Oji-Cree

Distribution of Anishinaabe peoples; the Oji-Cree are depicted by the northernmost purple band.

The Oji-Cree, Anishinini (plural Anishininiwag) or, less correctly, Severn Ojibwa or Northern Ojibwa, are a First Nation in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba, residing in a narrow band extending from the Missinaibi River region in Northeastern Ontario at the east to Lake Winnipeg at the west.

The Oji-Cree people are descended from historical intermarriage between the Ojibwa and Cree cultures, but are generally considered a distinct nation from either of their parent groups. They are considered one of the component groups of Anishinaabe, and reside primarily in a transitional zone between traditional Ojibwa lands to their south and traditional Cree lands to their north. Historically, the Oji-Cree were identified by the British and Canadian governments as "Cree," as the Oji-Cree have identified themselves with the Cree and not with the Ojibwa located south of them. Traditionally, they were called either Noopiming-ininiwag (People in the Woods) or Ajijaakoons (Little Crane) by the Ojibwa; among the Oji-Cree, their autonym is Anishinini (Original Human); members descended from the former Osnaburgh House Band instead identify themselves as Ojibwe, thus generally are classified as such.

Their language and culture also derive from mixed Ojibwa and Cree traditions. Anishininiimowin (the Oji-Cree language) is more closely related to Ojibwa structurally, although its literary tradition more closely resembles Cree. Anishininiimowin has about 12,600 speakers.^[1]

Oji-Cree Bands

• Osnaburgh House Band of Ojibway (Historical)
  • Cat Lake First Nation
  • Mishkeegogamang First Nation
  • Ojibway Nation of Saugeen First Nation

• Caribou Lake Band of Cree (Historical)
  • Kasabonika Lake First Nation (ᑳᓭᐹᓇᐦᑳ ᓂᐢᑕᒼ ᐊᓂᐦᓯᓂᓂᐙᐟ (Gaa-zebaanikaa Nistam Anisininiwaad); unpointed: ᑲᓭᐸᓂᑲ ᓂᐢᑕᒼ ᐊᓂᓯᓂᓂᐗᐟ) – Kasabonika Lake Reserve
  • North Caribou Lake First Nation (also known as Weagamow Lake First Nation or Round Lake First Nation) – Weagamow Lake Indian Reserve 87
  • Wawakapewin First Nation (ᐙᐙᑲᐯᐎᐣ ᓂᐢᑕᒼ ᐊᓂᐦᔑᓂᓂᐙᐟ (Waawaagabewin Nistam Anishininiwaad); unpointed: ᐗᐗᑲᐯᐎᐣ ᓂᐢᑕᒼ ᐊᓂᔑᓂᓂᐗᐟ) – Wawakapewin Indian Reserve
  • Wunnumin Lake First Nation – Wunnumin 1 Reserve, Wunnumin 2 Reserve

• Big Trout Lake Band of Cree (Historical)
  • Bearskin Lake First Nation – Bearskin Lake Reserve
  • Kingfisher First Nation – Kingfisher Lake 1 Reserve, Kingfisher 2A Reserve, Kingfisher 3A Reserve
  • Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation – Kitchenuhmaykoosib Aaki 84 Reserve
  • Muskrat Dam Lake First Nation – Muskrat Dam Lake Reserve
  • Sachigo Lake First Nation – Sachigo Lake 1 Reserve, Sachigo Lake 2 Reserve, Sachigo Lake 3 Reserve
  • Wapekeka First Nation (formerly Angling Lake First Nation) – Wapekeka Reserve 1, Wapekeka Reserve 2

• Deer Lake Band of Ojibway or Cree (Historical)
  • Deer Lake First Nation – Deer Lake Reserve
  • Keewaywin First Nation – Kee-Way-Win Indian Settlement, Keewaywin Reserve
  • McDowell Lake First Nation – MacDowell Lake Indian Settlement
  • North Spirit Lake First Nation – North Spirit Lake Reserve
  • Sandy Lake First Nation – Sandy Lake 88 Reserve

• Fort Hope Band of Ojibway or Cree (Historical)
  • Aroland First Nation – Aroland Indian Settlement
  • Constance Lake First Nation
  • Eabametoong First Nation (also known as Fort Hope First Nation) – Fort Hope 64 Reserve
  • Marten Falls First Nation – Marten Falls 65 Reserve
  • Neskantaga First Nation (also known as Lansdowne House First Nation) – Summer Beaver Settlement, Neskantaga Reserve
  • Nibinamik First Nation (also known as Summer Beaver First Nation – Summer Beaver Settlement
  • Webequie First Nation – Webiqui Indian Settlement, Webequi Indian Reserve

• Island Lake Band of Cree (Historical)
  • Garden Hill First Nations – Garden Hill First Nation Reserve, Amik Wachink Sakahikan Indian Reserve, Wesha Kijay Wasagamach Indian Reserve, Seeseep Sakahikan Indian Reserve, Pe-ta-waygamak Indian Reserve
  • Red Sucker Lake First Nation – Red Sucker Lake 1976 Reserve
  • St. Theresa Point First Nation – St. Theresa Point Indian Reserve, Mukwa Narrows Indian Reserve, Cantin Lake Indian Reserve
  • Wasagamack First Nation – Wasagamack Indian Reserve, Feather Rapids Indian Reserve, Naytawunkank Indian Reserve

References

1. ^ Statistics Canada: Various languages spoken (147)

Further reading

• Favel, Fred. Northern lights and satellites Kenina Kakekayash, Oji-Cree, director of radio, Wawatay Radio Network. [Ottawa]: Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, 2001. ISBN 0662659457
• Macfie, John, and Basil Johnston. Hudson Bay Watershed A Photographic Memoir of the Ojibway, Cree, and Oji-Cree. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1991. ISBN 1550020889
• Triggs-Raine BL, et al. 2002. "HNF-1alpha G319S, a Transactivation-Deficient Mutant, Is Associated with Altered Dynamics of Diabetes Onset in an Oji-Cree Community". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 99, no. 7: 4614-9.
• Valentine, Lisa Philips. Making It Their Own Severn Ojibwe Communicative Practices. Anthropological horizons, 7. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1995. ISBN 0802006434
• Valentine, Lisa Philips. "Work to Create the Future You Want" Contemporary Discourse in a Severn Ojibwe Community. 1990.