Webequie First Nation is located on the northern peninsula of Eastwood Island on Winisk Lake, 540 km (336 mi) north of

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

. Webequie is a fly-in community with no summer road access. The primary way into the community is by air to

Webequie Airport Webequie Airport is located south southwest of the First Nations community of Webequie, Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it ...

winter road A winter road is a seasonal road only usable during the winter, i.e. it has to be re-built every year. This road typically runs over land and over frozen lakes, rivers, swamps, and sea ice.Proskin et al, 2011. Guidelines for the Construction an ...

, which connects to the

Northern Ontario Resource Trail The Northern Ontario Resource Trail (NORT) is the designation of two mainly gravel roads in the Canadian province of Ontario. One road travels north from Pickle Lake to the northern shore of Windigo Lake, then to the North Caribou Lake First Na ...

. The First Nation have the 34,279 ha Webequie

Indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve (french: réserve indienne) is specified by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." Ind ...

. The Webequie or Webiqui Indian Settlement also have reserve status. Webequie First Nation is a member of the

Matawa First Nations Matawa First Nations (Ojibwe: ᒫᑕᐙ (''maadawaa'', "to fork, to confluence"); unpointed: ᒪᑕᐧᐊ), officially as the Matawa First Nations Management, Inc., is a non-profit Regional Chiefs' Council representing Ojibway and Cree First Nat ...

, a Regional Chiefs' Council and a member of the

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 ...

. The registered population of Webequie was 1320 persons in September 2015, of which the on-reserve population was over 900. The reserve is entirely surrounded by territory of the

Unorganized Kenora District Unorganized Kenora District is an unorganized area in northwestern Ontario, Canada, in Kenora District. Constituting 98.39 percent of the district's land area, yet only 10.93 percent of its population, it is essentially the remainder of the dist ...

. Webequie is

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 t ...

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.

History

When the

Treaties A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal pers ...

were created between the Canadian government and the Aboriginal people of Canada, Webequie was mistakenly listed as part of the community of Fort Hope. They lived under this error until May 1985, when they were recognized as a distinct band. Despite this, the people of Webequie had to fight until February 15, 2001, to achieve full reserve status. The name "Webequie" comes from the

Anishinini 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 des ...

word ''webikwe'' meaning "shaking head." The community is profiled in the 2016 short documentary film ''

The Road to Webequie ''The Road to Webequie'' is a Canadian short documentary film, directed by Tess Girard and Ryan Noth and released in 2016. The film profiles the Webequie First Nation, a remote Nishnawbe Aski community in Northern Ontario, and the potential impa ...

''. In 2017, the provincial government of Ontario pledged support for the construction of a road that would connect Webequie, Nibinamik and the Northern Ontario Ring of Fire to

Ontario Highway 599 Secondary Highway 599, commonly referred to as Highway 599, is a provincially maintained secondary highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The route connects Highway 17 near Ignace with the remote northern community of Pickle Lake; it ...

Pickle Lake Pickle Lake is a township in the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the most northerly community in the province that has year-round access by road. Located north of Thunder Bay, highway access is via Highway 599, the only access road to the t ...

."Ontario pledges 'support' for year-round road access to 3 remote First Nations"
CBC Thunder Bay, August 21, 2017.

References

External links

Webequie First Nation's official website

AANDC profile

Map of Webequie at Statcan
{{authority control First Nations governments in Ontario Communities in Kenora District Nishnawbe Aski Nation Ojibwe reserves in Ontario Road-inaccessible communities of Ontario