{{one source, date=January 2012 Chief Kinistin (c. 1850–c. 1920) was an Ojibway councilor (headman) of Chief ''Ošāwaškokwanēpi'' (Yellow-quill).

Background

"Kinistin" or ''Kiništin'' (meaning "Cree") came to

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

from

Western Ontario Southwestern Ontario is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It occupies most of the Ontario Peninsula bounded by Lake Huron, including Georgian Bay, to the north and northwest; the St. Clair River, Lake St. ...

along with his two brothers, ''Miskokwanep'' ("Red row-eather") and ''Mehcihcākanihs'' ("Coyote"). Chief Kinistin possibly participated in the 1869-1870 Red River Rebellion.

Exodus into Saskatchewan

During the

Treaty 1 ''Treaty 1'' (also known as the "Stone Fort Treaty") is an agreement established on August 3, 1871, between the Imperial Crown of Great Britain and Ireland and the Anishinabe and Swampy Cree nations. The first of a series of treaties called the ...

negotiations, Yellow Quill and Kinistin agreed to the treaty terms but a dispute arose among the Plains Ojibway of southern

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 ...

which led Yellow Quill and other Ojibway chiefs including Kinistin, to commence an exodus into Saskatchewan in the 1870s. They settled in the

Qu'Appelle River The Qu'Appelle River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba that flows east from Lake Diefenbaker in south-western Saskatchewan to join the Assiniboine River in Manitoba, just south of Lake of the Prairies, near t ...

valley. An agreement to observe to

Treaty 4 Treaty 4 is a treaty established between Queen Victoria and the Cree and Saulteaux First Nation band governments. The area covered by Treaty 4 represents most of current day southern Saskatchewan, plus small portions of what are today western Ma ...

was signed on August 24, 1876, at

Fort Pelly Fort Pelly was a Hudson's Bay Company fur trading post located in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The fort was named after Sir John Pelly, governor of the Hudson's Bay Company. The current village of Pelly, Saskatchewan, takes its name f ...

, which established the Nut Lake Band.

Further exodus to the north

During the 1880s, amid unrest among the Plains Ojibway over whether to maintain traditional way of life, Kinistin broke from Yellow Quill and camped in the parkland of the

Barrier River The Barrier River is a river in the Mount Aspiring National Park in northern Southland, New Zealand. It is a tributary of the Pyke River, which it enters about south of Lake Wilmot A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a ba ...

district. Uprooting his people again in 1885 to avoid the

North-West Rebellion The North-West Rebellion (french: Rébellion du Nord-Ouest), also known as the North-West Resistance, was a resistance by the Métis people under Louis Riel and an associated uprising by First Nations Cree and Assiniboine of the District of S ...

, he moved north into the

caribou Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

country of the . After searching for good hunting grounds not claimed by other larger tribes, Kinistin and his people resided in the Pasquia Hills of northeastern Saskatchewan, well north of what is now

Prince Albert Prince Albert most commonly refers to: *Albert, Prince Consort (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria *Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco Prince Albert may also refer to: Royalty * Albert I of Belgium ...

and Flin Flon, Manitoba. Following

Riel Riel may refer to: Places *Riel, Netherlands, a town in the Netherlands *Riel (electoral district), a provincial electoral district in Manitoba, Canada, named after Louis Riel * Riel, Winnipeg, a community committee comprising three city wards Peo ...

’ Denes defeat, Kinistin returned to Barrier River to choose a reserve. In February 1890 he sent for Reginald Beatty, extracting a promise to aid him in securing a reserve along the Barrier River/ The two secured reserve areas that became the base for the present

Kinistin Saulteaux Nation The Kinistin Saulteaux Nation ( oj, Gidishkoniganinaan )FREELANG Ojibwe-English-Ojibwe online dictionary, ''Gidishkoniganinaan - Kinistin (Reserve #91 & #91A)(SK)'https://www.freelang.net/online/ojibwe.php?lg=gb/ref> is a Saulteaux band government ...

in 1900.

Descendants

The Ojibway descendants of Kinistin's subjects live on the

Hatchet Lake First Nation Hatchet Lake Denesuline Nation ( chp, Tthęł Tué Dene) is a Denesuline First Nation in northern Saskatchewan. The main settlement, Wollaston Lake, is an unincorporated community on Wollaston Lake in the boreal forest of north-eastern Sas ...

, Lac La Ronge First Nation, and the Peter Ballantyne First Nation of Manitoba and the

Barren Lands First Nation Barren Lands First Nation ( cr, ᑭᓯᐸᑲᒫᕽ, kisipakamâhk) is a First Nation located on the north shore of Reindeer Lake in northern Manitoba close to the Saskatchewan border. It has one reserve land called Brochet 197, which is in size ...

, Mathias Colomb First Nation, Marcel Colomb First Nation, and the

Northlands First Nation The Northlands Denesuline First Nation ( chp, ᓂ ᗂᘚ ᑌᓀ, Nįh hots’į Dene) is a First Nations band government in northwestern Manitoba, Canada. This Dene or Denesuline population were part of a larger group once called the "Caribou-eate ...

of Manitoba.

External links

Chief Kinistin
19th-century First Nations people Ojibwe people Political office-holders of Indigenous governments in Canada Kinistin (Chief)