Garden River First Nation
Encyclopedia
Ojibwa
The Ojibwe or Chippewa are among the largest groups of Native Americans–First Nations north of Mexico. They are divided between Canada and the United States. In Canada, they are the third-largest population among First Nations, surpassed only by Cree and Inuit...
band
First Nations Government (Canada)
The fundamental legal unit of government for Canadian First Nations is the band.-Band:A band is typically, but not always, composed of a single community. Many bands, especially in British Columbia, control multiple Indian reserves, that is, multiple parcels of land...
located at Garden River 14 near Sault Ste. Marie
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Sault Ste. Marie is a city on the St. Marys River in Algoma District, Ontario, Canada. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay, with a population of 74,948. The community was founded as a French religious mission: Sault either means "jump" or "rapids" in...
.
The Garden River reserve consists of two non-contiguous areas, totaling 20,703.5 hectare
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
s. The larger, main area is located along the St. Marys River
St. Marys River (Michigan-Ontario)
The St. Marys River , sometimes written as the St. Mary's River, drains Lake Superior, starting at the end of Whitefish Bay and flowing 74.5 miles southeast into Lake Huron, with a fall of ....
and Highway 17
Highway 17 (Ontario)
King's Highway 17, more commonly known as Highway 17, is a provincially maintained highway and the primary route of the Trans-Canada Highway through the Canadian province of Ontario. It begins at the Manitoba border west of Kenora and ends south of Arnprior at the western terminus of Highway 417, ...
. The Garden River
Garden River (Ontario)
The Garden River is a river in the Algoma District of Ontario which empties into the St. Marys River east of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.The river gets its name from vegetable gardens kept by the Ojibwa people in this area. The Garden River First Nation Reserve is located in this area. The reserve...
runs through the reserve as a tributary
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
of the St. Mary's River.
Garden River First Nation is governed by a band council consisting of a chief and 12 councillors. Council elections are held biannually. The current chief is Lyle Sayers.
History
Garden River First Nation was created as a legal entity when Lord ElginJames Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin
Sir James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine, KT, GCB, PC , was a British colonial administrator and diplomat...
, Governor General
Governor-General
A Governor-General, is a vice-regal person of a monarch in an independent realm or a major colonial circonscription. Depending on the political arrangement of the territory, a Governor General can be a governor of high rank, or a principal governor ranking above "ordinary" governors.- Current uses...
of the Province of Canada
Province of Canada
The Province of Canada, United Province of Canada, or the United Canadas was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham in the Report on the Affairs of British North America following the Rebellions of...
, approved in law the Robinson Huron Treaty on November 29, 1850. The treaty had been negotiated between the British colony's representative William B. Robinson
William Benjamin Robinson
William Benjamin Robinson was a fur trader and political figure in Upper Canada.He was born in Kingston in 1797, the son of Christopher Robinson and Esther Sayre, and moved to York with his family in 1798. In 1802, his mother remarried after his father's death and moved to Newmarket, where he...
and numerous Ojibwa chiefs from the Lake Huron watershed
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
earlier that year, and had been signed by these representatives on Sept. 9, 1850. The treaty extinguished Ojibwa title to the land in exchange for 17 reserve lands and annual annuities. Each reserve had to register its band members because an increase to annuity amounts would be determined on a per-person basis.
Garden River (Ontario)
The Garden River is a river in the Algoma District of Ontario which empties into the St. Marys River east of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.The river gets its name from vegetable gardens kept by the Ojibwa people in this area. The Garden River First Nation Reserve is located in this area. The reserve...
since 1841, after leaving a settlement near the rapids of Sault Ste. Marie
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Sault Ste. Marie is a city on the St. Marys River in Algoma District, Ontario, Canada. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay, with a population of 74,948. The community was founded as a French religious mission: Sault either means "jump" or "rapids" in...
. The treaty formally recognized the band's reserve lands in this vicinity as reservation 14. Upon his death in 1854, Shingwaukonse was succeeded as chief by his son Augustine Shingwauk. The last hereditary chief was Shingwaukonse's second son Buhgwujjenene, who succeeded his brother Augustine.
