Nipigon, Ontario

On the second day of our trip to Eastern Canada we travelled through Nipigon Ontario. Our first morning on the trip really started with a short tour of Nipigon and then breakfast at a local restaurant there by the name of Ducky’s. Inside the restaurant is graced with a lot of parts from trees. Such as Birch bark and slices of birch trees. Thank goodness we did not have to make toast out of those slices. The wall was hung with snowshoes and massive moose antlers. We realized we really were in the north woods. The French toast was excellent with generous portions of real maple syrup. And bacon. I don’t mind that bacon does not come from the north woods. Maybe it came from LA Broquerie Hy-life pork.

Nipigon is a place where some of the members of the Flying Post First Nation have settled. Members of the Flying Post First Nation are widely spread out. Many of them don’t live in their designated Indian Reserve. Some of them live near Nipigon Ontario where we had breakfast. Flying Post First Nation was at one time an independent First Nation as part of the Nishnawbe-Aski Nation (NAN), and later joined with or merged with the Wabun Tribal Council in 2007. Flying Post’s priorities include encouraging its members to pursue educational and professional ambitions and to create a sustainable economy for the First Nation that will create prosperity for future generations of its members.

Though most of the Flying Post First Nation members are located near Nipigon, others live in various parts of the country. The official territory of the Flying Post FN is located near Timmins, Ontario along the Ground Hog River. The Reserve lands were established between the government and First Nation people in Northern Ontario through the signing of Treaty #9 in 1905 and 1906 with later additional adhesions in 1929 and 1930. In 1906, Flying Post lands were identified in a ‘Schedule of Reserves’ in the Treaty #9 document and described the First Nation Reserve lands as follows – ‘In the province of Ontario, commencing at a point half a mile south of Six-Mile Rapids, on the east side of Ground Hog River, thence south a distance of four miles, and of sufficient depth to give an area of twenty-three square miles.’ As a lawyer who many times drafted land descriptions for various legal documents, I was amused by the looseness of the legal definition of the Reserve. But they are part of a Treaty and that makes them constitutional documents in Canadian law.

According to a subsequent Chief of the First Nation, Chief Murray Ray, the Treaty documents “included many discrepancies that came out of miscommunication.”   Chief Black Ice was the first recognized Chief of Flying Post First Nation. He had been informed of the treaty making process while his people were living near Groundhog River. However, they just happened to be there at the time, but they were nomadic, as were many First Nations people of Canada. The government of Canada did not respect the nomadic lifestyle of the Ojibway and Cree people of northern Ontario. As a result, the legal documents describing their Treaty lands were based on including the land which they happened to occupy at that time. Not necessarily the land they would occupy the net year. It was a like trying to squeeze a square peg into a round hole. That process never ends well and it didn’t here either. This is just one example, among many, of how cultural differences between First Nations and Canadians of European descent mashed up their relationship.

When people of the First Nation realized what land they were entitled to under the Treaty, many were displeased as they considered it a poor permanent location. Some of the members of Flying Post First Nation joined other First Nations instead.

In the 1960s, some Flying Post First Nation members began to organize themselves during the formation of First Nation political organizations such as Nishnawbe-Aski Nation (NAN). During that time, they re-established themselves as a First Nation entity and elected a Chief and Council to represent their people.

First Nations people of Canada usually made it clear to their Canadian government negotiators that they expected frequent revision and renewal of the treaties to iron out problems and keep them current in accordance with current expectations on both sides. Had such frequent renewals occurred there would likely have been fewer complications resulting in happier relations between First Nation peoples and the Canadian government. Treaties like Constitutions should always be living documents, not pressed in unmovable stone. A good example of this mistake is the American constitution. as a result of failure to amend in many years it has become calcified and an impediment to good government instead of a facilitator. While in earlier years amendments were common, in modern times amendments seem all but impossible leading to inevitable grief. It really is impossible to negotiate documents for ever. Neither party is long happy with the results. Such documents need to change. They  must be alive.