Berens River First Nation ( oj, Mememwi-ziibiing) is a

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

band government In Canada, an Indian band or band (french: bande indienne, link=no), sometimes referred to as a First Nation band (french: bande de la Première Nation, link=no) or simply a First Nation, is the basic unit of government for those peoples subjec ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, Canada. The First Nation has two reserves: Berens River 13 and Pigeon River 13A, located in the

boreal forest Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, ...

east of

Lake Winnipeg Lake Winnipeg (french: Lac Winnipeg, oj, ᐑᓂᐸᑲᒥᐠᓴᑯ˙ᑯᐣ, italics=no, Weenipagamiksaguygun) is a very large, relatively shallow lake in North America, in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Manitoba, Canada. I ...

. The First Nation is governed by a chief and five councillors. Berens River is a member of the

Southeast Resource Development Council The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

with offices in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

. This Tribal Council has 9 member First Nations. The settlement of

Berens River, Manitoba Berens River is located in Manitoba, Canada, along the eastern shore of Lake Winnipeg. This community is near the mouth of the Berens River, which flows west from the Ontario headwaters. Prior to 2017, the community was accessible only by wint ...

, with a population of 111 people in 2011 borders the main settlement of Berens River 13 with a population of 1,028 in 2011. The two communities create a

population centre In demographics, the center of population (or population center) of a region is a geographical point that describes a centerpoint of the region's population. There are several ways of defining such a "center point", leading to different geogr ...

, also called ''Berens River'', at the mouth of the

Berens River The Berens River is a river in the provinces of Manitoba and Ontario, Canada. It flows west from an unnamed lake in Kenora District, Ontario, and discharges its waters into Lake Winnipeg near the community and First Nation of Berens River, Manit ...

. Both are served by the

Berens River Airport Berens River Airport is located adjacent to the mouth of Berens River, Manitoba, Canada and serves the Berens River First Nation. The airport serves several small local airlines including Kitchi Airways, Northway Aviation, Lakeside Aviation, and ...

History

The river Berens River was originally called Pigeon River and the name Pigeon River was given to the next river to the south.

Demographics

As of February 2015, the registered membership of the Berens River First Nation was 3,246 with 2,110 members living on-reserve and 1,136 members off-reserve. The settlement of Berens River 13 had a population of 1,028 in 2011.

Territory

Berens River First Nation has two reserves. *Berens River 13 is at the mouth of

on the eastern shore of

and along the Berens River. *Pigeon River 13A is along the Pigeon River located south of the Berens River.

Notable people

Jacob Berens Jacob Berens ( c. 1835 – 7 July 1916) was an Ojibwa chief whose native name was Nah-wee-kee-sick-quah-yash (and variations). The name means ''light moving in the centre of the sky'' and probably was a result of the Halley's comet occurrence i ...

ah-wee-kee-sick-quah-yash(c1832 – 1916) *

William Berens William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...

abasigizikweas(1866–1947) * Jamie Leach, ice hockey player who played for the 1992

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

champions *

Reggie Leach Reginald Joseph Leach (born April 23, 1950) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger who played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Boston Bruins, California Golden Seals, Philadelphia Flyers, and Detroit Red ...

, Canadian ice hockey player,

winner,

NHL All-Star The National Hockey League All-Star Game (french: Match des Étoiles de la Ligue Nationale de Hockey, links=no) is an exhibition ice hockey game that is traditionally held during the regular season of the National Hockey League (NHL), with many o ...

and

1976 Canada Cup The 1976 Canada Cup was an international ice hockey tournament held September 2 to 15, 1976, in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg and Quebec City in Canada as well as in Philadelphia, in the United States. It was the first of five Canada Cup to ...

champion for team Canada.

References

External links

Berens River First Nation

Map of Berens River 13 at Statcan
{{coord, 52, 20, 57, N, 96, 59, 20, W, type:city_region:CA_scale:100000, display=title Southeast Resource Development Council First Nations in Eastman Region, Manitoba First Nations in Northern Region, Manitoba