Wiikwemkong | |
|---|---|
| Wiikwemkong Unceded Reserve | |
 Welcome sign | |
| Nickname: Wiiki | |
  Wiikwemkong | |
| Coordinates:45°42′N81°43′W / 45.700°N 81.717°W /45.700; -81.717 | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Ontario |
| District | Manitoulin |
| First Nation | Wiikwemkoong |
| Government | |
| • Type | First Nation |
| • Chief | Tim Ominika |
| • MP | Jim Belanger (CPC) |
| • MPP | Bill Rosenberg (PC) |
| Area | |
| • Land | 412.97 km2 (159.45 sq mi) |
| Population (2021)[1] | |
• Total | 8,431 |
| • Density | 6.3/km2 (16/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| Postal code span | P0P 2J0 |
| Area code | 705 |
| Website | www.wiikwemkoong.ca |
TheWiikwemkong First Nation is aFirst Nation onManitoulin Island inNorthern Ontario. TheWiikwemkong Unceded Territory (nicknamedWiky, previously namedWikwemikong) is theFirst Nationreserve in the northeast ofManitoulin Island inManitoulin District,Ontario,Canada. Wiikwemkong is anunceded Indigenous reserve in Canada, which means that it has not "relinquished title to its land to the government by treaty or otherwise."
The local Ojibwe placename iswiikwemkong (Manitoulin dialect; notice the vowel dropping) with the locative-ong ('at') form ofwiikwemik 'bay with a gently sloping bottom'.[2] The spellingWikwemikong is from dialects spoken elsewhere (or in earlier times) that retain thei. The initial elementwiikwe- occurs in other forms as 'bay'; the final element-mik cannot be foramik 'beaver' (its local form ismik), afolk etymology that violates the rules for Algonquian stem formation. It can be identified as a variant of the medial elementaamik-, which appears, for example, in Southwestern Ojibweminaamikaa 'there are breakers, shoals, banks (of sand or rocks)',[3] which has initialmin- 'islandlike'. The presence or absence ofaa- is found in several medial elements in Ojibwe and other Algonquian languages.[4]
The reserve's former name was Manitoulin Unceded Indian Reserve. The Wiikwemkong Band changed it on August 20, 1968, to Wikwemikong Unceded Indian people.
The reserve is occupied byOjibwa,Odawa, andPotawatomi peoples under theCouncil of Three Fires.
Wiikwemkong occupies a large peninsula on the eastern end of Manitoulin Island, which is connected to the rest of the island by an isthmus separating South Bay from Manitowaning Bay. The reserve's primary access is via Wiikwemkong Way, which continues off the reserve as Cardwell Street and connects toHighway 6 atManitowaning. The reserve has a land area of 412.97 km2 (159 sq mi) and is the fifth-largest Indian reserve in Canada by area. It is bordered on its west byAssiginack township, by which the peninsula is connected to the rest of Manitoulin Island. The vast majority of the reserve's border is, however, a water boundary withNortheastern Manitoulin and the Islands, by which it is nearly surrounded except for its border with Assiginack.
ThePoint Grondine Park, located on the mainland nearKillarney, also belongs to the Wiikwemkong band. This area, which has been unpopulated since the Point Grondine band moved to Wiikwemkong proper in the 1940s,[5] remained unoccupied and virtually unused by the band until the park was established in 2015.[6]
From 1836 to 1862, a considerable portion of Manitoulin Island was set aside as the "Manitoulin Island Indian Reserve" under theBond Head Treaty. The most important of the pre-confederation treaties were the Robinson Treaties because all subsequent treaties were modeled after these. In 1850, William B. Robinson, a government negotiator and former fur trader, proposed that First Nations reserves be created on the Crown Land acquired through treaties. These Reserves were intended to be the answer to what the immigrant settlers needed for land settlement. First Nation peoples would be set apart on reserves from the new settlers. The Robinson-Huron and Robinson-Superior treaties were signed in September 1850 for large territories north of the two Great Lakes.
According to written records, Lake Huron and Lake Superior area leaders surrendered nearly 15,000,000 hectares of land and the islands in exchange for the establishment of 24 reserves and a payment of approximately $10,000 to be followed by additional annual payment of $2700.
In 1862, most of the islands were again ceded to the government of Canada under theMacDougall Treaty for new settlement by non-natives, resulting in the creation of new reserves atWest Bay, Sheguiandah, Sheshegwaning,Pitawankwat Cockburn Island and Sucker Creek. However, two bands which occupied the land that now comprises Wiikwemkong claimed that the bands that signed the Treaty did not represent them, and thus continued to exist as a remnant of the Manitoulin Island Indian Reserve.
In 1968, an amalgamation took place among three bands: Manitoulin Island Unceded Indian Reserve, Point Grondine and South Bay. This amalgamation created the Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve.[7]
The band filed aclaim with theCanadian government on the issue of the jurisdiction of the Wikwemikong islands in 1984, but the government denied that the band had any right to these islands in 1997. The two parties restarted negotiations in 2007. As of 2012, the claim is still ongoing.[8]
In 2014 the Constitution – Wiikwemkong G'chi Naaknigewin – was ratified, subsequently changing the name to Wiikwemkong Unceded Territory.[9]
In addition to the primary settlement at Wiikwemkong, smaller settlements on the reserve include Buzwah, Kaboni, Murray Hill, South Bay, Two O'Clock, Wabozominissing and Wikwemikonsing.
The reserve is served by five churches:
There are two elementary schools, Wasse Abin Junior School (JK, SK, Grades 1-4) and Wasse Abin Pontiac School (Grades 5-8) and Wasse Abin High School.
Two health clinics provide basic services:
Wiikwemkong Way is the key route in the communities and connects withOntario Highway 6.
The closest airport isManitowaning/Manitoulin East Municipal Airport inManitowaning, Ontario. There is no commercial service from this airport.
Ontario Northland operates a twice daily bus that connects to other places on Manitoulin Island as well as the nearest major city,Sudbury, Ontario.[10]
The reserve is also home to the Wiikwemkong Cultural Festival (Wiikwemkoong Pow-Wow) which is held annually every Civic Holiday weekend (first weekend in August).
This annual event is touted as the largest and oldest pow-wow in Eastern Canada. Considered to be one of the major pow wows in North America, it is attended by many aboriginal dancers who participate in competition of all age ranges, demonstrating traditional, grass, jingle and fancy dancing.
Wiikwemkoong is also home to a professional theatre company,De-ba-jeh-mu-jig Theatre Group, which stages and produces plays aboutFirst Nations life and culture, within the mission's ruins next toHoly Cross Church.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Places adjacent to Wiikwemkoong First Nation | |
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