Assabaska Explained

Assabaska
Official Name:Assabaska Indian Reserve
Settlement Type:Indian reserve
Pushpin Map:Canada Ontario
Pushpin Mapsize:200
Coordinates:48.9833°N -120°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Canada
Subdivision Type1:Province
Subdivision Name1:Ontario
Subdivision Type2:District
Subdivision Name2:Rainy River
Subdivision Type3:First Nations
Subdivision Name3:Big Grassy, Onigaming
Area Footnotes:[1]
Area Land Km2:8.71
Population Footnotes:[2]
Population Total:0
Population As Of:2021

Assabaska is a Saulteaux First Nation reserve in northwestern Ontario on Lake of the Woods. It is shared between the Big Grassy First Nation and the Ojibways of Onigaming First Nation.

The Assabaska reserve was created in 1999 as a part of a land claim settlement in 1999.[3]

History

The lands that are now part of the Assabaska reserve were originally intended to become Reserve No. 35E for the Assabaska First Nation under the terms of Treaty 3, signed in 1873. Because the land was never surveyed and through negligence and lack of consultation, the reserve was never created and the land was transferred from the federal to the provincial government in 1958. In 1967, these lands became part of the mainland portion of the Lake of the Woods Provincial Park. Its campground was a loss leader, losing thousands of dollars per year.[4]

In 1977, the First Nations of Mishkosiiniiziibing (Big Grassy River) and the Ojibways of Onigaming (successors to the Assabaska First Nation) filed a land claim, which was settled in the late 1990s. As part of the settlement, the mainland portion of the provincial park was deregulated, and converted into the Assabaska Reserve. It remains a campground, now known as Assabaska Ojibway Heritage Park.[4] [5]

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://fnp-ppn.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/fnp/Main/Search/RVDetail.aspx?RESERVE_NUMBER=09670&lang=eng Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada profile
  2. Web site: Agency 1, Ontario (Code 3559062) census profile . Statistics Canada . . 9 February 2022 . 5 May 2024.
  3. Web site: Settled land claims and other agreements . www.ontario.ca . Ontario Ministry of Indigenous Affairs . 1 May 2023 . en . 30 March 2023.
  4. Book: McNab . David . Circles of time : aboriginal land rights and resistance in Ontario . 1999 . Wilfrid Laurier University Press . Waterloo, Ont., Canada . 9780889206939 . 75–88 . 13 April 2023 . 23 April 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230423083645/https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Circles_of_Time/DwdPtrrz3W8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Lake+of+the+Woods+Provincial+Park%22&pg=PA88&printsec=frontcover . live .
  5. Web site: Coyle . Michael . Addressing Aboriginal Land and Treaty Rights in Ontario: An Analysis of Past Policies and Options for the Future . www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca . 13 April 2023 . March 2005 . 24 October 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221024221130/http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/inquiries/ipperwash/policy_part/research/pdf/Coyle.pdf . live .