way-Win
Deer Lake
2) Kee-Way-Win First Nation
North Spirit Lake
3) Deer Lake First Nation
MacDowell Lake
Poplar Hill 4) North Spirit Lake First Nation
5) Poplar Hill First Nation
6) MacDowell Lake First Nation

• Keewaytinook Okimakanak web site:
www.knet.ca

• There are three NAN communities
Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug
that are affiliated with the
Independent First Nations Alliance
Muskrat Dam
(IFNA), and are located adjacent to
the Manitoba border (indicated in
yellow on the NAN map):
1) Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug
First Nation
Pikangikum
2) Muskrat Dam First Nation
3) Pikangikum First Nation

• Independent First Nations
Alliance web site: www.ifna.ca

• The UOI is a political organization that advocates for 42
member First Nations across Ontario.

• The UOI represents First Nations throughout the province of
Ontario from Golden Lake in the east, Sarnia in the south, to
Thunder Bay and Lake Nipigon in the north.

• Approximate combined population: 42,000 citizens, or one third
of the province of Ontario’s Aboriginal population.

•The UOI is headquartered on Nipissing First Nation, just outside
of North Bay, with satellite offices in: Thunder Bay; on Curve
Lake First Nation; and on the Munsee-Delaware First Nation.

• The Union of Ontario Indians is the oldest political organization
in Ontario and can trace its roots back to the Confederacy of
Three Fires, which existed long before European contact.
• UOI web site: www.anishinabek.ca

• UOI communities
in the Northern
Superior Region are
located in the
Atlantic watershed,
from the western
edge of Lake
Superior near
Thunder Bay, all the
way to the eastern
edge of Lake
Superior, near Sault
Ste Marie.

• This geographic
area corresponds
with the Robinson-
Superior 1850
Treaty area.

• UOI communities in
the Lake Huron
Region are located in
central Ontario in the
Atlantic watershed,
from the northern
edge of Lake Huron
at Sault Ste Marie,
inland north and east
all the way to the
Quebec border, and
also south to include
the northern shore of
Georgian Bay.

• This geographic
area corresponds with
the Robinson-Huron
1850 Treaty area.

• UOI communities
in the Southeast
Region are located
in southern Ontario
from the Ottawa
Valley in the north,
east along the
Quebec border, to
the City of Toronto
in the south, and
west to Georgian
Bay to include the
Bruce Peninsula.

• UOI communities in
the Southeast Region
are located in
southwestern Ontario,
from Toronto south to
Windsor, inclusive of
the eastern shore of
Lake Huron.

• This corresponds
with the Upper
Canada Treaties
area.

• GCT3 is the historic government of the Anishinaabe Nation in the
Treaty #3 area (signed in 1873).

• It is the political organization for the 28 First Nations located in this
treaty area, with headquarters in Kenora, Ontario.

•GCT3 is representative of the significant movement over the years
back towards Anishinaabe Nationhood by the member
communities.

• The treaty area includes 26 First Nations in Northwestern Ontario,
and 2 First Nations in Manitoba.

•Population: approximately 25,000.

• GCT3 web site: www.gct3.net

• GCT3 communities are
mainly centred around the
Lake of the Woods region
of northwestern Ontario
(near the Manitoba and
Minnesota borders).

• All of the GCT3
communities are road-
accessible, and all are
located within reasonable
distances from the
following full-service
communities: Kenora,
Dryden, Sioux Lookout,
Fort Frances, Atikokan,
and Thunder Bay.

• The AIAI was established primarily as a political organization
in 1969, to represent its member Nations in any negotiation or
consultation with any level of government affecting the well-
being of the member Nations as a whole.

• The AIAI currently represents eight (8) member First Nations of
status Indians in Ontario, with a membership of 20,000 people.

• The AIAI provides political representation and policy analysis in
the following areas of mutual concern: Health, Social Services,
Education, Intergovernmental Affairs, Treaty Research and Tax
Immunity.

