Pauingassi First Nation

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The Pauingassi First Nation is one of the Canadian First Nations in the east of the province of Manitoba . The 650 relatives (September 2016) belong to the Anishinabe and mostly live in the Indian reservation Pauingassi (598 inhabitants, 260.5 ha). This is located 280 km northeast of Winnipeg and 15 miles north of the Little Grand Rapids , on a peninsula in Fishing Lake, which drains into the Berens River .

There is only one winter road to the reserve from Pine Dock and Bloodvein (10 miles). The next airfield with a 1000 m runway is at Little Grand Rapids. The airfield can only be reached from the reserve by boat over the Fishing Lake or by seaplane, in winter by snowmobile. In 2006 there was practically no medical care, only medical personnel were flown in in an emergency. The supply is still poor.

The community lives traditionally, that is, from fishing, trapping and wild rice. The community is "dry," which means it is illegal to bring alcohol there. All children speak the Ojibway language. Pauingassi is said to mean 'high sand dune'.

history

Originally around 1800 the ancestors of the Ojibwa (Anishinabe) came from Lake Superior , some ancestors from Moose Factory on James Bay , at the extreme south end of Hudson Bay .

In 1875 the Pauingassi were among the signatories of a treaty with Canada, which was founded in 1867 . This was contract no. 5 of the so-called Numbered Treaties .

A well-known figure was one of the last medicine men in the tribe. Naaniwan (Fair Wind) built two houses and a sweat lodge north of Little Grand Rapids, where he performed the waabanowin, among other ceremonies. His reputation as a healer was widespread. From a vision he drew the right to develop a new ceremony, a dream drum ceremony , which acted as a mediator between the living and the spirits of the dead. The anthropologist Irving Hallowell witnessed the dance.

The Mennonites Henry and Elna Neufeld founded a congregation among the Pauingassi in 1955 as members of the Mennonite Pioneer Mission , which in turn was an agency of the Bergthaler Mennonite Church of Manitoba from 1945 to 1957 . Mennonites had first started their work in Manitoba with the Indians on Matheson Island in Lake Winnipeg in 1948. This community was followed by Pauingassi and Cross Lake in 1955. In 1970, Mennonites founded the Pauingassi Trading Post , which was taken over by 13 of the parishioners in 1980. It burned down in the 1990s and had to be closed.

In the 1960s and 1970s, museums bought up numerous artifacts from the tribe. So Professor Jack Steinbring of the University of Winnipeg traveled to the Pauingassi and bought as many artifacts as he could get. 240 of the 400 pieces he acquired came from the Pauingassi, and he believed he had to save them. The tribe kept in touch with the university and elders of the tribe gave lectures and organized exercises with the students there. In 1999, his successor, Jennifer Brown, discovered that objects had been "returned" to nine people, but the tribe knew nothing about it. Eight of the nine people did not belong to the tribe, the ninth did not exist. Some were from the Three Fires Midewiwin Society in Wisconsin , which was made up of three tribal groups dedicated to the lifestyle of that society. One was a member of the Three Fires Society in Manitoba. He believed that the Pauingassi had agreed. In addition, there were many more pieces missing than had been thought, and the documentation was insufficient. 2002 it was found that 89 objects were missing, including a water drum (water drum) of the shaman fair wind. On June 21, 2002, the Three Fires Society returned the drum, among other items.

In 1985 the Southeast Economic Development Corporation was established as an economically oriented association of several First Nations; these were the Berens River, Black River, Bloodvein, Brokenhead, Buffalo Point , the Hollow Water, Little Grand Rapids and the Poplar River First Nation . From 1987 Pauingassi was connected to the power grid of the province.

In 1988 the Pauingassi separated from the Little Grand Rapids First Nation . Until 1991 they were not recognized as a main band.

According to a Commission report, drug use became a pressing problem, especially among young people. In 2003 it was found that every second child sniffed solvents. In September 2005, the Omiishoosh Memorial School opened its doors, where the children of the tribe are taught up to grade 9 . It is reminiscent of one of the Elders, Charlie Owen.

The tribe is one of the few ethnic groups affected by a rare disease, multiple hereditary exostotic disease (MHE).

In 2001, according to the results of the census, Pauingassi had 417 inhabitants, five years later only 352 inhabitants. According to the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development , there were 547 Pauingassi living on the reservation in February 2010, compared to almost 600 in September 2016.

literature

  • Henry and Elna Neufeld: By God's Grace. Ministry with Native People in Pauingassi , Winnipeg: CMBC Publications, 1991.
  • Patricia Harms: The Store of Peace. A History of the Pauingassi Trading Post, 1969-1980 , in: The Journal of Mennonite Studies 19 (2001) 127-143.

Web links

See also

Remarks

  1. ↑ According to the information from the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development , First Nation Profiles: [1] .
  2. ↑ Nursing shortages plague reserves. Ottawa downplays a severe problem its own data reveal , Winnipeg Free Press , November 13, 2009.
  3. ↑ Maureen Matthews, Roger Roulette: Fair Wind's Dream: Naamiwan Obawaajigewin , in: Reading Beyond Words: Contexts for Native History , Broadview Press, 1998, pp. 330–359.
  4. ^ Pauingassi Mennonite Church (Pauingassi, Manitoba, Canada) , Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online
  5. ↑ The associated archival material can be found in the Mennonite Heritage Center in Winnipeg.
  6. ^ Catherine Bell, Val Napoleon: First Nations Cultural Heritage and Law: Case Studies, Voices, and Perspectives , University of British Columbia Press 2008, pp. 378f.
  7. ^ Manitoba Office of the Children's Advocate , 2003, in: Winnipeg Free Press, Aug. 24, 2005.
  8. ↑ Juliane Madee: Evaluation of the care of patients with multiple hereditary exostoses (MHE) and their relatives , Diss., Hamburg 2008.
  9. ^ Statistics Canada