Wiikwemkoong First Nation

The local Ojibwe placename is wiikwemkong (Manitoulin dialect; notice the vowel dropping) with the locative -ong ('at') form of wiikwemik 'bay with a gently sloping bottom'.[2] The spelling Wikwemikong is from dialects spoken elsewhere (or in earlier times) that retain the i. The initial element wiikwe- occurs in other forms as 'bay'; the final element -mik cannot be for amik 'beaver' (its local form is mik), a folk etymology that violates the rules for Algonquian stem formation. It can be identified as a variant of the medial element aamik-, which appears, for example, in Southwestern Ojibwe minaamikaa 'there are breakers, shoals, banks (of sand or rocks)',^[3] which has initial min- 'islandlike'. The presence or absence of aa- is found in several medial elements in Ojibwe and other Algonquian languages.^[4]

The reserve's former name was Manitoulin Unceded Indian Reserve. The Wiikwemkoong Band changed it on August 20, 1968, to Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve.

The reserve is occupied by

From 1836 to 1862, a considerable portion of Manitoulin Island was set aside as the "Manitoulin Island Indian Reserve" under the Bond Head Treaty. The most important of the pre-confederation treaties were the Robinson Treaties because all subsequent treaties were modeled after these. In 1850, William B. Robinson, a government negotiator and former fur trader, proposed that First Nations reserves be created on the Crown Land acquired through treaties. These Reserves were intended to be the answer to what the immigrant settlers needed for land settlement. First Nation peoples would be set apart on reserves from the new settlers. The Robinson-Huron and Robinson-Superior treaties were signed in September 1850 for large territories north of the two Great Lakes.

According to written records, Lake Huron and Lake Superior area leaders surrendered nearly 15,000,000 hectares of land and the islands in exchange for the establishment of 24 reserves and a payment of approximately $10,000 to be followed by additional annual payment of $2700.

In 1862, most of the islands were again ceded to the government of Canada under the MacDougall Treaty for new settlement by non-natives, resulting in the creation of new reserves at West Bay, Sheguiandah, Sheshegwaning, Pitawankwat Cockburn Island and Sucker Creek. However, two bands which occupied the land that now comprises Wiikwemkoong claimed that the bands that signed the Treaty did not represent them, and thus continued to exist as a remnant of the Manitoulin Island Indian Reserve.

In 1968, an amalgamation took place among three bands: Manitoulin Island Unceded Indian Reserve, Point Grondine and South Bay. This amalgamation created the Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve.^[7]

The band filed a

In 2014 the Constitution – Wiikwemkoong G'chi Naaknigewin – was ratified, subsequently changing the name to Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory.[9]

Communities

In addition to the primary settlement at Wiikwemkoong, smaller settlements on the reserve include Buzwah, Kaboni, Murray Hill, South Bay, Two O'Clock, Wabozominissing and Wikwemikonsing.

The reserve is served by five churches:

• Holy Cross Church
• Buzwah Church (Saint Ignatius)
• Kaboni Catholic Church (St. Anthony Daniel Parish)
• South Bay Catholic Church (Our Lady of Grace)
• The Wikwemikong Fellowship

There are two elementary schools, Wasse Abin Junior School (JK, SK, Grades 1-4) and Wasse Abin Pontiac School (Grades 5-8) and Wasse Abin High School.

Two health clinics provide basic services:

• Nadmadwin Mental Health Clinic
• Wiikwemkoong Health Centre

Transportation

Wiikwemkoong Way is the key route in the communities and connects with Ontario Highway 6.

The closest airport is

Ontario Northland operates a twice daily bus that connects to other places on Manitoulin Island as well as the nearest major city,

• Jeannette Corbiere Lavell, Indigenous women's rights advocate
• Josephine Mandamin, environmental activist^[11]
• Leonard S. Mandamin, Federal Court of Canada judge
• Daphne Odjig, Odawa/Potawatomi artist
• Autumn Peltier, water activist
• Sladen Peltier, actor
• Peggy Margaret Pitawanakwat, first woman chief, in 1997
• Joseph Shawana, chef^[12]
• Crystal Shawanda, country music singer/songwriter
• Chris Simon, NHL hockey player
• Shayne Corson, NHL hockey player

References