Marten Falls First Nation is an AnishinaabeFirst Nationreserve located in northern Ontario. The First Nation occupies communities on both sides of the Albany River in Northern Ontario, including Ogoki Post ( Ojibwe: ''Ogookiing'') in the Cochrane District and Marten Falls in the Kenora District. As of December 2013, the First Nation had a total registered population of 728 people, of which their on-reserve population was 328 people.
Profile
Ogoki is a First Nation community managed by the Marten Falls Band. It has a registered population of roughly four hundred people, with additional transient residents fulfilling healthcare, teaching or policing roles. The town is served by
Ogoki Post Airport
Ogoki Post Airport is located northeast of Marten Falls First Nation (Ogoki Post) near the Ogoki River in Ontario, Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean t ...
station
Station may refer to:
Agriculture
* Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production
* Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle
** Cattle statio ...
CKWT-FM
CKWT-FM is a radio station of Wawatay Radio Network in Sioux Lookout, Ontario, Canada. The station airs a programming format for First Nations, and serves much of Northwestern Ontario through a network of rebroadcast transmitters.
Rebroadcaste ...
).
The only road access to the community is through winter roads. However, from 2000 to 2014 there were no winter roads into the community; recently, the community has worked to maintain the ice road. The community is fly-in only in terms of all year travel.
Government
Governance
The Marten Falls First Nation elects their council members through the Act Electoral System for a two-year term, consisting of a chief and seven councillors. Chief Ambrose Achneepineskum's term ran from September 30, 2017, to September 29, 2019. The Seven (7) councillors are: Russell Achneepineskum, Paul Achneepineskum, Sam Achneepineskum Sr, Grace Bottle, Linda Moonias, Robert Moonias,
Council
As a signatory to Treaty 9, the Marten Falls First Nation is a member of the Matawa First Nations, a Regional Chief's Council, and the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, a Tribal Political Organization representing majority of the First Nations in northern Ontario. Through these council memberships, the First Nation receives additional services, ranging from Economic Development assistance and Health Care assistance to Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service.
Services
The healthcare in the community is serviced by a First Nations Inuit Health (a branch of Health Canada) clinic staffed by community health nurses (CHN). There is a K-8 school (Henry Coaster Memorial School) that staffs teachers from both outside the community and within the First Nation. The on-reserve version of Children's Aid is provided through Tikinagan Child and Family Services. Ogoki is policed by the Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service, an Aboriginal-based service.
Reserve
The First Nation have reserved for themselves the Marten Falls Indian Reserve 65, located on the north bank of the Albany River, about northeast of Nakina, Ontario.
History
Marten Falls was the home of
Chanie Wenjack
Chanie "Charlie" Wenjack (January 19, 1954October 23, 1966) was an Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) First Nations boy who ran away from Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School, where he boarded for three years in Kenora, Ontario, Canada. He died of hun ...
, a young boy who died in 1966 while trying to return home after escaping from an
Indian residential school
In Canada, the Indian residential school system was a network of boarding schools for Indigenous peoples. The network was funded by the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs and administered by Christian churches. The school sys ...
The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'', September 9, 2016. His story was dramatized in ''
Secret Path
''Secret Path'' is a Canadian multimedia storytelling project including a ten-song music album and tour, a graphic novel, an animated television film, and instructional materials. Released on October 18, 2016,graphic novel project by Gord Downie and Jeff Lemire.
Transportation
Marten Falls is proposing a new all-season access road to be built to replace the winter road. The new road will connect to
Ontario Highway 643
This is a list of secondary highways in Thunder Bay District, most of which serve as logging roads or provide access to the isolated and sparsely populated areas in the Thunder Bay District of northern Ontario.
Highway 527
Secondary Highway 52 ...