ᐋᐊᐧᓯᒣ ᐋᒋᒧᐃᐧᐣ ᐆᒪ ᐋᑐᐢᑫᐃᐧᐣ ᐅᐢᒋ
Awasimay Achimowin Ooma Atoskaywin Oschi
“More information about the project.”
About
We are uniting as five Nayhenaway Ininisewinuk to create a new Indigenous Protected Area in our shared ancestral homelands along the Hudson Bay coast.
This land- Askiy- holds our culture, histories, language, and identity. It is our responsibility to protect Askiy by following the ways of our ancestors for the future generations.
We define Askiy not only as the land, but everything it holds including the water, plants, animals, people, elements, and beings, seen and unseen.
ᑲᔭᐢ ᑭᑖᒋᒧᐄᐧᓇᑐ
Kayas Kitachimoweenato
“Our story from long ago.”
History
We, the Nayhenaway Ininewuk, are a Cree people descended from the original inhabitants of what is now called Northeastern Manitoba. Since time immemorial, we have lived, travelled, and raised our families throughout our vast territory in Northern Manitoba as an organized and self-sufficient society. Our ancestral homelands encompass the Churchill area to the north, stretches down to Bird near Gillam in the south, east towards the Ontario border and all the way up to the Hudson Bay coast. We have always governed our territory under our own laws, customs, and beliefs, and exercised our culture through hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, and harvesting.
For as long as we can remember our people have practiced our own form of stewardship by distributing our harvesting efforts, letting resource areas rest as needed, and following cultural customs. We show respect and reciprocity and use all the gifts given to us from Askiy.
In the 1600s, European explorers and traders arrived in our territory. The Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) established the York Factory Depot at the mouth of the Hayes River / Apiht Seepee, and our lands became a hub of the North American fur trade – an economy that was built on the knowledge and skills of our people. It was the Ininewuk who were able to harvest animals, prepare furs, secure food, and navigate the waterways of our territories. While our people continued to travel and harvest over a broad area, York Factory became a settlement and a gathering place. In summers and at Christmas time, families travelled 100 km or more from seasonal settlements to gather, celebrate, trade news, and spend time together.
After 1850, people began to gradually move inland, away from York Factory as the fur trade began to decline. Between the 1850s and 1950s, the communities of Split Lake, Bird, Shamattawa, and Ilford were formed where our people settled at fishing lakes and work sites away from York Factory. In 1957, the federal government forcibly relocated the people still living at York Factory to the shores of Split Lake. The new site had no more than a marker in the ground, but has since been built into the modern community of York Landing.
Once one people, we were divided into the five First Nations through the Indian Act and Reservation system. Today, we are reuniting through this project to celebrate our shared ancestry and protect our homelands together.
ᑭᑕᐦᑕᐢᑳᓀᓯᓇᓇᐦᐠ
Kitahtaskanaysinanahk
“Our Nations who are working together.”
Our Nations
As the Five Nations, we work collaboratively as partners leading this project.
ᑭᐢᒋ ᐚᐢᑳᐦᐃᑲᐣ
Kischi Wáskáhikan Negani Ininewisewin
The York Factory First Nation (YFFN) Ininewuk have lived on the land that is now northeastern Manitoba for thousands of years – since the glaciers melted. During this time, we developed an intimate relationship with the land – an unbroken cultural thread transmitted from our ancestors to current members of the community. To be Ininewuk was, and still is, to be part of an ancient tradition that mastered and specialized in life in a most challenging environment. Through our cultural teachings and practices, our relationship to the land has supported our health and well-being since before recorded history.
Our ancestral lands run all along the coast of the Hudson Bay from Churchill, MB to Fort Severn, ON. The Nelson and Hayes Rivers are significant historical travel routes for our people throughout the lowlands, as well as smaller rivers like the Kaskatamakan, Pennycuttaway, and Owl/ Ohoo Seepee.
In 1957, the last of the Nayhenaway Ininewuk at York Factory were forcibly relocated to York Landing (Kawéchiwásik) and built a new community over 250 km from our original homelands.
There are currently more than 1,500 YFFN members living in Churchill, Thompson, Winnipeg and beyond, with approximately 450 of those living on reserve at York Landing.
ᑕᑕᐢᑿᔭᕽ
Tataskweyak Nayhenaway Ininewisewin
Our home community is located in Split Lake, Manitoba, which is home to more than 2300 of our 4000 plus members. Our ancestral lands are marked by two mighty rivers – the Churchill and the Nelson, as well as rich boreal forest and the Hudson Bay lowlands and coastline. This land is our home, and we maintain a deep spiritual and emotional connection to it.
