Abitibiwinni
The Abitibiwinni First Nation (English) or Première Nation de Abitibiwinni (French) are a people of North American Indians who belong to the Algonquin language family. The just over 900 tribe members live mainly in the Pikogan Indian reservation in the Canadian province of Québec , about three kilometers north of the city of Amos . Since the majority of them speak French and Algonquin, the official name is Conseil de la Première Nation Abitibiwinni .
Together with six other neighboring First Nations (Kebaowek First Nation ( Eagle Village First Nation - Kipawa ), Anicinape de Kitcisakik Community, Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg, Council of the Nation Anishnabe of Lac Simon, Long Point First Nation ( Winneway ), Wahgoshig First Nation) you are now a member of the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation Tribal Council (English) or the Conseil Tribal de la Nation Algonquine Anishinabeg
All of these aforementioned First Nations together with neighboring (Mitchikanibikok Inik ( Algonquins of Barriere Lake ), Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn First Nation ( Golden Lake ), Timiskaming First Nation, and Wolf Lake First Nation ( Mahingan Sagaigan )) were and are often under the collective term Abitibiwinni , Apitipiwinnik or Abitibi as one ethnic group, as these Algonquin bands traditionally lived in the Abitibi River basin and on Lake Abitibi . The word "Abitibi" is derived from your Algonquin idiom as a name for Lake Abitibi as abitah nipi ("water in the middle or between").
language
The Abitibiwinni language belongs to the Algonquin language family . Today the Abitibiwinni is only spoken by about 60 people. Most have adopted the French spoken in the province of Québec .
Culture and religion
Founding myths and animism
In addition to the legends widespread in all tribes of the Algonquin, such as the myth of the Nanabozho, the founding myths often explain a close connection to certain animals (→ totemism ) . One of them tells that the bear was once human. Above all, his respect and his peaceful demeanor are emphasized. The Abitibi feel connected to this animal. The religion of the Algonquians is generally animistic and is based on the universal soul of nature and its appearances.
Understanding of the seasons
As with many Algonk groups, the Abitibiwinni distinguish six seasons, autumn, pre-winter, plus winter, early spring, spring and summer. The designation of the months corresponds to that of their outstanding characteristics. January is the long moon , February is the marmot month, March is the goose month , April is the month when the snow shines on the lake , May is the flower month, June is the strawberry month , July is the raspberry month , August is the blueberry month , September is the month of the maize harvest, October is the trout month , November of the Coregonus , a special type of trout and December is the beginning of winter . This reflects the way of life based on natural and agricultural cycles. This also applies to the most everyday things, such as child carriers , the tikanagan , which are equipped with a protective bracket and a board and are painted green and blue to represent the central elements of plants and air.
Society and way of life
The Algonquin tribes belonged to the patriarchal structured semi-nomadic peoples and lived as hunters in the river valleys and on the lakes of Quebec. They were particularly good at hunting, fishing and the manufacture of elk leather products, as well as woodworking and canoeing. Tanning, collecting and drying were women’s work. Their living quarters consisted of spherical straw, fur or bark huts. They had contacts with French people as well as fur traders around 1600 and sold or exchanged their goods with them for European goods such as rifles or pearls, metal goods or tools.
history
Main articles: History of the Algonquin and History of the First Nations
Today's Abitibiwinni consider the Anicinapek of the Archaic period to be their ancestors. Excavations at Lake Abitibi date back to the epoch from 4000 to 500 BC. BC back. According to Alfred Kroeber's division into the North American cultural areas , the Abitibiwinni belong to the ethnic groups living in the north-eastern cultural area who settled around the Great Lakes .
The Indians from Lake Abitibi are first mentioned in a Parliamentary debate of the year 1897th At that time, they were a group of hunters and gatherers making cyclical migrations in their traditional territory. In annual cycles they sought out places of importance for fishing, trapping and hunting, but also for rituals and ceremonies.
This area extended north and northeast towards Long Sault to Pierre, Harris and the Montreuil Lakes in Ontario, also to Quebec, more precisely to Amos . To the south, the Traditional Territory extended beyond Kirkland Lake in Ontario and to Rouyn in Quebec. The western border was around Cochrane .
