Cat Lake First Nation (, ᐱᔕᐤ ᓴᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ) is an
Ojibway
The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...
First Nation 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 v ...
approximately 180 kilometres northwest of
Sioux Lookout
Sioux Lookout is a town in Northwestern Ontario, Canada, with a population of 5,838 people (up 10.8% since 2016). Known locally as the "Hub of the North", it is serviced by the Sioux Lookout Airport, Highway 72, and the Sioux Lookout railway ...
in
northwestern Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
, Canada, located on the central north shore of
Cat Lake.
, their total registered population was 651 people.
Cat Lake is
police
The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
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.
Cat Lake First Nation is currently in a state of emergency due to the presence of dangerous levels of black mould in the homes. On March 14, 2019, an agreement worth $12.8 million was agreed to with the federal government to address the crisis.
History
The First Nation calls itself ''Bizhiw-zaaga'iganiwininiwag'' meaning "Men of Wild-cat Lake" or as ''Bizhiw-zaaga'iganiing Nitam Anishinaabeg'' meaning "The First Nation at Wild-cat Lake," where wild-cat refers to the
Canada lynx
The Canada lynx (''Lynx canadensis'') or Canadian lynx is one of the four living species in the genus ''Lynx''. It is a medium-sized wild cat characterized by long, dense fur, triangular ears with black tufts at the tips, and broad, snowshoe- ...
.
The community of Cat Lake was originally established as a
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...
trading post in 1788, and later belonged to the
Osnaburgh Band of Ojibwe. Then on June 22, 1970, the Cat Lake First Nation reserve was formally established.
The Cat Lake reserve is within the boundaries of the territory described by the James Bay Treaty of 1905 —
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 Ojibwe) and Omushkegowuk Cree communities and the Canadian Crown, which includes both the gov ...
. The reserve was originally 218 ha and increased to 1771 ha in 2003 under the Government of Canada's
Addition to Reserve Policy.
Ontario's Cat Lake First Nation Acquires Reserve Lands - Indian and Northern Affairs Canada
/ref> The First Nation has reserved itself the Cat Lake 63C Indian Reserve, in which the community of Cat Lake, Ontario is located.
The community maintains strong ties with Mishkeegogamang First Nation
Mishkeegogamang First Nation is an Ojibway band government ( First Nation) in the Canadian province of Ontario. Until 1993, the band was called the Osnaburgh First Nation, with various settlements at times being called New Osnaburgh, Osnaburgh Ho ...
.
Governance
The Cat Lake First Nation is governed by an elected Chief, Deputy Chief, and four Councillors. The current Chief is Russell Wesley, and the Deputy Chief is Matthew Keewaykapow. The Head Councillor is Abraham Keesickquayash; the other three Councillors are Irene Gray-Oombash, Gordina D. Oombash, and Allen Sr Oombash.
The council is a member of the Windigo First Nations Council Windigo First Nations Council is a non-political Chiefs Council in northwestern Ontario, Canada, serving its seven member- First Nations. The council was organized in 1983. The organization is directed by the Chiefs of the member First Nations who f ...
, a non-political regional chiefs' council. In turn, the Windigo First Nations Council is a member of the larger 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 ...
, a Tribal Political Organisation which represents many of the First Nations in northwestern Ontario.
Governance history
The original governance system of the community was that based on the ''doodem
The Anishinaabe, like most Algonquian languages, Algonquian-speaking groups in North America, base their system of kinship on clans or totems. The Ojibwe language, Ojibwe word for clan () was borrowed into English as totem. The clans, based ma ...
''-system, where the hereditary council was established by the families of the appropriate clans, overseen by a hereditary chief. However, the original governance structure for the Cat Lake peoples were altered with the 1905 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 Ojibwe) and Omushkegowuk Cree communities and the Canadian Crown, which includes both the gov ...
, and then the Indian Act brought in other leaders from other areas as chiefs for the Cat Lake First Nation.
Transportation
North Star Air
North Star Air is a Canadian charter, passenger, and cargo airline with its headquarters in Thunder Bay, Ontario. It maintains a secondary passenger hub in Sioux Lookout, Ontario, and cargo hubs in Pickle Lake, Red Lake, Kapuskasing and Thomps ...
and Slate Falls Airways run daily service on regular schedules to Cat Lake Airport. Winter
Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Dif ...
/ice road
An ice road or ice bridge is a human-made structure that runs on a frozen water surface (a river, a lake or a sea water expanse).Masterson, D. and Løset, S., 2011, ISO 19906: Bearing capacity of ice and ice roads, Proceedings of the 21st Int ...
s also connect from Pickle Lake, Ontario
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 ...
, via 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 ...
during the winter months, which takes an average 4 to 5 hours of travel.
Official address
Cat Lake First Nation
PO Box 81
Cat Lake, ON P0V 1J0
References
External links
AANDC profile
FirstNation.ca profile
Roles of Hereditary Chiefs and Councils
Call for Hereditary Chiefs and Councils to act
{{authority control
Communities in Kenora District
Nishnawbe Aski Nation
Hudson's Bay Company trading posts
Anishinaabe reserves in Ontario
Road-inaccessible communities of Ontario