2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the 1974 Anicinabe Park Gathering. To mark the anniversary, 10 days ago Wauzhushk Onigum, Washagamis Bay and Niisaachewan Anishinaabe Nation jointly filed an action in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice seeking the return of Anicinabe Park, located in Treaty 3 territory in Kenora, Ontario. The claim outlines that Canada set aside the lands that make up Anicinabe Park for the use and benefit of the Nations in 1929. Alleging that thirty years later, Canada and the City of Kenora conspired to dispossess the Nations of Anicinabe Park. The claim outlines how Kenora’s actions were part
Canada was required to act in the best interest of Nations. Instead, it entered into a deal with Kenora to sell Anicinabe Park which benefited itself, and the City. The First Nations claim the illegal sale of Anicinabe Park left Anishinaabe people with nowhere to go in Kenora. Many Anishinaabe people became homeless. A legacy which endures to this day.
Anicinabe Park was and is, central to the Nations’ economic, social, political and spiritual well-being. The lands were used to reconnect with relatives, conduct feasts and hold ceremonies. In the summertime, dozens of families would camp and gather at Anicinabe Park.
In 1974, the Ojibwe Warrior Society resisted the sale during the six-week Anicinabe Park Gathering. The Anicinabe Park Gathering put the treatment of Indigenous peoples in Treaty 3 territory on the national stage.
This l’gal claim is not about excluding anyone from Anicinabe Park. It is about reclaiming the original spirit and intent of Anicinabe Park as a gathering place. The Nations are committed to creating space for both Anishinaabe and non-Anishinaabe peoples to come together in pursuit of the Nation-to-Nation relationship promised by Treaty 3. The 50th anniversary of the Anicinabe Park Gathering, and the filing of the legal claim, is a long-awaited opportunity for reconciliation.
Over the last two years the Nations have repeatedly invited Kenora to be a partner in reconciliation, by returning Anicinabe Park outside of a legal process. To date, they have refused.
Quotes
“For generations our people lived in relationship with the Anicinabe Park lands. Our Elders tell me about how we would camp on the Anicinabe Park lands to reconnect with relatives from across Treaty 3. It was a joyous time. Each of us have family members with personal connections to these lands, we remember what the land means to them and to our future. We are all Treaty people. When our ancestors entered Treaty 3, we agreed to share the land We are committed to that sacred relationship. We are committed to retaining public access to Anicinabe Park and creating a space for Anishinaabe and non-Anishinaabe people to come together in a good way”. – Chief Chris Skead, Wauzhushk Onigum First Nation
“We have discussed the return of Anicinabe Park with the City of Kenora for years. They have refused. We are calling on Kenora to do the right thing – to be partners in reconciliation and return Anicinabe Park to our communities. Reconciliation starts with returning Anicinabe Park. – Chief Lorraine Cobiness, Niisaachewan Anishinaabe Nation
“Canada’s decision to sell the lands that make up Anicinabe Park, our home, to Kenora, so that it could build a park, was wrong. My family remembers the shock and hurt it caused. One day it was a place where we lived, the next, our homes were taken away. The sale of our land was a wrong to our people. Reconciliation requires action. It calls on us to correct this wrong.” – Councillor Brenda Chartrand, Washagamis Bay First Nation
“What people call Anicinabe Park is where we held ceremonies. Where we conducted feasts, sweat lodges, and came together as an Anishinaabe Nation. It’s so much more than a park. It’s a core part of who we are. It’s where we lived and built houses. In the summer, there would be as many as 80 people staying on the land”. – Councillor Dolores Sinclair, Washagamis Bay First Nation
“This is about healing and reconciliation for all of Kenora, not occupation. We need to reconcile the wrongs that were done to move forward. We need to come together as people who share the lands of Kenora”. – Councillor Fabian Blackhawk, Niisaachewan Anishinaabe Nation
“The 1974 Anicinabe Park Gathering was about justice for our people, justice for Anicinabe Park. Bringing this claim forward honours the legacy of our ancestors.” – Councillor Amber Sinclair, Washagamis Bay
Contacts
Media inquiries can be directed to:
Luke Hildebrand
[email protected]