•AIAI web site: www.aiai.on.ca

• With the exception of the Batchewana First Nation, all of
the AIAI communities are located in urban and rural
southern Ontario:
1) Batchewana First Nation (just north of Sault Ste Marie)
2) Caldwell First Nation (Leamington, just south of Windsor)
3) Delaware Nation (Thamesville, just west of London)
4) Hiawatha First Nation (Keene, just south of Peterborough)
5) Oneida Nation of the Thames (Southwold, just west of London)
6) Mississaugas of the New Credit (Hagarsville, just south of
Hamilton)
7) Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte (Deseronto, just west of Kingston)
8) Wahta Mohawks (Bala, just north of Orillia)

Bearskin Lake First Nation Sachigo Lake First Nation
• 425 km north of Sioux Lookout • 425 km north of Sioux Lookout
• registered population: 866 • registered population: 792

Cat Lake First Nation Slate Falls First Nation
• 179 km north of Sioux Lookout • 130 km north of Sioux Lookout

Koocheching First Nation Whitewater Lake First Nation:
• 65 km northeast of Sandy Lake, 80 km • 60 km north of Armstrong
west of Round Lake • registered population: 150
• registered population: 70

North Caribou Lake First Nation
• 320 km north of Sioux Lookout
• also known as ‘Weagamow’ or ‘Round
Lake’

Wahgoshig First Nation Chapleau Ojibway First Nation:
• 6 km north of Matheson • 3 km south of Chapleau

Mattagami First Nation
• 50 km northwest of Sudbury
• registered population 477

Matachewan First Nation
• 60 km west of Kirkland Lake

Brunswick House First Nation:
• 5 km east of Chapleau

Wapekeka First Nation Wunnumin Lake First Nation:
• 451 km northeast of Sioux Lookout • 360 km northeast of Sioux
• registered population: 398 Lookout
Kasabonika Lake First Nation
• 470 km northeast of Sioux Lookout
• registered population 971

Wawakapewin First Nation
• 350 km north of Sioux Lookout

Kingfisher Lake First Nation:
• 320 km northeast of Sioux Lookout

Attawapiskat First Nation New Post First Nation
• 500 km north of Timmins • Also known as ‘Taykwa
• registered population: 3,168 Tagamou Nation’
• 20 km west of Cochrane
Kashechewan First Nation • registered population: 384
• 300 km north of Timmins
• registered population: 4,149 Missanabie Cree First Nation
(both Kashechewan and Fort • Land entitlement currently
Albany) under negotiation
Fort Albany First Nation
• 12 km from Kashechewan Chapleau Cree First Nation
• 5 km southwest of Chapleau
Moose Cree First Nation • registered population: 92
• 200 km north of Cochrane
• registered population: 3,798

Webequie First Nation Eabematoong First Nation
• 540 km north of Thunder • 420 km north of Thunder Bay
Bay • registered population: 2,287
Aroland First Nation
Nibinamik First Nation • 350 km northeast of Thunder Bay
• 450 km north of Thunder • registered population: 700
Bay
• registered population: 449 Ginoogaming First Nation
• 330 km east of Thunder Bay
Neskantaga First Nation • registered population: 773
• 490 km north of Thunder
Bay
Long Lake #58 First Nation
Marten Falls First Nation
Constance Lake First Nation
• 400 km northeast of
Thunder Bay • 500 km east of Thunder Bay
• registered population: 619 • registered population: 1,530

Fort Severn First Nation North Spirit Lake First Nation
• most northern community in • 180 km northeast of Red
Ontario (shore of Hudson Bay) Lake

Deer Lake First Nation McDowell Lake First Nation
• 180 km north of Red Lake • 160 km northeast of Red
• registered population: 1,156 Lake
Poplar Hill First Nation
• 120 km north of Red Lake

Kee-Way-Win First Nation

Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation
• 580 km north of Thunder Bay

Muskrat Dam First Nation

Pikangikum First Nation
•registered population: 2,278

Weenusk (Peawanuck) First
Nation Flying Post First Nation
• office in Nipigon, Ontario
Sandy Lake First Nation
• 450 km northeast of Winnipeg

Mishkeegogamang First Nation
•registered population: 1,640

•Mocreebec Council of the Cree
Nation
• 200 km north of Cochrane
•

Biijintiwaabik Zaaging Anishinabek
Fort William First Nation • also known as ‘Rocky Bay First Nation’
• Thunder Bay, Ontario • 150 km east of Thunder Bay
• registered population: 1,881 • registered population: 680

Lake Helen First Nation Pays Plat First Nation
• 100 km east of Thunder Bay • 200 km east of Thunder Bay
• Also known as ‘Red Rock First Nation’ • registered population: 200
Pic Mobert First Nation
Kiashke Zaaging Anishinabek • 350 km east of Thunder Bay
• Armstrong, Ontario • registered population: 835
• Also known as ‘Gull Bay First Nation’
• registered population: 1,149 Ojibways of Pic River First Nation
Namaygoosisagagun First Nation • registered population: 1,001
• Collins, Ontario
• presently applying for band status Michipicoten First Nation
Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinabek •registered population: 774
• 200 km northeast of Thunder Bay
• also known as ‘Sand Point First Nation’ Animibigoo Zaa’iging Anishinabek
• registered population: 197 • 250 km northeast of Thunder Bay

