Mishkeegogamang Ojibway Nation
The Mishkeegogamang Ojibway Nation is one of the First Nations in the Canadian province of Ontario who belong to the Anishinabe . The members of the tribe live predominantly in Mishkeegogamang, formerly Osnaburgh , and they own two reservations at the influence of the Albany River in Lake St. Joseph .
Of the 1,650 recognized members (July 2010), 938 lived in Osnaburgh Reserves 63A and 63B. These cover 5018.6 and 13677.8 ha. 586 members live outside of reservations, the rest in other reservations.
In addition to these areas, the traditional territory of the First Nation includes the regions around Bottle Hill, Poplar Heights, Sandy Road, Doghole Bay, Rat Rapids, Cedar Rapids, Ten Houses, Eric Lake, Ace Lake, Metcalfe, Pashkokogan, Mile 50, Fitchie Lake, Mile 42, Mile 29, Menako, as well as the shores of Lake St. Joseph.
In 1905, the Canadian government signed a treaty with them that took away their traditional territory. In addition, they had to make way for dams and mining companies. They have had their traditional name again since 1993, but the place, like most of the country, is still suffering from the consequences of Canada's Indian policy.
history
Early history
The five clans of the tribe are named Redhorse (Sucker), Loon (Loon), caribou, sturgeon and bear. Their ancestors came from the Great Lakes, from which they migrated westward from the 9th century. They were organized in family groups of 10 to 30 members. Until around 1850, the family groups often corresponded to clans.
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company established trading posts on Hudson Bay and James Bay in the late 17th century . At the same time, Ojibway groups began to displace the Cree there. At the end of the 18th century it was no longer enough to wait for the arrival of individual trappers and hunters, but the company began to set up trading posts. With one such assignment, John Best came to the Albany River in 1786. At the northeast end of Lake St. Joseph he set up a trading post, which he named Osnaburgh House .
Numerous new goods came to the Mishkeegogamang, such as metal goods (knives, pots and pans), rifles, alcohol, tobacco, soap, goods that they could only exchange for fur. As early as 1800 they were dependent on the HBC. From around 1820 signs of overhunting became noticeable, so that until 1880 famine broke out again and again. In addition, the post was the only link with the provincial and Canadian governments. These governments supported logging and the mining of raw materials, and Ottawa decided to enter into contracts with those tribes that had not yet signed any contracts. The test case for readiness for this was Osnaburgh House.
James Bay Treaty
From July 1905 the local chief was supposed to sign contract No. 9 of the so-called Numbered Treaties , 37 other tribes were to follow. This treaty was also known as the James Bay Treaty .
Under the leadership of AG Meindl, who was mainly responsible for medical tasks, and the police officers James Parkinson and JL Vanasse, the government delegation in Dinorwic met TC Rae, the chief trader of the Hudson's Bay Company . He had instructions from his superior, the company's commissioner , to arrange transportation and repairs. He was supposed to take the tour group to Osnaburgh from July 3rd. Head man was James Swain, a skilled Albany River guide and postman who knew the river rapids well.
After a long portage we went to Big Sandy Lake, on July 5th past the Frenchman's Head reservation, whose residents helped them through the Ishkaqua portage. From there it went to Lac Seul, where another post of the Hudson's Bay Company was. The local employee JD McKenzie took on the role of interpreter, the tour group tried to prevent the Ojibway at Lac Seul from having their traditional festivities, but at the same time found that they were apparently doing well financially.
On July 11th, they reached Osnaburg on Lake St. Joseph, where around 330 Ojibway had gathered in summer camp. In contrast to the groups reached up to now, which had already had to cede almost all of their territories in Contract No. 3, i.e. since October 1873, there was no contract here.
The Indians of the region knew the provisions of the treaty of 1873, but the delegates intended to offer them worse conditions. For example, the annual payments were to be reduced from $ 5 to $ 4, and worse was that there were no provisions for the provision of cattle, ammunition or grain to give people the opportunity to make a living from agriculture instead of hunting and fishing. It was suggested to the Indians that they choose a delegation to whom the provisions of the treaty would be translated.
