Atikameksheng Anishnawbek (

Anishinaabe language Ojibwe , also known as Ojibwa , Ojibway, Otchipwe,R. R. Bishop Baraga, 1878''A Theoretical and Practical Grammar of the Otchipwe Language''/ref> Ojibwemowin, or Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of North America of the Algonquian lan ...

: ''Adikamegosheng Anishinaabeg'', syncoped as ''Dikmegsheng Nishnaabeg''), formerly known as the Whitefish Lake First Nation, is an

Ojibway 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 Nation Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

in northern

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada. Its

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

is located at Whitefish Lake 6 on the shores of Whitefish Lake, 20 km southwest of Sudbury. It is immediately south of the community of Naughton in Greater Sudbury, and is considered part of Greater Sudbury's

Census Metropolitan Area The census geographic units of Canada are the census subdivisions defined and used by Canada's federal government statistics bureau Statistics Canada to conduct the country's quinquennial census. These areas exist solely for the purposes of stat ...

. In the

Canada 2016 Census The 2016 Canadian census was an enumeration of Canadian residents, which counted a population of 35,151,728, a change from its 2011 population of 33,476,688. The census, conducted by Statistics Canada, was Canada's seventh quinquennial census. ...

, the community of Whitefish Lake had a population of 386 living on the reserve, a decrease of 2.0% from 2011. Atikameksheng membership have

hunting Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, ...

and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

rights within the

Robinson-Huron Treaty The Robinson Treaties are two treaties signed between the Ojibwa chiefs and The Crown in 1850 in the Province of Canada. The first treaty involved Ojibwa chiefs along the north shore of Lake Superior, and is known as the Robinson Superior Treat ...

Area. An annual

pow-wow A powwow (also pow wow or pow-wow) is a gathering with dances held by many Native American and First Nations communities. Powwows today allow Indigenous people to socialize, dance, sing, and honor their cultures. Powwows may be private or pu ...

is held in July each year. The current chief of the First Nation is Craig Nootchtai. In May 2008, the chief and council of Atikameksheng Anishnawbek announced litigation against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and

for violating the Robinson-Huron Treaty, which states that the First Nation should have been granted a reserve much larger than Whitefish Lake 6. In 2010, the community was selected as the host community for Building Homes and Building Skills, a project by television personality

Mike Holmes Michael James Holmes (born August 3, 1963) is a Canadian builder/contractor, businessman, investor, television host, and philanthropist. In his first television series, ''Holmes on Homes,'' he rescues homeowners from renovations gone wrong. He ...

to train First Nations people in construction and building trades. The community passed a resolution in 2006 to request that the federal government change the community's official name from Whitefish Lake, to realign with the traditional name Atikameksheng Anishnawbek. The name change officially took effect in October 2013. In 2016, some location filming for the Sudbury-produced television drama series '' Cardinal'' took place on the reserve. The films of

Darlene Naponse Darlene Naponse is an Anishinaabe filmmaker, writer, director, and community activist from Canada. She is most noted for her 2018 film ''Falls Around Her'', which premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival in September 2018 and subs ...

, a writer and film director from the community, have also been shot on-reserve, including ''Cradlesong'', ''Every Emotion Costs'', ''

Falls Around Her ''Falls Around Her'' is a 2018 Canadian drama film, directed by Darlene Naponse.

'' and '' Stellar''.Colleen Romaniuk
"Acclaimed filmmaker shooting Indigenous love story on Atikameksheng territory"
'' Sudbury Star'', July 8, 2021.

Notable members

Loma Lyns Loma Lynn Rowlinson (formerly Mathias), known professionally as Loma Lyns, is a Canadian singer-songwriter and television personality. Career Her single "Red Handed" was a Top 40 hit on the Canadian country charts in 1990, and her single "Counti ...

, singer and songwriter *

, filmmaker and writer

References

External links

Atikameksheng Anishnawbek First Nation

Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada profile
{{Authority control First Nations governments in Ontario Ojibwe governments Ojibwe reserves in Ontario

Notable members

References

Further reading

External links