Nipissing First Nation Wasauksing First Nation
Garden River First Nation
• 30 km west of North Bay • 150 km south of Sudbury
• Sault Ste Marie, Ontario
• registered population: 2,365 • registered population: 2,241
Moose Deer Point First Nation
Dokis First Nation • 150 km north of Toronto
Thessalon First Nation
• 60 km west of North Bay • registered population: 450
• 75 km east of Sault Ste Marie
M’Chigeeng
Whitefish Lake First Nation • Manitoulin Island
Mississauga First Nation
• 2 km west of Sudbury •registered population: 2,325
• 100 km east of Sault Ste
Marie • registered population: 976
• registered population: 1,091 Sheguiandah
Whitefish River First Nation • Manitoulin Island
Sagamok Anishnawbek • 40 km west of Sudbury • registered population: 336
• 175 km east of Sault Ste • registered population: 1,136
Marie Zhiibaahaasing
• registered population: 2,549 Henvey Inlet First Nation • Manitoulin Island
• 60 km south of Sudbury
Wahnapitae First Nation •registered population: 600 Sheshegwaning
• Sudbury, Ontario • Manitoulin Island
• registered population: 326 Magnetawan First Nation
• 80 km south of Sudbury Aundeck Omni Kaning
• registered population: 233 • Manitoulin Island

Wikwekmikong
• Manitoulin Island

Algonquin of Pikwakanagan Chippewas of Georgina Island
• 140 km northwest of Ottawa • 80 km north of Toronto

Mississaugas of Scugog Island
Curve Lake First Nation • 50 km northeast of Toronto
• 20 km north of Peterborough • registered population: 205
Beausoleil First Nation
Alderville First Nation • 150 km north of Toronto
• 20 km southeast of
Peterborough

Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Aamjiwnaang First Nation
Point First Nation • also known as “Chippewas of
• 30 km northeast of Sarnia Sarnia”
• registered population: 2,194 • 6 km south of Sarnia
Chippewas of the Thames First
Nation
• 15 km southwest of London

Munsee-Delaware Nation
• 15 km southwest of London

Batchewana First Nation Oneida Nation of the Thames
• 50 km north of Sault Ste Marie • 15 km southwest of London
• registered population: 2,431 • registered population:

Mississaugas of the New Credit
Caldwell First Nation
• 25 km southwest of Brantford
• 80 km southwest of London • registered population: 1,901
Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte
Delaware Nation • km west of Kingston
Wahta Mohawks
Hiawatha First Nation • 200 km north of Toronto
• 12 km south of Peterborough • registered population: 690

Anishinabe of Wauzhusk Onigum Lac Des Milles Lacs First Nation Ochiichagwe’babigo’ining First
• registered population: 667 • registered population: 535 Nation
Anishnaabeg of Naongashing Lac La Croix First Nation
• registered population: 377 • registered population: 417 Ojibway Nation of Saugeen
Big Grassy First Nation Naicatchewenin First Nation
• registered population: 698 • registered population: 392 Ojibways of Onigaming First
Nation
Couchiching First Nation Naotkamegwanning First Nation • registered population: 714
• registered population: 2,065 • registered population: 1,164
Rainy River First Nation
Eagle Lake First Nation Nicickousemenecaning First Nation • registered population: 760
• registered population: • registered population: 307
Seine River First Nation
Grassy Narrows First Nation Northwest Angle #33 First Nation • registered population: 715
Shoal Lake #40 First Nation
Iskatewizaagegan #39 First Nation Northwest Angle #37 First Nation • registered population: 558
Stanjikoming First Nation
Wabauskang First Nation Obashkaandagaang First Nation • registered population: 139
Wabasseemoong First Nation
Lac Seul First Nation Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation • registered population: 1,771

According to the Urban Aboriginal Peoples Study (UAPS) released in 2009 by the Environics
Institute (http://www.uaps.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/UAPS-FULL-REPORT.pdf):

• “According to the 2006 Census, a total of 1,172,790 people in Canada identified themselves
as an Aboriginal person, that is, First Nations, Métis or Inuit. This population accounts for
almost four percent of the total population of Canada.”

