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Temagami First Nation

Coordinates: 46°59′N 80°04′W / 46.983°N 80.067°W / 46.983; -80.067
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Bear Island 1
Indian reserve
Bear Island Indian Reserve No. 1
Bear Island 1 is located in Ontario
Bear Island 1
Bear Island 1
Coordinates: 46°59′N 80°04′W / 46.983°N 80.067°W / 46.983; -80.067
Country Canada
Province Ontario
DistrictNipissing
First NationTemagami
Area
[1]
 • Land2.91 km2 (1.12 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)[1]
 • Total
Incompletely enumerated
Time zoneUTC-5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
Websitewww.temagamifirstnation.ca

Temagami First Nation is located on Bear Island in the heart of Lake Temagami, the second largest in Lake Temagami after Temagami Island. Its community is known as Bear Island 1. Temagami First Nation (TFN) members are status Indians under the Indian Act that live on and off Bear Island.[2]

The Teme-Augama Anishnabai ("Deep Water by the Shore People") are part of the Anishinaabe people, and Bear Island represents only a small portion of the Anishinaabe's Nindakiiminan ("our land"; locally syncoped as Ndakiimnan or "n'daki menan"), which includes over ten thousand square kilometers of land in the area. Some citizens are status Indian (TFN) within the framework of the Indian Act. The majority are not accorded status under the Indian Act, but are still recognized as full community members by the Teme-Augama Anishnabai.[3][2]

History

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Human occupation

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The Temagami First Nation website states, "The Teme-Augama Anishnabai have utilized the Temagami region of Canada for over 9,000 years."[3]

Scientific evidence of early occupation of the area is sparse. Lake Temagami was free of glacial ice at about 12,150 cal B.P.[4] There is scientific evidence that the Three Pines site, located at Sand Point on the hub of Lake Temagami near Bear Island, could have been occupied after 7,500 B.P.[4] The Three Pines site includes artifacts similar those found elsewhere that dated to the Archaic Period (7,000-3,000 B.P.).[5] There is radiocarbon-dated evidence of human occupation 8488 ± 105 cal B.P. 130 km to the west at Fox Lake and 5791 ± 275 cal B.P. to the north east where the Montreal River empties into Lake Timiskaming.[4]

Ignace Tonené in 1909

The Temagami Indigenous people built homes on Bear Island in the 1880s in addition to homes on their own family lands. Early chiefs included White Bear (Wabimakwa),[6] Nebenegwune[7] and François Kabimigwune, who was succeeded by his son Ignace Tonené in 1878, who was succeeded by John Paul who died in 1893, leaving Ignace Tonené in power until 1910 when he gave way to his younger brother Frank White Bear.[8]

In 1943, Bear Island was purchased by the Department of Indian Affairs from the Province of Ontario, for the sum of $3,000.00, in order to be designated as a permanent reserve.

The Temagami First Nation refused to accept Bear Island as a reserve until they were denied housing subsidy funds in 1968 until it was agreed, under duress, that Bear Island would become an official Reserve in accordance with the Indian Act of Canada.

Official reserve status was granted in 1971 and the establishment of the Band Office occurred shortly after in the former Department of Lands and Forests building which had been constructed in approximately 1903.

Maple Mountain in Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park is a sacred site of the Temagami First Nation. The Teme-Augama Anishnabai call the mountain Chee-bay-jing, meaning "the place where the spirits go". It is considered the most sacred and powerful place within their realm.

Land claims

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In 1973, The Teme-Augama Anishnabai exercised a land caution against development on the Crown land of 10,000 square kilometres-most of the Temagami area. The attorney-general of Ontario pursued legal action against the Band for this caution. The Teme-Augama Anishnabai lost this court case in 1984 and proceeded with an appeal to the Supreme Court.

