The Couchiching First Nation ( oj, Gojijiing Anishinaabeg) is a Saulteaux

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 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 ...

, who live on the Couchiching 16A and Agency 1 reserves in the

Rainy River District Rainy River District is a district and census division in Northwestern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1885. It is the only division in Ontario that lies completely in the Central Time Zone, except for the township ...

near Fort Frances.

History

Ancestors of the Couchiching First Nation were collectively known as ''Gojijiwininiwag'' (Couchiching-men) or as Rainy Lake and River Bands of Saulteaux—"couchiching" (''gojijiing'') being the Ojibwe word meaning "At the Inlet", referring to

Rainy Lake Rainy Lake ( French: '; Ojibwe: ') is a freshwater lake with a surface area of that straddles the border between the United States and Canada. The Rainy River issues from the west side of the lake and is harnessed to make hydroelectricity for ...

known in Ojibwe as ''Gojiji-zaaga'igan'' (Inlet Lake). Originally, members of the Couchiching First Nation resided further west and others were voyageurs from the east until they moved to the Fort Frances area in the late 19th century to avoid the Louis Riel Rebellion. The

Department of Indian Affairs Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

then allocated them a tract of land north of the town but this was considered too far from the trading post by the band members. Eventually, they ended up on Little Eagle land and changed it to Couchiching. The current band chief is Brian Perrault, Chief Perrault was re-elected to a fourth term as Chief on March 4, 2022 in the band election process. A council of six band members governs the band, and are as follows: Sandy Bruyere (re-elected), Lucille Morrisseau (re-elected), Randy Jones (re-elected), Cheyenne Vandermeer, Kourtney Perrault & Peggy Loyie. The current term of Chief & Council runs from 2022-2024.

Programs

Couchiching First Nations administers over a dozen programs within the reserve.

Wasaw Companies

Couchiching First Nation had early residences in the Wasaw area north of Frog Creek/Frog Lake and this area was highly regarded in the busy forestry and wild rice harvests in the nineteenth century. After 1909, flooding impacts and expropriation of land for the railway and highway forced the community to move south of Frog Creek and along Sand Bay (south of Highway 11 east of Fort Frances). The Wasaw companies include Wasaw Business Enterprises, Wasaw Project Inc., Wasaw Construction Ltd., Wasaw Developments, and Wasaw Food Services, Inc. These companies are meant to create own source revenue for the community in order to build an economic base for the community. Wasaw (''waasa'') in the

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

, the language of Couchiching, means "Far".

Notable people

* Susan Blight, artist * Tara Houska, advocate https://www.aljazeera.com/profile/tara-houska.html Tara Houska * Ryan McMahon, comedian

References

External links

Couchiching First Nation

Couchiching First Nation profile from AANDC

our Economic Development
{{authority control First Nations governments in Ontario Communities in Rainy River District Saulteaux hr:Goojijiwininiwag