• “the Aboriginal population in Canada – First Nations, Métis and Inuit – grew between 1996
and 2006, experiencing an overall increase of 45 percent, a rate almost six times faster than
the eight-percent increase in the non-Aboriginal population”

• “In 2006, half of the Aboriginal population in Canada lived in urban centres (including large
cities or census metropolitan areas and smaller urban centres), up from 47 percent in 1996”

• “Half (48%) of Aboriginal people in Canada are children and young people under 24 years of
age, much higher than the 31 percent of the non-Aboriginal population”

• “By 2017, there is projected to be close to a million Aboriginal people of working age (15 and
older), or about 3.4 percent of the working age population overall (Statistics Canada 2005)”

• “In the same time period, the number of young Aboriginal adults (aged 20 to 29) – those
entering the labour market – is expected to grow by more than 40 percent, which is well
beyond the projected growth of nine percent among 20- to 29-year-olds in the general
Canadian population”

According to the Urban Aboriginal Peoples Study (UAPS) released in 2009 by the
Environics Institute (http://www.uaps.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/UAPS-
FULL-REPORT.pdf):

• “urban Aboriginal peoples have had greater success achieving a post-secondary
education than their on-reserve counterparts”

• “almost half (47%) of Aboriginal people living in the cities included in this survey
(excluding Ottawa) have a college or university degree”

• “most urban Aboriginal peoples do not learn about Aboriginal people, history and
culture in elementary and high school, and it is not until the post-secondary level
that they recall learning about their culture in any measure”

• “While urban Aboriginal peoples may have overcome many barriers to get to the
post-secondary level, once they are pursuing their studies the most common
obstacle is funding.”

• “Urban Aboriginal peoples rely primarily on Band or Aboriginal funding for their
post-secondary education, and have less access to job income, family support
and personal savings than do non-Aboriginal Canadians”
• “

Government of Ontario (Aboriginal Affairs) web site
(www.ontario.ca/en/about_ontario/004563):
• Statistics Canada population reporting on Aboriginal identity can be found at
http://www40.statcan.gc.ca/l01/cst01/demo38b-eng.htm
• According to Stats Can: 240,000 of Ontario's people identified themselves
as ‘Aboriginal’ (North American Indian, Métis or Inuit) – and this amounts
to1/5 of Canada's Aboriginal population in total.
• Ontario Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs ‘Strengthening Relationships’ section
can be found at
http://www.aboriginalaffairs.gov.on.ca/english/policy/policy.asp
• Ontario is charting a new course for constructive, cooperative relationships
with Aboriginal people in Ontario.

• These relationships are based on mutual respect, dignity, and meaningful
participation in decision making.

• Goal: improved opportunities and a better future for Aboriginal children and
youth.

First Nations Information Project web site
(http://www.johnco.com/nativel/):

• intended to assist those persons that wish to find information on
First Nations and its peoples.

• links are organized in a manner that will facilitate research and
information on various pertinent topics.

• Includes links to individual First Nations community web sites.

• Includes links to: economic development and tourism; education
and culture; First Nation organizations; government; housing;
history; health/healing; publications/newspapers;
treaties/laws/land claims.

• Members of the Mississaugas of the New Credit have voted nearly
unanimously in favour of an historic $145 million land claims settlement
with the federal government pertaining to land in Toronto and Burlington,
Ont.
• The settlement ends seven years of negotiation between the band and
the federal government, and represents "the largest specific claim offer
to a First Nation in the history of Canada," according to a statement on
the band's website.
• Band members voted on May 29,2010 to ratify the Toronto Purchase and
Brant Tract Specific Claim Settlement Agreement and Trust Agreement.
• The agreement calls for each of the band's approximately 1,842
members to receive $20,000 in cash (money for minors will be held in
trust and paid, with interest, when they reach 18), and tens of millions of
dollars to be designated for community and economic development,
infrastructure, education, health, housing and culture.
• The settlement resolves two land claims: the Toronto purchase of 1805,
which included some 250,000 acres of land, and the Brant Tract
purchase of 1797, which included 3,450 acres of land.

