Michipicoten Ojibway

Michipicoten Ojibway. . , The Michipicoten Ojibway have a long history on the eastern shore of Lake Superior and Wawa area. Michipicoten is an Ojibway word which some say translates to "landing place" or "place of large hills". , At the time of first contact with European explorers in the early 1600's, the local Ojibway were proficient hunters, fishermen and gatherers. They followed the annual migrations of birds, mammals and fish. Their diets depended heavily on sturgeon, whitefish, rabbits and the seasonal roots and berries that could be gathered during the short growing seasons. They tapped birch and maple trees for sap to make sugar and used fire to promote the growth of blueberry harvests. , The medicinal uses of plants and herbs were passed down through the generations. The medicine men and women played an important role in the everyday health of the Ojibway tribe as well as providing cures and healing aides when injury or sickness occurred. , The junction of the Magpie and Michipicoten Rivers was an important settlement site for the ancestors of the Michipicoten First Nation. The rivers were not only a spawning grounds for a variety of fish species, they were also important natural transportation routes. The 40 some families who made up the Michipicoten Ojibway, travelled and traded with their neighboring families and tribes east towards Chapleau and north into Cree territory up the Michipicoten, Missinaibi and Moose Rivers to James Bay. This transportation route became the basis for the European fur trading industry at Michipicoten Post which lasted nearly 200 years. , Many of Canada's early European explorers, missionaries, and adventurers travelled through Michipicoten and interacted with the Michipicoten Ojibway. Journals and diary entries frequently describe the native residents as honest, friendly and hard-working. The Ojibway trappers and woodsmen were sought after as skilled and reliable guides. Some historians believe that they guided the first European explorers Radisson and Groseillers up the Michipicoten-Missinaibi-Moose River system to James Bay from Lake Superior in the late 1600's. , A long portage from Sandy Beach to Wawa Lake, which avoided the fast flowing lower Michipicoten River, was shared by the local Ojibway when Philip Turnor surveyed local routes from Superior to James Bay in 1791. , In 1850, the Michipicoten Chief Totomenai was one of eight Ojibway Chiefs representing the tribes along Lake Superior's northern coastline, who signed the Robinson Superior Treaty with Queen Victoria's representative William Robinson. This established the Gros Cap Indian Reserve #49. , Today the Michipicoten First Nation continues to be a vibrant part of the community of Wawa and represent a long and colourful part of our Northern Ontario culture.