Hollow Water First Nation
The Hollow Water First Nation is one of the First Nations in the Canadian province of Manitoba . Most of the members of the tribe live in a reserve on the east bank of Lake Winnipeg .
Of the 1,661 recognized members, 1046 lived in the 1622.9 hectare Hollow Water 10 Indian Reserve (as of March 2010). As of September 2018, the tribe comprised 1,999 people, 1,039 of whom lived in their own reserve.
Originally they lived on the shores of the lake and on the islands, especially on Hecla Island, which they called the 'Big Island'. It is now part of the Hecla-Grindstone Provincial Park .
history
At Wanipigow Lake, also known as Hollow Water Lake, about 6000 year old human traces could be found. This Wanipigow Lake Archaeological Site is also one of the oldest sites to show evidence of the wild rice harvest that began around the birth of Christ.
On the island of Hecla and its neighboring islands in the Winnipeg Sea , as well as on the surrounding mainland, for example at the confluence of the Rice River in the Winnipeg Sea, lived the widely scattered Iceland band , as the British and Canadian authorities later called them. Like most groups in the region, it goes back to immigration from the east, which took place around 2000 years ago. These immigrants belonged to the Ojibwa . They brought with them pottery, of which excavations at Wanipigow Lake , above the village of Wanipigow, revealed the oldest artifacts in the province. They also harvested wild rice, which is still an important source of food today.
Numerous broken fragments date from the period between around 700 and 1640, which at the same time mark the most intensive use of the lake area. The pottery could be assigned to different phases, especially Blackduck, Selkirk and Sandy Lake.
Contract No. 5 (1875) and reservation
Like most of the tribes of Canada, after the founding of Canada , the Indians were to move to a reservation to make way for white settlers. For this purpose, the so-called Numbered Treaties were concluded, for the Indians at Lake Winnipeg this was Treaty No. 5 of 1875.
During the negotiations, the Iceland band demanded what is now called Hecla Island, which made up part of their traditional territory. But the government representatives refused, it is not known for what reasons. Instead, the Indians on the Berens River and in Norway House (at the northern end of Lake Winnipeg) were persuaded on September 20 and 24, 1875 to move to the Hollow Water River and forego 'Big Island', as they called it . Ka-tuk-e-pin-ais or Hardisty signed the contract for the Island Band on July 24, 1876.
The situation was complicated in several ways. The state negotiators claimed that the Indians, who had received annuities since 1870 , had practically recognized a treaty that obliged them to withdraw to a reservation. Some of the families, including Ka-tuk-e-pin-ais', had not received such donations. Of the 21 or 22 families that belonged to the tribe, most also refused to sign the Ka-tuk-e-pin-ais. Some did not want to sign a treaty at all that would force them to give up their island. Since there was no agreement on who should be elected chief, an election was carried out, with the Ka-tuk-e-pin-ais as advisor, Sa-ha-cha-way-ass of the Blood Vein but was elected chief. Apparently, Ka-tuk-e-pin-ais had assumed that the governor had promised him the appointment of chief. However, when the government officials informed him that this was not the case and that they wanted to stick to the majority decision, Ka-tuk-e-pin-ais withdrew from the negotiations. Again after deliberations, he returned to the negotiators and said that the majority wanted him to sign the contract. For the Iceland band, however, the contract provided for a reservation on the "Badthroat River", today's Hollow Water River. The negotiators did not seem to be able to get the five groups involved to move to a common reservation, although they had instructions to prevent the breakup of the larger units.
The next day, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., the promised annual gifts were distributed, which the negotiators regard as gifts. In an addendum to the contract it says: “We, the Band of Saulteaux Indians residing at or near the Big Island and the other islands in Lake Winnipeg, and also on the shores thereof, having had communication of the aforesaid treaty, of which a true copy is hereunto annexed, hereby, and in consideration of the provisions of the said treaty being extended to us, transfer, surrender, and relinquish to Her Majesty the Queen, Her heirs and successors, to and for the use of the Government of Canada, all our right, title and privileges whatsoever, which we have or enjoy in the territory described in the said treaty, and every part thereof, to have and to hold to the use of Her Majesty the Queen, and Her heirs and successors forever. "
In return, Thomas Howard and John Lestock Reiddie, the Queen's representatives, agreed to give 160 acres of land for each family of five, with discounts or surcharges for any size other than that number. In this way, an adequate reserve should be created. This should be done as soon as practicable by a government official.
In the late 1870s, some members of the Iceland band moved from Doghead to Loon Straits on the east bank of Lake Winnipeg, where they did horticulture.
Icelanders, persistence of the traditional way of life
From 1876 Icelanders moved to the former main Indian island. In the years 2000 to 2002 archaeological investigations were carried out with the participation of one of the elders of the tribe and 9 students, which discovered more than 20 archaeological sites, especially at Rice Lake and Beaver Creek. It could be proven that there are practically no archaeologically relevant finds outside of the places where one could expect finds, i.e. on rivers, lakes and portages. In addition, it could be shown that the groups in the boreal areas hardly changed their way of life when the Europeans came to the region, but the movements between the traditionally used areas and the new settlements increased.
Current situation
In March 2010, 40 grandmothers, in the language of the Ojibwa kookums , occupied the tribal office to protest the blending of tribal and corporate finances and the refusal of Chief Larry Barker and his councilors to provide information on the tribe's finances. To do this, they lit holy fires in front of the office on March 10 and built a teepee . Consultations with the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development are planned.
See also
Web links
Remarks
- ↑ According to the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Registered Population .
- ↑ Manitoba Provincial Heritage Site No. 6, Wanipigow Lake Archaeological Site, (EgKx-1), Township 24, Range 12 E, Lake Wanipigow
- ↑ Frank Tough: 'As Their Natural Resources Fail': Native People and the Economic History of Northern Manitoba , University of British Columbia Press 1996, p. 149.
- ↑ This and the following from: Alexander Morris: The Treaties of Canada with the Indians of Manitoba and the North-West Territories , San Diego 2008, pp. 166-169.
- ^ Grandmothers occupy Hollow Water band office , in: Winnipeg Free Press , March 12, 2010