Assabaska is a

Saulteaux The Saulteaux (pronounced , or in imitation of the French pronunciation , also written Salteaux, Saulteau and other variants), otherwise known as the Plains Ojibwe, are a First Nations band government in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Al ...

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 ...

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 ...

in northwestern Ontario on

Lake of the Woods Lake of the Woods (french: Lac des Bois, oj, Pikwedina Sagainan) is a lake occupying parts of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba and the U.S. state of Minnesota. Lake of the Woods is over long and wide, containing more than 14,55 ...

. It is shared between the

Big Grassy First Nation Big Grassy First Nation (Mishkosiminiziibiing Anishinaabeg in the Ojibwe language) is an Ojibwe or Ontario Saulteaux First Nation band government located in Rainy River District, Ontario near Morson, Ontario. Together with the Ojibways of Onigam ...

and the

Ojibways of Onigaming First Nation Ojibways of Onigaming First Nation is an Ojibwe or Ontario Saulteaux First Nation located in Kenora District, Ontario near Nestor Falls, Ontario. Together with the Big Grassy First Nation, Ojibways of Onigaming First Nation is a successor apparen ...

. The Assabaska reserve was created in 1999 as a part of a land claim settlement in 1999.

History

The lands that are now part of the Assabaska reserve were originally intended to become Reserve No. 35E for the Assabaska First Nation under the terms of

Treaty 3 ''Treaty 3'' was an agreement entered into on October 3, 1873, by Chief Mikiseesis (Little Eagle) on behalf of the Ojibwe First Nations and Queen Victoria. The treaty involved a vast tract of Ojibwe territory, including large parts of what is ...

, signed in 1873. Because the land was never surveyed and through negligence and lack of consultation, the reserve was never created and the land was transferred from the federal to the provincial government in 1958. In 1967, these lands became part of the mainland portion of the Lake of the Woods Provincial Park. Its campground was a

loss leader A loss leader (also leader) is a pricing strategy where a product is sold at a price below its market cost to stimulate other sales of more profitable goods or services. With this sales promotion/marketing strategy, a "leader" is any popular articl ...

, losing thousands of dollars per year. In 1977, the First Nations of Mishkosiiniiziibing (Big Grassy River) and the Ojibways of Onigaming (successors to the Assabaska First Nation) filed a land claim, which was settled in the late 1990s. As part of the settlement, the mainland portion of the provincial park was deregulated, and converted into the Assabaska Reserve. It remains a campground, now known as Assabaska Ojibway Heritage Park.

References

External links

Canada Land Survey System
Saulteaux reserves in Ontario Communities in Rainy River District {{NorthernOntario-geo-stub