Whitefish Island

Whitefish Island
Indian reserve
Whitefish Island Indian Reserve
Aerial view of the St. Marys River; Whitefish Island is just to the left of the rapids.
Whitefish Island
Coordinates: 46°31′N 84°21′W / 46.517°N 84.350°W / 46.517; -84.350Coordinates: 46°31′N 84°21′W / 46.517°N 84.350°W / 46.517; -84.350
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
District	Algoma
First Nation	Batchewana Ojibways
Area
• Land	0.17 km2 (0.07 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	0
• Density	0/km2 (0/sq mi)
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
Website	www.batchewana.ca
National Historic Site of Canada
Official name	Whitefish Island National Historic Site of Canada
Designated	1981

Whitefish Island is an island in the St. Marys River, just south of Sault Ste. Marie, in Ontario, Canada.

History

It was an ancestral fishing station to the Anishenabek of the Great Lakes region for over 2,000 years. It was reserved for the use of Chief 'Joe Sayer' Nebenaigoching and his band in the Robinson Huron Treaty, 1850 with the British Crown.

In 1895 it became part of the west side of the Sault Ste. