Whitefish Island is an island in the St. Marys River, just south of Sault Ste. Marie, in

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.

History

It was an ancestral fishing station to the Anishenabek of the

Great Lakes region The Great Lakes region of North America is a binational Canadian–American region that includes portions of the eight U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin along with the Canadian p ...

for over 2,000 years. It was reserved for the use of Chief Nebenaigoching and his band in the Robinson Huron Treaty, 1850 with the British Crown. In 1895, it became part of the west side of the

Sault Ste. Marie Canal The Sault Ste. Marie Canal is a National Historic Site in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and is part of the national park system, managed by Parks Canada. It includes a lock to bypass the rapids on the St. Marys River. The first canal near the s ...

. After it was taken in a series of expropriations from 1902 to 1913 for railway purposes, it became a park in the Parks Canada national inventory. The island was designated a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of t ...

in 1981. A land claim was filed in 1982 by the Batchewana Indian Band, of the

Batchewana First Nation of Ojibways The Batchewana First Nation of Ojibways ( oj, Obaajiwan Anishinaabek) is an Ojibway First Nation in northern Ontario. Their traditional lands run along the eastern shore of Lake Superior, from Batchawana Bay to Whitefish Island. They were reserved t ...

, for the island. After years of unsuccessful negotiations, hereditary Chief Edward James Sayers Nebenaigoching occupied the island from 1989 until the claim was settled in 1992. $3.5 million dollars in damages were paid to the tribe, and the island was returned to Indian reserve status in 1997. File:Welcome to White Fish Island.JPG, Welcome to White Fish Island File:Fishing weir at Whitefish Island 2.JPG, Ancient fishing weir File:Birch bark longhouse (Whitefish Island) 2.JPG, Birch bark longhouse File:Whitefish Island in winter 2.JPG, Longhouse in winter File:Birch bark lodge, Whitefish Island 4.JPG, Birch bark lodge File:Whitefish Island flooded boardwalk with 7 flood control gates open.JPG, Boardwalk with 7 flood control gates open (equivalent). File:Sault Ste Marie waterfront from Whitefish Island.jpg, Sault Ste. Marie waterfront, as seen from Whitefish Island File:Eddy in St Mary's Rapids.jpg, St. Marys Rapids File:Beaver dams, Whitefish Channel.JPG,

Beaver dam A beaver dam or beaver impoundment is a dam built by beavers to create a pond which protects against predators such as coyotes, wolves and bears, and holds their food during winter. These structures modify the natural environment in such a way t ...

s along Whitefish Channel File:Mezereon flowers (Whitefish I) 13.JPG, February daphne flowers (native to Eurasia, unknown how they arrived) File:Montane blue-eyed grass (Whitefish I).JPG, Narrow-leaf blue-eyed grass flowers near the St. Marys Rapids File:Nodding ladies' tresses (St Mary's Rapids) 1.JPG, Nodding ladies'-tresses File:Small purple fringed orchid (Whitefish I) 3.JPG, Small purple fringed orchid File:Trout lily (Whitefish I) 3.JPG, Trout-lily flower in early spring File:Wild leeks (Whitefish I) 1.JPG, Wild leek in early spring File:Viburnum cassinoides fruit (Whitefish Island) 1.JPG, Wild raisin in fruit File:Rainbow trout 'Steelhead' (St. Mary's Rapids) 2.JPG,

Steelhead trout Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the common name of the anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout or redband trout (O. m. gairdneri). Steelhead are native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific basin in Northeast Asia and N ...

caught in the St. Marys Rapids (introduced species)

References

External links

Indigenous and Northern Development Canada profile
{{- River islands of Ontario Landforms of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario National Historic Sites in Ontario Ojibwe reserves in Ontario Sault Ste. Marie