The Aamjiwnaang First Nation (formerly known as Chippewas of Sarnia First Nation) is an

Anishinaabe The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawatomi, ...

(

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

) First Nations Band located on reserve land by the

St. Clair River The St. Clair River (french: Rivière Sainte-Claire) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed November 7, 2011 river in central North America which flows from Lake Huron int ...

, three miles south of the southern tip of

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrology, Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Strait ...

. The reserve is located across from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

border from

Port Huron, Michigan Port Huron is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of St. Clair County. The population was 30,184 at the 2010 census. The city is adjacent to Port Huron Township but is administered separately. Located along the St. Clair ...

, and is a result of treaties that were negotiated with the Crown in the 1820s. There are approximately 2,000

band members Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran *Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

with about 850 living on the reserve. Their heritage language is

. The word ''Aamjiwnaang'' (am-JIN-nun) means "meeting place by the rapid water", which describes the surrounding communities.

Environmental issues

The Aamjiwnaang community has expressed concern regarding its proximity to

petrochemical Petrochemicals (sometimes abbreviated as petchems) are the chemical products obtained from petroleum by refining. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable sou ...

, polymer, and

chemical plant A chemical plant is an industrial process plant that manufactures (or otherwise processes) chemicals, usually on a large scale. The general objective of a chemical plant is to create new material wealth via the chemical or biological transform ...

s in the area, as

birth rates The birth rate for a given period is the total number of live human births per 1,000 population divided by the length of the period in years. The number of live births is normally taken from a universal registration system for births; populati ...

of their people have been documented by the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

journal ''

Environmental Health Perspectives ''Environmental Health Perspectives'' (''EHP'') is a peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qua ...

'' as deviating from the normal ratio of close to 50% boys, 50% girls. The ratio as found between 1999 and 2003 by the journal was roughly 33% boys, and 67% girls. The First Nation is concerned that this abnormal trend is due to adverse effects of maternal and fetal exposure to the

effluent Effluent is wastewater from sewers or industrial outfalls that flows directly into surface waters either untreated or after being treated at a facility. The term has slightly different meanings in certain contexts, and may contain various pollut ...

and

emissions Emission may refer to: Chemical products * Emission of air pollutants, notably: **Flue gas, gas exiting to the atmosphere via a flue ** Exhaust gas, flue gas generated by fuel combustion ** Emission of greenhouse gases, which absorb and emit rad ...

of the nearby chemical plants. This is the first community in the world to have a birth rate of two girls to every boy.

Demographics

Prominent Members

* Christopher Plain - Current Chief * June Simon - Band Manager * Carolyn Nahmabin - Membership * Fred Plain - Former President of the

Union of Ontario Indians The Anishinabek Nation, also known as the Union of Ontario Indians, is a First Nations political organization representing 39 member Anishinabek Nation First Nations in Canada in the province of Ontario, Canada. The organization's roots predate Eu ...

* David D. Plain - Author of The Plains of Aamjiwnaang:Our History

References

External links

Aamjiwnaang First Nation - Home

2001 Community Profiles
for Sarnia 45 from

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada profile
{{Authority control First Nations governments in Ontario Municipalities in Lambton County

Environmental issues

Demographics

Prominent Members

See also

References

External links