Page 19 - Moose Deer Point First Nation

As the British gained territory from these battles, people WORDS TO KNOW
continued to migrate to this region of the Great Lakes. Most colonial: rule over one country
people came from Europe. Some people came from the United by another country
States to remain loyal to the British Crown as America moved Crown: the source of power to
govern a country
out of colonial rule. The Pottawatomi came to settle among
migrate: move from one place
Anishinaabe allies, possibly at the invitation of the government
to another to settle
of the newly forming Canada and Ontario.
Supreme Court: the highest
most important court in
Our history is quite different from the other Ogemawahj Tribal
the country
Council communities because our story is linked more to the
treaty: an agreement
history of the United States. As Canada developed into a between nations
country, the Pottawatomi people largely lived in what is now
the United States. In the 1700s, we fought as allies of the French,
and then the British. In the 1830s, we were welcomed to these
parts as decorated allies of the Crown when it became difficult
for us to live in the United States.

We have lived in the Georgian Bay area for over 170 years, but
the Moose Deer Point land base wasn’t established until 1917.
Our community is also different from the other First Nations
communities in our area in that we were established without
a treaty. All of the other First Nations around us signed one of
two treaties (see Treaty Rights on page 59 for information about
these treaties).

“We were allies of the Crown
A cottager in our area, Wallace Nesbitt, noticed this and took
and that’s how we came into
up the role of helping our people obtain reserve status with
Canada in the first place. They
a land base. Walter Nesbitt was a former Supreme Court wouldn’t help us keep our own
judge practising law in Toronto at the time. He went to the lands in the States so they
told us we could come here
Department of Indian Affairs (now CIRNAC) and asked that land
and we’d be treated the same
be set aside for the Indigenous people living at Moose Deer
as other Indians. Well, we got
Point. As a result, our reserve, consisting of three small separate these three little pieces of land
parcels of land, was created. but we haven’t been treated
very well. The Pottawatomi
that live on other reserves got
treated the same as the other
Indians but those like us never
really got the same deal. We
don’t even have a treaty to
help us out. That’s not fair.”
— Art Sandy, Moose Deer Point
First Nation Member

Moose Deer Point First Nation 17

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