The Kichesipirini ("People of the Great River", "Island Indians") are an
Algonquin
Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to:
Languages and peoples
*Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia
**Algonquin la ...
indigenous people
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 ...
of
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 ...
. Their traditional homeland and primary village was located on
Morrison Island
L'Isle-aux-Allumettes is a municipality in the Outaouais region, part of the Pontiac Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada. The municipality consists primarily of Allumette Island (in French ''Île aux Allumettes''), and also includes Morri ...
(also called Morrison's Island) in the
Ottawa River
The Ottawa River (french: Rivière des Outaouais, Algonquin: ''Kichi-Sìbì/Kitchissippi'') is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word 'to trade', as it was the major trade route of Eastern ...
(which the Kichesipirini refer to as "Kitcisìpi" or "Kichesippi"), as well as territory on both sides of the river in
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 ...
and
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 ...
, including
L'Isle-aux-Allumettes
L'Isle-aux-Allumettes is a municipality in the Outaouais region, part of the Pontiac Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada. The municipality consists primarily of Allumette Island (in French ''Île aux Allumettes''), and also includes Morri ...
(Allumette Island) in the
Pontiac Regional County Municipality, Quebec
Pontiac (french: municipalité régionale de comté de Pontiac) is a regional county municipality in the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada. Campbell's Bay is the county seat. It should not be confused with the municipality of Pontiac, which is ...
, located just to the east of Morrison Island. Most Kichesipirini today live in nearby
Pembroke, Ontario
Pembroke is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario at the confluence of the Muskrat River (Ontario), Muskrat River and the Ottawa River in the Ottawa Valley. Pembroke is the location of the administrative headquarters of Renfrew County, thoug ...
, with others living elsewhere in Canada as well as in 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 ...
. Some Kichesipirini still speak a dialect of the
Algonquin language
Algonquin (also spelled Algonkin; in Algonquin: or ) is either a distinct Algonquian language closely related to the Ojibwe language or a particularly divergent Ojibwe dialect. It is spoken, alongside French and to some extent English, by th ...
.
Despite apparently being the first Algonquin nation encountered by
French explorers in the early 17th century (
Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain (; Fichier OrigineFor a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December 1635) was a Fre ...
met their chief,
Tessouat
Tessouat (''Anishinaabe'': Tesswehas) ( c. ??? – 1636–1654) was an Algonquin chief from the Kitchesipirini nation ("Kitche"=Great, "sipi"=river, "rini"=people: the people from the great river, the Ottawa River). His nation lived in an a ...
, in the summer of 1603, and visited their village in May 1613), the Kichesipirini are not federally recognized by the Canadian government, and thus have no
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 ...
. Nevertheless, the group based in Pembroke is constituted as the Kichesipirini Algonquin First Nation, with the current chief
sachem
Sachems and sagamores are paramount chiefs among the Algonquians or other Native American tribes of northeastern North America, including the Iroquois. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms (c. 1622) from different Eastern Al ...
being Paula LaPierre. The group is actively seeking to gain full participation rights in negotiations on the Algonquin Land Claim.
Notable Kichesipirini
*
Timothy Archambault,
Native American flutist and architect
*Paula LaPierre, chief sachem
*
Tessouat
Tessouat (''Anishinaabe'': Tesswehas) ( c. ??? – 1636–1654) was an Algonquin chief from the Kitchesipirini nation ("Kitche"=Great, "sipi"=river, "rini"=people: the people from the great river, the Ottawa River). His nation lived in an a ...
, 17th century chief
External links
Kichesipirini pageArticle
First Nations in Ontario
First Nations in Quebec
First Nations in Renfrew County
Algonquian peoples
Algonquian ethnonyms
Algonquin
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