Wapekeka First Nation ( ojs, ᐗᐱᑭᑲ, formerly known as Angling Lake First Nation) is a

First Nation 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 ...

band government in the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

province of

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 ...

. An

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 ...

community 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 ...

, the community is located approximately 450 kilometres northeast of

Sioux Lookout Sioux Lookout is a town in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. Located approximately northwest of Thunder Bay, it has a population of 5,272 people (up 4.7% since 2011), an elevation of , and its boundaries cover an area of , of which is lake and wetla ...

. In January, 2008, the total registered population was 375, of which the on-reserve population was 355. The First Nation have as its

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 ...

the 3605 ha Wapekeka 1 Indian Reserve and the 2026.5 ha Wapekeka 2 Indian Reserve, and two Addendums in 1996 and 1997. The First Nation observes

Eastern Standard Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 U.S. states, states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and ...

( UTC-5) in winter and

Eastern Daylight Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small p ...

( UTC-4) in the summer.

Transportation

The settlement is not accessible by road from other parts of Ontario, but local roads exists within Angling Lake and to the nearby airport. Regular

air The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...

service is provided by

Wasaya Airways Wasaya Airways LP (or in Oji-Cree ᐙᐦᓭᔮ ᐱᒥᐦᓭᐎᐣ (''Waaseyaa Bimisewin''); unpointed: ᐗᓭᔭ ᐱᒥᓭᐎᐣ) is a First Nations-owned domestic airline with its headquarters in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. Its main hubs are ...

at Angling Lake/Wapekeka Airport.

Essential Services

Wapekeka was

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

d 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 until 2012. As of 2013 the

Ontario Provincial Police The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is the provincial police service of Ontario, Canada. Under its provincial mandate, the OPP patrols provincial highways and waterways, protects provincial government buildings and officials, patrols unincorp ...

(OPP) has been policing the territory from their detachment in Sioux Lookout. Fire services are provided by five trained residents.

Media

Wawaytay Radio System is a local FM radio station,

TV Ontario TVO Media Education Group (often abbreviated as TVO and stylized on-air as tvo) is a publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario E ...

provides local educational program via cable services.

Education

Reverend Eleazar Winter Memorial School is the only school on the reserve and opened in 1990. The school offers classes from JK to Grade 8 only and students going onto secondary studies must leave the community. The school burned down in fire in 2015 and re-opened in a temporary structure in early 2016.

Religion

Wapekeka has one church, St Paul's Anglican Church.

Health Services

A health clinic provides basic health services to the community. More advance care requires patients to be flown out to either to

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its population i ...

for more advance care.

Economy

Basic goods can be bought from either the community store or convenience store. A local hostel can be used for visitors staying over in Wapekeka.

History

The Wapekeka reserves are within the boundaries of the territory described by James brown the 1929-30 Adhesion to

Treaty 9 ''Treaty No. 9'' (also known as ''The James Bay Treaty'') is a numbered treaty first signed in 1905-1906 between Anishinaabe (Algonquin and Ojibway) and Omushkegowuk Cree communities and the Canadian Crown, which includes both the governm ...

(James Bay Treaty of 1905). In 1947, beginnings of Angling Lake community was formed as a satellite community used in winter by families from

Big Trout Lake Big Trout Lake is a large lake in Northern Ontario. The Fawn River flows into it from the west and drains it from the east. The reserve of the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation, also known as Big Trout Lake, is located on Post Island on ...

whose traplines were located in the area. Beginning in 1960, permanent communities apart from the Big Trout Lake Band were established. These communities were

Kingfisher Lake Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

, Wunnumin Lake, Bearskin Lake, Kasabonika, Muskrat Dam, Sachigo Lake and Wapekeka. Wapekeka received official Band status and two reserves in 1979. On August 28, 1981, the Angling Lake Band officially changed its name to Wapekeka First Nation.

Governance

The current chief is Chief Brennan Sainnawap, Deputy Chief Ananias Winter, Councillor Georgina Winter, Councillor Russel Brown, Councillor Henry Roundsky. Chief Sainnawap succeeded Norman Brown, who served for 21 years and died in 2014 as Deputy Chief. Originally a member of the Kayahn Area Tribal Council (1977-1983), when the council disbanded, along with the communities of Kasabonika Lake, Kingfisher Lake, Wunnumin Lake and Wawakapewin, Wapekeka formed and today is part of the

Shibogama First Nations Council Shibogama First Nations Council (Oji-Cree: ᔑᑄᑲᒫ ᓂᐢᑕᒼ ᐊᓇᐦᔑᓈᐯᐠ ᐅᓇᐦᔕᐌᓂᓂᐗᐠ (''Zhibwagamaa Nistam-Anashinaabeg Onashaweniniwag''), unpointed: ᔑᐧᐸᑲᒪ ᓂᐢᑕᒼ ᐊᓇᔑᓇᐯᐠ ᐅᓇᔕᐧᐁ� ...

References

External links

AANDC profilewapekeka.cafirstnation.ca
{{authority control First Nations governments in Ontario Communities in Kenora District Nishnawbe Aski Nation