In the treaty's schedule of reservations, the fourteenth reservation is "a tract of land extending from Maskinongé Bay, inclusive, to Partridge Point, above Garden River on the front, and inland ten miles, throughout the whole distance; and also Squirrel Island." For many years subsequent to signing the treaty, Garden River First Nation disputed the survey of their reserve conducted by the Province of Canada
Province of Canada
The Province of Canada, United Province of Canada, or the United Canadas was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham in the Report on the Affairs of British North America following the Rebellions of...
. In April 2003, the government of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
returned 3,492 hectares of land to the reserve from the adjacent geographic townships of Anderson and Chesley. This resolution was negotiated between the band, the government of Canada, and the province of Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
in accord with the Indian Lands Agreement of 1986. Ontario also released all mineral rights and revenues on the returned land to Canada to administer for the use of the band.
Highway 17 dispute
Highway 17 (Ontario)
King's Highway 17, more commonly known as Highway 17, is a provincially maintained highway and the primary route of the Trans-Canada Highway through the Canadian province of Ontario. It begins at the Manitoba border west of Kenora and ends south of Arnprior at the western terminus of Highway 417, ...
, the primary route of the Trans-Canada Highway
Trans-Canada Highway
The Trans-Canada Highway is a federal-provincial highway system that joins the ten provinces of Canada. It is, along with the Trans-Siberian Highway and Australia's Highway 1, one of the world's longest national highways, with the main route spanning 8,030 km...
, was realigned when a four-lane bypass opened north of the existing roadway on October 31, 2007. The reserve objected to the renaming of the old road as Highway 638
Highway 638 (Ontario)
Secondary Highway 638, commonly referred to as Highway 638, is a secondary highway located in the District of Algoma in Ontario. The highway measures in length, extending from Echo Bay eastward through the communities of Sylvan Valley, Leeburn and Ophir, where it turns southward and runs south...
, and has erected its own signs identifying the road, unofficially, as Highway 17B
Highway 17B (Ontario)
Highway 17B was formerly the highway designation for five business routes of Highway 17, the main route of the Trans-Canada Highway through the Canadian province of Ontario...
. The municipal councils of Sault Ste. Marie
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Sault Ste. Marie is a city on the St. Marys River in Algoma District, Ontario, Canada. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay, with a population of 74,948. The community was founded as a French religious mission: Sault either means "jump" or "rapids" in...
and Macdonald, Meredith and Aberdeen Additional
Macdonald, Meredith and Aberdeen Additional, Ontario
Population trend:* Population in 2006: 1550* Population in 2001: 1452* Population in 1996: 1521* Population in 1991: 1548-External links:*...
, which border Garden River on either side and are also located on the route of the disputed roadway, both passed municipal resolutions in 2007 supporting Garden River's position.
The provincial government of Ontario eventually acceded to the Garden River band's demand, officially designating the route as Highway 17B in early 2009.
In February 2010, Garden River's band council publicly warned that they would consider imposing tolls
Toll road
A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...
on the routes of both Highway 17 and Highway 17B through their territory if the provincial government did not assist the council with a funding shortfall of approximately $1 million.
Population
Garden River First Nation has a population of 2,134 members registered under the Indian ActIndian Act
The Indian Act , R.S., 1951, c. I-5, is a Canadian statute that concerns registered Indians, their bands, and the system of Indian reserves...
, according to the latest statistics (June, 2006). However, only 1,004 members are resident on the band's reserve, while 1,130 members live off the reserve, predominantly but not exclusively in Sault Ste. Marie. According to Statistics Canada, the 2001 census showed the following: that more than 45 per cent of the on-reserve population were under 25 years old; that over 93 per cent had English as their only mother tongue; and that over 56 per cent identified themselves as Catholic and 28 per cent as Protestant.
Notable Garden River First Nation members
- David B. WilliamsDavid B. WilliamsDavid B. Williams is a noted Canadian Ojibway aboriginal artist.Originally from Garden River First Nation just outside Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, David resided much of his adult life in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and Winnipeg, Manitoba. David B...
, painter and printmaker - Shingwaukonse
- Ted NolanTed NolanTheodore John Nolan is currently the Head Coach of Latvia men's national ice hockey team...
former NHL player and coach