Through access programs and family camps, our people continue to travel throughout our territory, harvest and share our traditional foods, and maintain our connection to Askiy.
ᒪᐦᑫᓯᐤ ᓵᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ
Makaso Sakahigan Nayhenaway Ininewisewin
The Fox Lake Cree have inhabited Northern Manitoba for centuries. Our ancestors developed skills to allow them to live a holistic, healthy, and rich life off the land and all it provides. When European settlers arrived with the fur trade, we adapted and found ways to take advantage of the opportunities that these changes brought to our territory, all while maintaining our connection to land and culture. To this day, to the people of Fox Lake Cree Nation say, “The Land and The People are One”.
With the arrival of the Canadian National Railway (CNR), our people came to settle within our territory at what is now known as the town of Gillam. Valued for our knowledge of the northern landscape with skills that complemented a life along the remote tracks, our community adapted to employment on the railway. For decades Fox Lake people have lived in relative cooperation with the CNR, while still engaging in our traditional way of life by living off the land.
Since our settlement in Gillam, the area has become a hub for hydro-electric development along the lower Nelson River, which was our main travel route for our nation to reach our traditional territories along the Hudson Bay coast. While this route has been disrupted, we maintain connection to the lands around the Nelson, as well as the Weir, Kettle and Fox rivers.
Our community is located in Bird, 750 kilometres (1200kms by road) North East of Winnipeg, Manitoba. There are approximately 1300 members, of which approximately 200 live on the Fox Lake reserve land in Bird, as well as on a small piece of reserve land in Gillam. Approximately 1000 members live off reserve, including about 300 in the Town of Gillam, with the remaining living primarily in Winnipeg, Thompson, and Churchill, Manitoba.
ᒨᓱᑯᐟ
Môsokot Negani Ininewisewin
Our Nation has always lived in harmony with the land, sharing the land and its resources. Our members originated from Tataskweyak First Nation and since many resided in Ilford, it was decided among the Elders of Ilford that they wanted their own Reserve. After many talks with the Federal Government, we were granted reserve status and named War Lake First Nation. War Lake First Nation is recognized as “Mooseocoot IR reserve” and is adjacent to the town of Ilford. War Lake obtained reserve status in 1981 and has a population of 330 members living on reserve.
Our community originated as a construction and service centre during the building of the Hudson Bay Railway. Later it served as a marshalling point for prospectors during the Island Lake gold rush, and then as a similar marshalling point for the network of winter freight roads going east from Ilford. It also served as a fishing transport centre to many communities by flying the tubs of fish to fishing depots in the north. Our community was once known as the “hub of north”. The “Gold Trail Inn” operated by Clifford (Kip) and Emily (Mickey) Thompson was the main point of communication for many years.
Our nation continues to maintain strong connections to the land and our traditional territories that connect with the Aiken, Cyril, Fox, Hayes, and Nelson Rivers. We continue to have strong ancestral ties to our homelands along the Hudson Bay coast and seek to protect it for future generations.
ᑭᓭᒫᑖᐘ
Kisêmâtâwa Negani Ininewisewin
Our community resides at the meeting of the Gods and Echoing Rivers, about 350 kilometres southeast of Churchill. Shamattawa has long been a seasonal fishing, gathering, and meeting site for the Nayhenaway Ininewuk, who would travel to and from the York Factory area. During the relocation of the Nayhenaway Ininewuk from York Factory, six people travelled to settle in Shamattawa. From there, our community has grown to more than 1600 members, with at least 1,400 living on reserve.
To this day, our people continue to travel throughout our traditional territories to hunt, fish and trap on the land. Our home is part of a large migratory route for thousands of caribou, which carry great cultural significance for our people. As a remote, isolated community, we have abundant access to our ancestral homelands with all its food and medicines, and it is our responsibility to continue to care for it as our ancestors once did.
“I think it’s important that we protect as much as we can, because once it’s gone, we’ll never be able to get it back. We need to let the area heal. That means that we need to do our job as stewards of the land and protect it as our ancestors left it for us.”
Conway Arthurson, FLCN
ᑭᐢᑭᓄᐋᐧᒋᐦᐅᐣ
Kiskinowachihon
“Our Logo”
Our Logo