Missabay, who the government delegates believed to be the "recognized chief" and who was indeed a respected leader, spoke in a speech expressing concern that they would have to go to the designated reserve and not be allowed to fish or hunt. After assuring that their way of life would not be changed in any way, they asked for a day to think about it. At a meeting the next day they declared that they wanted to enter into a contractual relationship with His Majesty because they believed that only good was willed. The money could do a lot of good, especially since each signer got $ 8, so they were ready to sign. According to the contract, the tribe called the band was entitled to a chief and two councilors (chief, or councillors), with Missabay as the "chief" and John Skunk and George Wawaashkung as advisors. The election and the conclusion of the contract were celebrated with a great ceremony. The blind Missabay had to raise the Canadian flag for a while and admonished the younger ones in the tribe not to put their own opinion on the worldly experienced men who would bring much good.
The influence of the local Church Missionary Society, which maintained a spacious church there, where services were held every evening, should not be neglected. The church leader was Jabez Williams, who also provided interpreting services and in whose house the legation lived.
On the morning of July 13th, the discussion about where exactly the reservation should be located was in full swing; they opted for the reserve that still exists today. The delegation left Osnaburgh that same day.
The family groups that had met regularly for generations were now a tribe, they had a strictly limited reserve that was divided into two areas, which were named Osnaburgh 63A and 63B , and their traditional territory was now part of the world market for raw materials, Real estate, wood. They had an elected chief and an advisor each for 100 “tribesmen”.
Continuation of traditional life, dam and road construction
At first, the nature of the economy and lifestyle changed little. However, a few log cabins were built on the south shore of Lake St. Joseph, by the 1950s two churches, around 30 houses, a council building were built on the site known as the Old Village, which is opposite Osnaburgh House.
In 1928 the government decided to build a reservoir to generate electricity. The state-owned company was Ontario Hydro. In 1934 a second dam was built, the Indians were not even informed that part of their traditional area was flooded. There were also burial sites among them.
In 1954, Highway 599 was built from Savant Lake to the road between Dog Hole Bay and Pickle Lake. It was created for mine work. In order not to stand in the way of these ventures, the Ojibway had to move away from Old Willage and go to a place called New Osnaburgh , now the Mishkeegogamang Reservation. It was closer to the highway, and by 1960 most had moved, largely abandoning Old Willage. Many now stayed permanently, especially as the Canadian welfare state lured with monthly payments, while the winter trips were often long, hard and sometimes unsuccessful. There were few jobs in the village and people were not used to living close together - an average of 13 residents per house.
In addition, the families were deprived of the children who were sent to schools far away, the so-called residential schools. In the case of the tribe, this was Poplar Hill Residential School , 300 km away as the crow flies. Many of the returnees no longer understood their parents' language, problems with alcohol and other drugs increased by leaps and bounds, so that many children had to be taken out of the family. The school was one of the last of its kind to close in 1989, and in the early 1990s every second child was receiving medical treatment for depression. In addition, many mothers consumed alcohol and other drugs during pregnancy, which increased the number of inherited children.
On November 15, 1993, the tribal council decided to drop the name Oznaburgh Band and call themselves Mishkeegogamang again .
In 1999, Ontario Hydro paid the tribe $ 17.25 million for damage caused by the flooding of Lake St. Joseph.
In 2009, Chief Connie Gray-McKay and PC Gold Inc. signed a Memorandum of Understanding regarding the exploitation of the Pickle Crow Gold Mine.
See also
Web links
- Mishkeegogamang Ojibway Nation
- The James Bay Treaty - Treaty No. 9 (Made in 1905 and 1906) and Adhesions Made in 1929 and 1930, INAC website
Individual evidence
- ↑ According to the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Mishkeegogamang ( Memento of the original from May 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ↑ Generations of betrayal: Mishkeegogamang, called "Mish" by those who live there, is a community that sums up all that is wrong with Canada's treatment of Native people. (Native People - The Ojibway Of Mishkeegogamang).
- ↑ Mishkeegogamang Ojibway First Nation and PC Gold Sign Exploration MOU , Mining Top News, May 11, 2009 ( Memento of the original from August 29, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
