Chief Chris Skead of Wauzhushk Onigum Nation says the 14-acre lands of Anicinabe Park within the metropolis of Kenora, Ont., have been utilized by First Nations individuals for 1000’s of years, they usually need it again underneath their management.
Now, greater than 60 years after the Authorities of Canada bought the park to the Metropolis of Kenora, three First Nations are banding collectively to reclaim the house.
Wauzhushk Onigum Nation, Niisaachewan Anishinaabe Nation, and Washagamis Bay First Nation filed an announcement of declare in Ontario’s Superior Courtroom of Justice on Tuesday in opposition to the Lawyer Normal of Canada and the Metropolis of Kenora.
The declare argues that Canada breached its authorized, fiduciary and constitutional tasks by promoting Anicinabe Park to town in 1959, after setting it apart for the First Nations in 1929.
“We have now mentioned the return of Anicinabe Park with the Metropolis of Kenora for years. They’ve refused. We’re calling on Kenora to do the precise factor – to be companions in reconciliation and return Anicinabe Park to our communities,” mentioned Chief Lorraine Cobiness of Niisaachewan Anishinaabe Nation in an announcement Tuesday.
This yr marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Anicinabe Park occupation, when the Ojibway Warrior Society held a six-week demonstration to advocate for higher dwelling situations, training and entry to land. Amongst their calls for was returning Anicinabe Park to the encircling First Nations.
“Submitting this declare, it reveals that fifty years later, reconciliation has failed,” mentioned Skead.
Louis Cameron, centre, and the Ojibway Warrior Society occupy the Anicinabe Park in Kenora on this July 1974 file picture. This yr marks the fiftieth anniversary of the park’s occupation. (Canadian Press)
The Metropolis of Kenora has filed discover of its intent to defend itself in court docket.
“It is a complicated authorized matter that will likely be resolved by the court docket in the end. We have now no additional remark at the moment out of respect for the authorized course of commenced to resolve the standing of the Anicinabe Park,” mentioned Heather Pihulak, town’s director of company providers, in an e mail to Ontario Chronicle.
As for the federal authorities, Eric Head, spokesperson for Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, instructed Ontario Chronicle in an e mail that “the Authorities of Canada might want to evaluation the assertion of declare for this new litigation as soon as it’s formally served on Canada.”
“In our view, this declare has been a very long time coming,” mentioned Luke Hildebrand of Headwaters LLP, who’s representing the First Nations within the case.
“It isn’t targeted on financial compensation. It’s about returning these lands that ought to by no means have been taken away within the first place.”
The park was the location of tragedy earlier this yr, when a person from Wawakapewin First Nation was shot and killed by an Ontario Provincial Police officer. The incident, which is underneath investigation by the province’s Particular Investigations Unit, triggered public outcry concerning the remedy of First Nations individuals by police — occurring days after a celebration was held on the park to mark Nationwide Indigenous Peoples Day.
Cultural, non secular connection to the land
Wauzhushk Onigum, Niisaachewan Anishinaabe and Washagamis Bay had been as soon as one group, earlier than they separated into distinct First Nations for administrative functions, Skead defined. The park has all the time been a central assembly house for the group.
When St. Mary’s Indian Residential College operated in Kenora, First Nations households would paddle to the park and wait there to see if they may go to their youngsters. The varsity was open from 1897 to 1972.
First Nations households are seen gathering at Anicinabe Park in Kenora, Ont., on this picture, which is estimated to be from the Nineteen Forties. (Submitted by Luke Hildebrand)
The park was additionally host to fishing camps, berry choosing, rice harvesting and conventional ceremonies, from feasts to funerals, Skead mentioned.
“We have now a cultural and non secular connection to those lands as a result of they’re a part of who we’re. Every little thing comes from the lands – our clan system, our Anishinaabe names, our lifestyle, our survival as effectively.”
Members of Niisaachewan Anishinaabe Nation and Washagamis Bay First Nation issued statements concerning the court docket case on Tuesday.
A mom and her baby are seen at a camp website arrange at Anicinabe Park in Kenora, Ont., on this picture, which is estimated to be from the Nineteen Forties. (Submitted by Luke Hildebrand)
Coun. Dolores Sinclair of Washagamis Bay First Nation mentioned as many as 80 individuals stayed on the land at a time earlier than the park was bought.
“My household remembers the shock and harm it brought about. Sooner or later it was a spot the place we lived, the subsequent, our properties had been taken away. The sale of our land was a incorrect to our individuals,” added Washagamis Bay’s Coun. Brenda Chartrand.
‘An opportunity for reconciliation’
Skead mentioned returning Anicinabe Park “again to the rightful homeowners” doesn’t suggest it is going to be taken out of public use.
He’d wish to see a mannequin just like that of Tunnel Island, a path system that is co-owned by Wauzhushk Onigum Nation, Niisaachewan Anishinaabe Nation, Washagamis Bay First Nation and the Metropolis of Kenora.
“There’s an ideal instance already with reference to sharing — and that was the entire spirit and intent of the treaty relationship as effectively between the Anishinaabe and the non-Anishinaabe individuals,” he mentioned.
As a Kenora resident, Hildebrand mentioned he’d be proud to see town work with the First Nations to settle the land dispute in a great way.
“I would like individuals to know that Anicinabe Park is an opportunity for reconciliation. It is an opportunity to heal a incorrect that was completed,” Hildebrand mentioned.
“I hope that this may be a possibility for the unique peoples and the newcomers to return collectively and say ‘we will flip the chapter on what has been a troublesome, very exhausting variety of years that culminated on this wrongful dispossession of land — and we’re going to give it again.'”