The reserve was to be closed in 1906 with the conclusion of Contract No. 9, one of the so-called numbered contracts . This treaty, also known as the James Bay Treaty , was signed on June 7, 1906 at Lake Abitibi in a post of the Hudson's Bay Company . 19,239 hectares were designated as a reserve on Abitibi Lake. Some of them moved there, another preferred the proximity to the newly built road and joined the Wahgoshig (formerly Abitibi-Ontario Band of Abitibi Indians or Abitibi ). Since the traditional area of the Apitipiwinnik, who had hunted and collected in the border area between Ontario and Québec, was partly in Québec, the provincial government of Ontario later refused recognition. The Apitipiwinnik or Abitibi , who lived in an area of around 230 by 260 km until 1939, were now pushed into two reserves.
It was not until 1908 that the federal government was able to ensure that the province of Québec formally included the group in Treaty 9 and recognized a reservation. To date, however, government grants have remained below those received by the other Treaty 9 groups. The tribe recognized the relatives living in the other province as members of the tribe. The Ontario Band of Abitibi Indians (Wagoshig) and the Abitibi Dominion Band of Abitibi Indians (Abitibiwinni) signed the Abitibi Post contract in July 1908, thereby waiving their rights in the other province.
In 1913 the anthropologist Frank Speck conducted research in the Timiskaming Reserve near Notre Dame du Nord on behalf of the National Museum of Canada . The local Indians of today's Timiskaming First Nation reported that the Lake Abitibi Indians belonged to their group linguistically and culturally. They referred to themselves as anishnbek (plural of Anishinabe), similar to Ojibway, Mississauga, Ottawa and Potawatomi.
The construction of the railways in the region between 1906 and 1912, the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway North from the south and the National Transcontinental from the east, brought settlers, traders and prospectors into the country. These brought with them diseases and drastic cultural changes.
Until 1972, the Department of Indian Affairs in Quebec was responsible for both the Abitibi Dominion Band of Abitibi Indians in Quebec and the Abitibi Ontario Band of Abitibi Indians . Then the Ministry of Ontario, represented by Indian Affairs in Sudbury , took over the corresponding tasks for the Abitibi Ontario Band . In 1979 the Abitibi Dominion Band changed its name to Abitibiwinni First Nation, while the group in Ontario was henceforth called Wahgoshig First Nation .
In 1958 what is now the Pikogan reserve was created for the Abitibi Dominion Band of Abitibi Indians . The first houses were built in 1964 and were moved by members of the Algonquin from the Temiscaming , Nottaway and Harricana rivers , which is why the current tribe is also known as Abitibi-Témiscamingue . The originally 52 hectare reserve was enlarged to 90.53 hectares in 1979. They also share the Abitibi # 70 reservation with the Wahgoshig First Nation , on the south bank of Lake Abitibi, which covers approximately 7,770.1 hectares. In 2006, the Abitibiwinni First Nation celebrated the centenary of the treaty with Canada under Chief Harry McDougall.
Other reservations were created in the vicinity, such as the Eagle Village, which was established in 1974 for the Kipawa Band , recognized in 1965 , which is now known as the Eagle Village First Nation after their place of residence . On the other hand, the Kitcisakik (officially: Kitcisakik First Nation or Communauté Anicinape de Kitcisakik ) are the only tribe in the province still living nomadically, even though they are harassed by the establishment of the Parc La Vérendrye , as well as by logging, the construction of Highway 117 and dams at Lac Dozois . In 2003 the group accepted a village building plan, otherwise they live in summer tent villages on Grand-Lac-Victoria and in winter camps on Lac Dozois. They keep the snowmobile trail between Outaouais and the Val d'Or free, and mostly live without electricity or water.
Demographics and Nationally Recognized Status Indians
In 2004, 814 people were registered as tribesmen, of whom 518 lived in the Pikogan reservation. In November 2009, 915 people were considered status Indians, and thus as recognized members of the Conseil de la Première Nation Abitibiwinni. Of these, 566 lived on the reservation, 31 on other reservations, one woman lived on crown land, the remaining 317 lived outside the reserve. In June 2012 the Abitibiwinni numbered 989 tribe members.
See also
literature
- Evan T. Pritchard: No Word for Time. The Way of the Algonquin People . Updated edition. Council Oak Books, San Francisco CA et al. 2001, ISBN 1-57178-103-X .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b The number of members of the group recognized as Indians comes from the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs ( Memento from November 9, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Anishinabe Nation
- ↑ Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada - ABITIBI 70 ( Memento from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ According to the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development , Conseil de la Première Nation Abitibiwinni ( Memento of March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive )