Sandy Lake First Nation (or ᓀᑲᣞ ᓵᑲᐦᐃᑲᓃᐣᐠ, Negaw-zaaga'iganiing Nitam-Anishinaabe) is an independent

Oji-Cree The Oji-Cree are a First Nation in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba, residing in a narrow band extending from the Missinaibi River region in Northeastern Ontario at the east to Lake Winnipeg at the west. The Oji-Cree people are d ...

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. The First Nations community, in the west part of

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Pro ...

, is located in the

Kenora District Kenora District is a district and census division in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The district seat is the City of Kenora. It is geographically the largest division in Ontario: at , it covers 38 percent of the province's area, making it larger ...

, northeast of Red Lake,

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 C ...

. Its registered population in June 2007 was 2,474. As of December 2015 the total registered population reached 3,034. Sandy Lake First Nation maintains an affiliation with

Nishnawbe Aski Nation Nishnawbe Aski Nation (ᐊᓂᐦᔑᓈᐯ ᐊᔅᑭ ᐃᔥᑯᓂᑲᓇᓐ ᐅᑭᒫᐎᓐ (''Anishinaabe-aski Ishkoniganan Ogimaawin''), unpointed: ᐊᓂᔑᓇᐯ ᐊᔅᑭ ᐃᔥᑯᓂᐊᓇᓐ ᐅᑭᒪᐎᓐ; NAN for short) is a political orga ...

, as a signatory to the

Treaty 5 ''Treaty Five'' is a treaty that was first established in September, 1875, between Queen Victoria and Saulteaux and Swampy Cree non-treaty band governments and peoples around Lake Winnipeg in the District of Keewatin. A written text is includ ...

. Sandy Lake is policed by the

Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service The Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service (NAPS), also occasionally known as the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service (without a hyphen) is the police agency for Nishnawbe-Aski Nation (NAN). As of July 2020, NAPS has 34 detachments in NAN communities across the ...

, an Aboriginal-based service.

Reserve

The First Nation's land base is the Sandy Lake 88 Reserve (

:ᓀᑲᣞ ᕌᑲᐦᐃᑲᓃᐣᐠ (Negaw-zaaga'iganiing). Within this reserve is the community of Sandy Lake, which during the mid-1900s was known as Waabitigweyaang (ᐙᐱᑎᑴᔮᐠ) which translates to ''White River''. Associated with the community, the Sandy Lake First Nation maintains seven neighbourhoods grouped into five districts: * Airport / Centre * Big Rock / Ghost Point * Old Sawmill * River * Roman Catholic Sandy Lake is serviced by a Northern Store owned by

The North West Company The North West Company is a multinational Canadian grocery and retail company which operates stores in Canada's western provinces and northern territories, as well as the US states of Alaska, Hawaii, and several other countries and US terri ...

. The community is a fly-in community, serviced by Wasaya, Superior and Perimeter Airlines, and is linked to the rest of the province by a winter ice road that travels southwest towards Deer Lake and Pikangikum, meeting Red Lake via the Nungesser Road, which is open for approximately six weeks during the winter months. Sandy Lake's education is maintained by the Sandy Lake Board of Education, and is serviced by three schools: Thomas Fiddler Memorial Elementary School, Thomas Fiddler Memorial High School, and Washtennigun Christian School. There is also an operational Adult Learning Center, with ties to

Confederation College Confederation College is a provincially funded college of applied arts and technology in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1967, and has campuses in Dryden, Fort Frances, Greenstone, Kenora, Marathon, Sioux Lookout, Red Lake a ...

and

Lakehead University Lakehead University is a public research university with campuses in Thunder Bay and Orillia, Ontario, Canada. Lakehead University, shortened to 'Lakehead U', is non-denominational and provincially supported. It has undergraduate programs, gradua ...

Clans

Five ''

doodem The Anishinaabe, like most Algonquian-speaking groups in North America, base their system of kinship on patrilineal clans or totems. The Ojibwe word for clan () was borrowed into English as totem. The clans, based mainly on animals, were in ...

'' are found at Sandy Lake First Nation; these five clans are the: Suckers, Pelicans, Crane, Caribou and Sturgeon.

Language

The Sandy Lake First Nation speaks the

Oji-Cree language The Severn Ojibwa or the Oji-Cree language (ᐊᓂᐦᔑᓂᓃᒧᐏᐣ, ''Anishininiimowin''; Unpointed: ᐊᓂᔑᓂᓂᒧᐏᐣ) is the indigenous name for a dialect of the Ojibwe language spoken in a series of Oji-Cree communities in norther ...

and uses a variant western

Ojibwe Syllabics Ojibwe is an indigenous language of North America from the Algonquian language family. Ojibwe is one of the largest Native American languages north of Mexico in terms of number of speakers and is characterized by a series of dialects, some of ...

Government

The Sandy Lake First Nation governed by an elected Chief, a Deputy Chief and eight councillors. The current Chief is Delores Kakegamic, and the Deputy Chief is Marcel Linklater. The Head Councillor is Wayne Kakepetum; the other seven Councillors are John McKay, Allan Rae, Fabian Crowe, Russell Kakepetum, Dennis Kakegamic, Yvonne- Fiddler Kakekagumick, and Darren Meekis. In addition to the Governance Council, the Sandy Lake First Nation maintains an Elder Council to advise the Governance Council. Working with the Governance Council, six boards carry out the Council's operations: Community Development Services, Education, Health, Housing, Radio Station, and Recreation.

Climate

Sandy Lake has a subarctic climate ( Dfc) with severely cold winters and mild summers.

Transportation

Sandy Lake Airport Sandy Lake Airport is located adjacent to Sandy Lake, 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 be ...

serves the community. Sandy Lake has the ice/winter road during the winter months for people to drive in and out of the community. It starts at the end of Nungesser Road, goes through North Spirit Lake FN and next is the junction where the road splits into two, one going to Deer Lake FN and the other coming to Sandy Lake FN.

Notable people

Aysanabee Aysanabee is an Oji-Cree singer-songwriter from Canada, whose debut album ''Watin'' was released in 2022.Jonathan Ore"Aysanabee's pandemic phone calls with his grandfather inspired his debut album" ''Unreserved'', November 4, 2022. A member of the ...

Abe Kakepetum Abe Kakepetum (September 12, 1944 – January 5, 2019) was a Canadian Anishinaabe painter, who began painting at age nine. Kakepetum was born in Sandy Lake First Nation in northwest Ontario, Canada and a member of Keewaywin First Nation. His arti ...

Norval Morrisseau Norval Morrisseau (March 14, 1932 – December 4, 2007), also known as Copper Thunderbird, was an Indigenous Canadian artist from the Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek First Nation. Known as the "Picasso of the North", Morrisseau created works depic ...

* Carl Ray

References

External links

First_Nation_Connectivity_ {{authority_control Communities_in_Kenora_District
Nishnawbe_Aski_Nation.html" ;"title="Communities in Kenora District">First Nation Connectivity {{authority control Communities in Kenora District
Nishnawbe Aski Nation">Communities in Kenora District">First Nation Connectivity {{authority control Communities in Kenora District
Nishnawbe Aski Nation Hudson's Bay Company trading posts