Bear Island
Ontario
The Teme-Augama Anishnabai and Temagami First Nation represent the Original People of N’dakimenan (Our Land) [Unceded]. Their Creation Story tells that 8000 years ago, the Creator placed the Teme-Augama Anishnabai at Ishpatina Ridge, the highest point of land in what is now called Ontario. This timeline corresponds to the receding glaciers. Six thousand of those years have been corroborated by science, showing our continuous occupation.
N’dakimenan encompasses approximately 10,000 square kilometres of land, adjacent to what is now known as the Quebec border and approximately 400 kilometres north of the city of Toronto. The boundary is not disputed by neighbouring Indigenous Peoples and First Nations. Further, the boundary of N’dakimenan was accepted by the Supreme Court of Canada in Ontario (Attorney General) v Bear Island Foundation, [1991] 2 SCR 570).
The Teme-Augama Anishnabai have maintained a distinct territory, language, laws, governing authority, social organization, and culture since time immemorial.
Bear Island Indian Reserve is one square mile of land, mostly rock, in the middle of Lake Temagami. The Temagami First Nation is approx 800 Teme-Augama Anishnabai. The Bear Island Indian Reserve community, which includes 250 permanent residents and the government institutions of the Temagami First Nation, preserves the integrity of Teme-Augama Anishnabai as the stewards of n’Daki Menan.
Anthropologists have stated that Bear Island was likely one of the first places that humans (Teme-Augama Anishnabai Ancestors) inhabited in the Temagami area. They say this because the Tower Hill is one of the highest points of land on Temagami Lake. The grandparents of the present day Temagami First Nation began to reside on Bear Island during the summer, when the Hudson Bay Post was established in 1872. Chief Tonene approached the Indian Agent and asked for a reserve in 1877. The Federal Government recognized that the Temagami Indians were missed in the Robinson Huron Treaty of 1850 and surveyed a reserve in and around Austin Bay. The Ontario Government refused to support the creation of a reserve in Austin Bay. So began the Teme-Anishnabai struggle for justice. A church was built on Bear Island in the late 1800s and a school was built shortly after and the children began to attend school in the summer. Fearing forest fires, the issue of a reserve for the Temagami Indians became a serious concern for the tourist and forestry industry and in 1945 Ontario agreed to sell Bear Island for $3,000.00 to Indian Affairs. In 1970 at the request of the Chief and Council Bear Island became an Indian Reserve by an Order in Council of the Minister of Indian Affairs. The struggle for justice regarding lands for Temagami First Nation continues.
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Bear Island Films
2018
