Sandy Lake First Nation (or ᓀᑲᣞ ᓵᑲᐦᐃᑲᓃᐣᐠ, Negaw-zaaga'iganiing Nitam-Anishinaabe) is an independent

Oji-Cree The Anisininew or Oji-Cree are a First Nation in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba, residing in a band extending from the Missinaibi River region in Northeastern Ontario at the east to Lake Winnipeg at the west. The Oji-Cree pe ...

First Nations

band government In Canada, an Indian band (), First Nation band () or simply band, is the basic unit of government for those peoples subject to the ''Indian Act'' (i.e. status Indians or First Nations). Bands are typically small groups of people: the largest in ...

. The

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

community, in the west part of

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on p ...

, is located in the

Kenora District Kenora District is a district and census division in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The district seat is the City of Kenora. It is geographically the largest division in Ontario: at , it covers 38 percent of the province's area, making it larger ...

, northeast of Red Lake,

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 ...

. Its registered population in June 2007 was 2,474. As of December 2015 the total registered population reached 3,034. Sandy Lake First Nation maintains an affiliation with

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 ...

, as a signatory to the

Treaty 5 ''Treaty Five'' is a treaty between Queen Victoria and Saulteaux and Swampy Cree non-treaty band governments and peoples around Lake Winnipeg in the District of Keewatin. A written text is included in ; see also Much of what is today ce ...

. Sandy Lake is policed by the Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service, an Aboriginal-based service.

Reserve

The First Nation's land base is the Sandy Lake 88 Reserve (

: (). Within this reserve is the community of Sandy Lake, which during the mid-1900s was known as () which translates to ''White River''. Associated with the community, the Sandy Lake First Nation maintains seven neighbourhoods grouped into five districts: * Airport / Centre * Big Rock / Ghost Point * Old Sawmill * River * Roman Catholic Sandy Lake is serviced by a Northern Store owned by The North West Company. The community is a fly-in community, serviced by Wasaya, Superior and Perimeter Airlines, and is linked to the rest of the province by a winter ice road that travels southwest towards Deer Lake and Pikangikum, meeting Red Lake via the Nungesser Road, which is open for approximately six weeks during the winter months. Sandy Lake's education is maintained by the Sandy Lake Board of Education, and is serviced by three schools: Thomas Fiddler Memorial Elementary School, Thomas Fiddler Memorial High School, and Washtennigun Christian School. There is also an operational Adult Learning Center, with ties to

Confederation College Confederation College is a provincially funded college of applied arts and technology in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1967, and has campuses in Dryden, Fort Frances, Greenstone, Kenora, Marathon, Sioux Lookout, Red Lake ...

and

Lakehead University Lakehead University is a public research university with campuses in Thunder Bay and Orillia, Ontario, Canada. Lakehead University, shortened to 'Lakehead U', is non-denominational and provincially supported. It has undergraduate programs, gradua ...

Clans

Five ''

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 ...

'' are found at Sandy Lake First Nation; these five clans are the: Suckers, Pelicans, Crane, Caribou and Sturgeon.

Language

The Sandy Lake First Nation speaks the

Oji-Cree language The Severn Ojibwa or the Oji-Cree language (, ; Unpointed: ) is the indigenous name for a dialect of the Ojibwe language spoken in a series of Oji-Cree communities in northern Ontario and at Island Lake, Manitoba, Canada. Ojibwa is a member of t ...

and uses a variant western

Ojibwe Syllabics Ojibwe 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 Gr ...

Government

The Sandy Lake First Nation governed by an elected Chief, a Deputy Chief and eight councillors. The current Chief is Delores Kakegamic, and the Deputy Chief is Marcel Linklater. The Head Councillor is Michelle Goodman; the other seven Councillors are John McKay, Allan Rae, Fabian Crowe, Russell Kakepetum, Dennis Kakegamic, Wayne Kakepetum, and Cynthia (Cyndi) Fiddler. In addition to the Governance Council, the Sandy Lake First Nation maintains an Elder Council to advise the Governance Council. Working with the Governance Council, six boards carry out the Council's operations: Community Development Services, Education, Health, Housing, Radio Station, and Recreation.

Climate

Sandy Lake has a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

( Dfc) with cold winters and mild summers.

Transportation

Sandy Lake Airport serves the community. Sandy Lake has the ice/winter road during the winter months for people to drive in and out of the community. It starts at the end of Nungesser Road, goes through North Spirit Lake FN and next is the junction where the road splits into two, one going to Deer Lake FN and the other coming to Sandy Lake FN.

Notable people

Aysanabee Aysanabee is an Oji-Cree singer-songwriter from Canada, whose debut album ''Watin'' was released in 2022.Jonathan Ore"Aysanabee's pandemic phone calls with his grandfather inspired his debut album" '' Unreserved'', November 4, 2022. Background ...

* Abe Kakepetum *

Norval Morrisseau Norval Morrisseau (March 14, 1932 – December 4, 2007), also known as Copper Thunderbird, was an Indigenous Canadian artist from the Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek First Nation. He is widely regarded as the grandfather of contemporary Indigeno ...

Carl Ray Carl Ray (January 10, 1943 – September 26, 1978) was a First Nations artist who was active on the Canadian art scene from 1969 until his death in 1978. Considered primarily a Woodlands Style artist. He was a founding member of the Indian Gr ...

References

External links

First Nation Connectivity
{{authority control Communities in Kenora District Nishnawbe Aski Nation Hudson's Bay Company trading posts