Recomendaciones

The land base of The Batchewana First Nation of Ojibways is spread across four different locations along the northern shore of Lake Superior. The majority of on-reserve band members reside in Rankin Reserve, located between Garden River

First Nation and the city of Sault Ste. Marie (Figure 3.2). The location draws its name from the Rankin Mining Company, from whom the community purchased the land in 1939 (Batchewana First Nation of Ojibways, 2014b). Goulais Mission Reserve (Chi- wehn-kwe-Dohn) is located roughly 50 kilometres northwest of Rankin. Batchewana (Obadjiwan) is located 20 kilometres northwest of Goulais Mission Reserve, roughly 85 kilometres from Sault Ste. Marie. The fourth land base, Whitefish Island

(Atikamegminsing), is an island located on the St. Mary’s river. Batchewana First Nation reclaimed the island in 1997 (Batchewana First Nation of Ojibways, 2013). It is an unoccupied historical site with a longstanding significance as a fishing area and trading post. Batchewana First Nation membership is comprised of 2,649

individuals, with the majority of those registered with the band (1,904) living off- reserve (Canada, 2013). Reserve lands total 2241 hectares, with Rankin Reserve representing the largest of the four reserve areas.

Figure 3.2: Location of the Collaborating Communities.

Prior to European contact, the Anishinaabe people in the area were a hunter- gatherer society spanning over a large territory stretching from Whitefish Island to the southern shore of the Pukaskwa River and over 50 kilometres inland

(Batchewana First Nation of Ojibways, 2013). In the summer months, groups would come together at an area known as Bawatung (Gathering Place) in what are now the cities of Sault Ste. Marie Michigan and Sault Ste. Marie Ontario (Broad et al., 2006). The Batchewana people controlled much of the southbound trade from the north and west. European colonization of the area severely impacted longstanding

Anishinaabe ways of life in the region. Increased settlement and subsequent logging, mining, and overuse of resources dispossessed Batchewana of their traditional

hunting and gathering economy including significantly reducing the community’s capacity to undertake both subsistence and commercial fishing activities which had sustained them for centuries.

Batchewana First Nation hereditary Chief Nebenegoching signed the Robinson Huron Treaty in 1850, agreeing to share lands with the province in exchange for continued access to resources, annuity payments, and title to two reserves (Whitefish Island and Batchewana Bay Reserve). However, the survey of the Batchewana reserve was improperly undertaken and the agreed boundaries were changed by government decree and without consultation, resulting in

outstanding treaty land entitlement (Batchewana First Nation, 2013). Specifically, the changing of the boundaries removed access to the waters of Batchewana Bay and Lake Superior.

Emerging from increased government pressure to acquire more lands for European settlement, The Pennefather Treaty was subsequently enacted nine years after the signing of The Robinson Huron Treaty (Batchewana First Nation of

Ojibways, 2010). This resulted in further dispossession of traditional lands at the Batchewana Reserve and left the community without a land base save for the islands located in the St. Mary’s river. Whitefish Island was also appropriated by the federal government without surrender or compensation in 1905 for the construction of a railroad (McNab, 1999). The railroad was never built and the island became a national heritage park. Despite being restricted from accessing the island, community members continued to assert their sovereignty over it and were regularly charged for pursuing traditional fishing practices. Eventually the band

would use their own funds to purchase lands at Goulais Bay and Rankin, as well as winning the struggle for restored rights to Whitefish Island in 1992.

The loss of traditional lands and the on-going struggle to regain them demonstrates how The Batchewana First Nation of Ojibways have been resisting environmental dispossession for centuries. The persistence of community members in resisting dispossession is strongly represented by the struggle over fishing rights. The community faced consistent reduction in commercial fishery quotas enacted by the Ministry of Natural Resources throughout the 1980s despite these rights having been guaranteed by The Robinson Huron Treaty. In 1985, one community member had their fishing equipment seized and was convicted of commercial fishing without a licence (Haliechuk, 1988; McNab, 1999; The Globe and Mail, 1989). The Ministry of Natural Resources continued their attempts to restrict Batchewana fishing rights throughout the subsequent federal proceedings spurred by both the Batchewana case as well as that of Ronald Sparrow in British Columbia. This included armed raids, seizure of equipment, and calls for boycotting fish caught by the Batchewana fishers (McNab, 1999).

Despite having experienced numerous attempts at dispossession,

Batchewana First Nation continued to proactively assert sovereignty within their traditional lands. Batchewana Natural Resources recognizes the important role of the land, centring traditional values in their approach to developing natural resources (Batchewana First Nation of Ojibways, 2014a). This means that the proper use of the land defined by traditional Anishinaabe laws are respected, including those of resource sustainability and community safety. Prior to any

agreements, traditional ceremony is conducted during which Elders ask the land for permission to develop. Batchewanna insists that any prospective development partners respect these laws and traditions. These values have shaped projects within the traditional territory, including the development of The Bow Lake Wind Project, a planned 36 turbine wind farm being developed in partnership with BluEarth Renewables Inc.