In 1988, the Ontario Minister of Natural Resources, Vince Kerrio approved the expansion of the Red Squirrel logging road, directly through Anishinaabe territory. This prompted a series of roadblocks by the Teme-Augama Anishnabai and by environmentalists in 1988-1989.[9]

In 1991, the Teme-Augama Anishnabai and the Ontario Government created the Wendaban Stewardship Authority to manage the four townships near the logging road.[10] The committee eventually dissolved.

In August 1991, the Teme-Augama Anishnabai lost the land caution, though it was determined that Ontario and Canada have an outstanding fiduciary obligation for unfulfilled Robinson Huron Treaty obligations to which the Teme-Augama Anishnabai have been illegally adhered to. The Teme-Augama Anishnabai failed appeal in 1994 eventually lead to the land caution being lifted.[11][12]

The reserve

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The reserve is situated on a one square mile island in the pristine Temagami Wilderness and Bear Island is home to over 200 permanent residents out of a total of over 500 registered members. Community Days, held in late summer each year, bring back a large part of the full membership as it is an opportunity to renew friendships and family ties and participate in annual Band Council elections.

The Band Council of Temagami First Nation is currently composed of Chief Arnold Paul, Second Chief John Turner, Councillors: Micheal Paul, Wayne Potts, Alice Moore, Jamie Friday, Jamie Saville and Doug Mckenzie Sr. The council was elected in July 2017 for a 3 year Term.[13]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Bear Island 1 census profile". 2011 Census of Population. Statistics Canada. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  2. ^ a b Hodgins, Bruce W. (2001-10-17). "Land Claim Negotiations". Ottertooth. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
  3. ^ a b "Teme-Augama Anishnabai Chief & Council". Temagami First Nation. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
  4. ^ a b c Gordon, Diana (2013). "A Lake through Time: Archaeological and Palaeo-Environmental Investigations at Lake Temagami, 1985–1994" (PDF). Ontario Archaeology (93). Retrieved 2025-03-25.
  5. ^ Gordon, Diana (1993). "Prehistoric Occupations at Lake Temagami". Temagami: A Debate on Wilderness. p. 162.
  6. ^ White Bear Old Growth Forest Trail Guide Retrieved on 2007-06-27
  7. ^ Kent McNeil (1992) The High Cost of Accepting Benefits from the Crown: A Comment on the Temagami Indian Land Case Canadian Native Law Reporter. Volume 1992, Number 1 (1992), p. 40-69.
  8. ^ Hodgins, Bruce W.; Morison, James. "Biography – TONENÉ, IGNACE – Volume XIV (1911-1920) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography". www.biographi.ca. Retrieved 2022-04-26.
  9. ^ 3CR; McIntyre, Iain (2018). "Treesits, lock-ons and barricades: Environmental blockading in the 1980s". Commons Social Change Library. Archived from the original on 2022-05-30. Retrieved 2022-05-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ "Anthony to head new Authority". North Bay Nugget. May 24, 1991. pp. 1, 4.
  11. ^ The Bear Island Foundation and Gary Potts, William Twain and Maurice McKenzie, Jr. on behalf of themselves and on behalf of all other members of the Teme-Augama Anishnabay and Temagami Band of Indians v. The Attorney General for Ontario, Supreme_Court_Reports_(Canada) [1991 2 SCR 570] (Supreme Court of Canada 1991-08-15) ("It was unnecessary, however, to examine the specific nature of the aboriginal right because that right was surrendered, whatever the situation on the signing of the Robinson-Huron Treaty, by arrangements subsequent to the treaty by which the Indians adhered to the treaty in exchange for treaty annuities and a reserve. The Crown breached its fiduciary obligations to the Indians by failing to comply with some of its obligation under this agreement; these matters currently form the subject of negotiations between the parties. These breaches do not alter the fact that the aboriginal right was extinguished.").
  12. ^ Santin, Aldo (1991-08-16). "Indian leaders give land ruling mixed reviews". Winnipeg Free Press. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2019-07-28. Retrieved 2019-07-28.
  13. ^ "Temagami First Nation Chief & Council". Temagami First Nation. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
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