• Long before the first European explorers set foot on what is now Canada, the
ancestors of the present-day members of Fort William First Nation lived along the
north shore of Lake Superior near the mouth of the Kaministiquia River.
• Settlers from eastern Canada and Europe also found the area attractive, as
demonstrated by the growth of the adjacent City of Thunder Bay (originally the towns
of Fort William and Port Arthur).
• The Fort William Reserve was created in 1853, as a condition of the 1850 Robinson-
Superior Treaty.
• The Chief and Headmen who signed the Treaty intended that the Reserve would
provide not just for their children, but for their grandchildren’s grandchildren. However,
most of the best Reserve land was taken within about three generations.
• In the negotiations of The Robinson Superior Treaty, Fort William agreed not to
interfere with foreign settlers. In return, the Crown promised cash payments and trade
goods, annuities beginning in 1851, complete freedom to continue to hunt and fish as
before (except on private land), and a Reserve at Fort William.
• At that time, Fort William First Nation was a thriving community. Most people made
their living in traditional ways, but took advantage of the nearby Hudson’s Bay Post to
sell furs and buy supplies. About ten families were employed in the commercial
fishery, exporting many barrels of salted fish annually to Detroit and points east.

• A 4,600-year-old burial that has been discovered could hold the key to how
ancient Canadians lived. The remarkable find has been made at the mouth of the
Bug River, near Big Trout Lake (Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation), an
Aboriginal community in northern Ontario numbering around 1,200.
• The discovery was made by First Nation fishermen as water levels fell at the
lake, exposing the burial. The rare site is currently being handled by an
archaeological team from Lakehead University in Thunder Bay.
• The skeleton discovered is that of a man aged in his late-30’s or 40’s. Around
five-and-a-half feet tall, the man had a “very, very robust muscular build,”
according to team leader Prof Scott Hamilton. The man lived at around the same
time the Great Pyramids were being built in ancient Egypt, and great cities such
as Babylon were popping up across the Near East.
• The community first made international headlines in 2008, when six leaders of
the Chief and Council were imprisoned In Thunder Bay for protesting
development on their traditional land by a Toronto mining company known as
Platinex Inc.
• Several members of K.I. and surrounding First Nations protested their leaders'
imprisonment by walking all the way to Toronto. Their incarcerated leaders were
given temporary parole to appear at a Queen’s Park protest on May 26, and
were permanently freed by the Ontario Court of Appeal two days later.

• The federal government recently granted Aboriginals in Ontario a major
concession on the province’s new harmonized sales tax (HST), amid threats that
First Nations protesters would “shut down the country” when it played host to
world leaders at the then-upcoming G8 and G20 summits.
• Until June 2010, Ottawa had ignored First Nation pleas for a province-wide
point-of-sale exemption from the HST after it would take effect on July 1. With
Native leaders set to plan protests that could include outright blockades, federal
and provincial officials engaged in a frantic round of negotiations.
• Alvin Fiddler, senior policy adviser at the Independent First Nations Alliance (a
tribal council representing five communities) said the main item at a June 2010
meeting of Native leaders in Fort Frances, Ont, was be how to maximize
exposure to natives’ complaints” “It’s direct action that usually gets the most
attention,” he said.
• Stan Beardy, Grand Chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, said in June 2010 that
representatives were very close to reaching an accord, but “if the thing isn’t
resolved, we have to tell our people to do whatever we need to do in order to
protect our rights [ . . . ] We have to shut down the country if we have to.”
• For 30 years, Natives in Ontario have not had to pay provincial sales tax when
making purchases anywhere in the province.

• On May 24, 2010, The Couchiching Toll Booth Initiative was enacted upon by
Couchiching First Nation Chief and Council as a means to address several issues: 1)
The land on which a portion of Highway 11 sits upon was stolen from CFN; 2) The
federal government has failed to address the contaminated soil sites that have forced
CFN residents from their homes; and 3) all other outstanding claims and grievances
with the provincial and federal governments.
• In early 2009, while assessing property for development on CFN, high levels of
dioxins and furans were found in soil samples located near residential dwellings. The
toxins were a result of improper waste management of a former sawmill site on
reserve land which was leased by Indian Affairs on behalf of the band in the early
1900's.
• Highway 11 which runs through CFN is a source of economic prosperity for
Northwestern Ontario and the Rainy River District, but the economic prosperity from
Highway 11 comes at CFN’s expense.
• On May 31, 2010 (seven days after the Toll Booth Initiative began), CFN received a
firm commitment from federal Minister of Indian Affairs Chuck Strahl that
contaminated lands would be dealt with, as well as negotiations about the Highway 11
corridor running through their territory. The community decided to remove the toll
booth from the portion of Highway 11.

Aboriginal Iniatives First Nation Information

Empfohlen

Empfohlen

Weitere ähnliche Inhalte

Mehr von Faymus Copperpot

Mehr von Faymus Copperpot (13)

Kürzlich hochgeladen

Kürzlich hochgeladen (20)

Aboriginal Iniatives First Nation Information