The Caldwell First Nation ( oj, Zaaga'iganiniwag, ''meaning: "people of the Lake"'') 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 ...

whose land base is located in

Leamington, Ontario Leamington ( ) is a municipality in Essex County, Ontario, Canada. With a population of 27,595 in the Canada 2016 Census, it forms the second largest urban centre in Windsor-Essex County after Windsor, Ontario. It includes Point Pelee National P ...

, Canada. They are 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, ...

group, part of the Three Fires Confederacy, comprising the bands

Potawatomi The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...

Odawa The Odawa (also Ottawa or Odaawaa ), said to mean "traders", are an Indigenous American ethnic group who primarily inhabit land in the Eastern Woodlands region, commonly known as the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. They ha ...

, and

Ojibwa 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 ...

, whose members are originally of the Mikinaak (Turtle) and the Makwa (Bear) dodems. The Caldwell First Nation are a distinct and federally recognized Indian band and used to be referred to by such names as the "Chippewas of Pelee", "Point Pelee Indians" and "Caldwell's band of Indians." The Chippewa (also called Ojibwa in

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 ...

) are an Anishinaabe-speaking indigenous nation with people within the borders of present-day Canada and 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 ...

. The Anishinaabe are the largest Native American/First Nation peoples north of

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, with nearly 78,000 people among various groups in Canada from western

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Point Pelee National Park looking out at Lake Erie

History

The Caldwell First Nation, sometimes also called "the Chippewas of

Point Pelee Point Pelee National Park (; french: Parc national de la Pointe-Pelée) is a national park in Essex County in southwestern Ontario, Canada where it extends into Lake Erie. The word is French for 'bald'. Point Pelee consists of a peninsula of la ...

and

Pelee Island Pelee may refer to: * Île Pelée, an island off Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, France *Pelee, Ontario, an island in Lake Erie, Canada *Point Pelee National Park, a park in Ontario, Canada *Mount Pelée, a volcano in Martinique *Peleus In Greek mytholo ...

," lived as a distinct First Nation in the Point Pelee area from before 1763. Their traditional territory encompassed a broad area corresponding to what is now the

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 Ca ...

region, extending from the

Detroit River The Detroit River flows west and south for from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie as a strait in the Great Lakes system. The river divides the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, Windsor, Ontario—an area collectively refe ...

along

Amherstburg Amherstburg is a town near the mouth of the Detroit River in Essex County, Ontario, Canada. In 1796, Fort Malden was established here, stimulating growth in the settlement. The fort has been designated as a National Historic Site. The town is ...

all the way to Long Point Ontario and the

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...

Islands. The heart of their ancestral territory includes the Essex and Kent county areas, in particular, the Point Pelee Peninsula and Pelee Island. The Caldwell First Nation considers Point Pelee as "our home" and the neighboring Walpole Island First Nation considers Point Pelee as part of "our house." The Caldwell First Nation served as allies of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

. In consideration of this service, they were promised land at Point Pelee. The First Nation continued to occupy Point Pelee, with the support of the Canadian government, up until the late 1850s. In the 1920s, many of the band members were forced out of Point Pelee when the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

, along with local law enforcement agencies, burned their homes in the area in an effort to force them from their traditional lands.

Land claim

In May 1790, representatives of certain Ottawa (Odawa), Chippewa (Ojibwa), Pottawatomi (Bodéwadmi) people and the

Huron Huron may refer to: People * Wyandot people (or Wendat), indigenous to North America * Wyandot language, spoken by them * Huron-Wendat Nation, a Huron-Wendat First Nation with a community in Wendake, Quebec * Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi ...

(Wendat) surrendered a large tract of land in southwestern Ontario, including Point Pelee. However, the Caldwell First Nation neither signed nor benefited from that treaty. The Crown did not realize this and it was publicly acknowledged by the Department of

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

. Caldwell First Nation Council members settled the

land claim A land claim is defined as "the pursuit of recognized territorial ownership by a group or individual". The phrase is usually only used with respect to disputed or unresolved land claims. Some types of land claims include aboriginal land claims, A ...

that had been outstanding for more than 220 years. The Caldwell First Nation is the only federally recognized Indian band in southern Ontario without a

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 ...

land of its own. The Nation is working towards establishing a reserve, which will finally give members the land base.

References

External links

*
Caldwell First Nation in Point Pelee National Park
The Canadian Encyclopedia
Caldwell First Nation in Canadian aboriginal reserves article
— Encyclopedia britannica

— Southern First Nations Secretariat (Ontario)
Caldwell First Nation
— Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada {{Authority control First Nations governments in Ontario Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians Leamington, Ontario