Indigenous and Community History

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The Ottawa Valley is largely the homeland of the Omamiwinini - Algonquin people, who have inhabited this land for 10,000 years. The other traditional Anishinaabek peoples of this particular area are the Ojibwe; elsewhere in the Valley are also the traditional lands of the Huron-Wendat and Haudenosaunee Iroquois people. The first recorded European to meet these nations was Samuel de Champlain, in 1613. Other Europeans then followed, from multiple lands - first to explore and to trade with the nations of this place and then eventually to settle here. The Anishinaabek people were welcoming hosts, helping immigrants to this area survive conditions and environments for which they were not prepared. However, despite the Royal Proclamation of 1763 and the Treaty of Niagara in 1764, which required agreement on both parts for any of the land to be sold to settlers, settlers gradually took over the land, the expansion pushing their former hosts aside. There was mostly little regard for Anishinaabek cultural, material, or spiritual identities - let alone awareness/understanding of how the land sustained these. Lanark County is unceded Algonquin territory; Windstone Fann is on 'Treaty 27 ¼"land (aka "the Rideau Purchase," 1819) - but a Treaty made with the southern Mississauga nation, not the local Algonquins.

 

Currently Algonquin peoples of Ontario are working with the federal government on a Land Claim Agreement In Lanark County there are no 'designated' First Nations Communities; in the south-western corner is the Shabot Lake band, which also has an office in the White Lake area. To the north, in Renfrew County, is the Pikwakanagan First Nations Community (formerly known as 'Golden Lake Reserve'). The government, as part of the Land Claim Agreement, is offering Algonquin peoples first right of refusal on purchase of Crown Land at White Lake.

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Algonquin/ Anishinaabe: Champlain recorded several communities living along the river - and called them all "Algonquin." The name became sufficiently entrenched that even various Anishinaabe tribes adopted it, despite it not being an original indigenous word. Today 'Algonquin' communities in Quebec and Ontario uses this word as a marker of identity - about 10,000 people. Some of these people are 'status' (a qualification term defined by the government), and some are historic communities where they determine their membership. In the counties of Lanark and Frontenac, Ardoch Algonquin First Nation and Shabot Obaadjiwan both fall into the second category.

 

The Algonquin Nation is a member of a larger group of nations, known as the Anishinaabe Nation, which means "original man or peoples." Anishinaabe peoples have lived and continue to live throughout the Great Lakes region, sharing similar culture and language, and include the Algonquin, Chippewa, Delaware, Mississauga, Nipissing, Odawa, Ojibwa, and the Potawatomi. There are ten Algonquin Communities in Ontario. They have a sacred set of teachings called the Gifts of the Seven Grandfathers, meant to guide one in taking care of the earth and the community of life: Wisdom, Love, Respect (of all creation, not just humans), Bravery, Honesty, Humility, Truth. The Grandfathers told the First Elder who received these teachings: "Be true in everything that you do. Be true to yourself and true to your fellow man. Always speak the truth. Each of these teachings must be used with the rest; you cannot have wisdom without love, respect, bravery, honesty, humility, and truth. You cannot be honest if you use only one or two of these, or if you leave out one. And to leave out one is to embrace the opposite of what that teaching is."

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In what is now known as Lanark-&-Frontenac Region: In 1844 land was reserved for Ardoch and Shabot/Sharbot Indigenous peoples at Bobs Lake, yet it was destroyed by illegal logging in the 1850s, and sold to Irish immigrants. In the 1930s, the Government set up a reserve at Golden Lake in Renfrew County, and gave status to those living there (Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation). Ardoch Algonquins were urged to abandon their homelands, and move there too. Because they chose not to move, they lost 'status.'

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The Ardoch Algonguin First Nation is an Anishnabek community in the Madawaska, Mississippi, and Rideau watersheds. Historically the community's roots are in the families who wintered where these rivers come close together, trapping, hunting, and participating in the cyclical life of the Ottawa River and its tributaries. In the spring, extended families would travel to the sugar bush to tap trees and process maple sugar, and to areas where pickerel spawn to spear and dry fish. In the summer they would travel back down to the headwaters on the Kiji Sibi where they would gather with other extended families. Their ancient stories tell of migrating from the East, following a prophecy of wild rice. These stories incorporate the prophesy of the Seven Fires, which includes a warning of the arrival of white man and the ensuing traumas, and the last prophesy foretelling reconciliation.

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The Snimikobi Algonquin First Nation represent the area in the same watershed, centered by the Mississippi River. Many of the members can trace their ancestry to this township - Beckwith - and to Joes Lake, named after Joeseph Whiteduck. Snimikobi translates to Beaver Creek - the name their ancestors had called the part of the Mississippi River in which they resided.

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The Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation is a non-status Anishinaabek community located at Sharbot Lake. It is currently in negotiation with the federal and provincial governments over claims to Aboriginal title in the area. The Sharbot community was offered a reservation in Bedford Township in 1844, but declined it, as they would not have been able to continue their traditional harvesting (how they fed themselves, and their associated culture/traditions/history/identity) and it was poor land - rejected even by the poorest settlers. As a result, they lost 'status.'

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Ongoing and specifically local issues: In the 1980s the Shabot community worked closely with the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation to oppose a commercial rice-harvesting venture on their traditional harvesting land - the Manoomin (wild rice) grows in the Mississippi river and on Mississippi Lake. Their communities were raided by the police, and many protesters were arrested. However, the venture was successfully stopped, and the Ardoch & Shabot peoples continue to harvest Manoomin for their own use.

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In 2007 and 2008, these communities worked together again to oppose uranium exploration in the Sharbot Lake area. They took part in a non-violent blockade of a proposed mining site, and were involved in legal action against a prospective uranium mining site on traditional territory. Despite legal obligations to consult with First Nations communities prior to commencing any economic activity on land they have claimed, the provincial government negotiated with the mining company without consent. Ardoch Algonquin co-chiefs Paula Sherman (a professor at Trent) and Robert Lovelace (a professor at Queens & Sir Sanford) were sentenced to six months in prison for contempt of court, fined $25,000 and $15,000 respectively, and an additional $10,000 fine was applied to the community. The same charges laid against the non-indigenous protesters were dropped 'without cost.' Despite continued protests, the mining went ahead. The mining company sued the Algonquin for $77 million - a lesser settlement was reached.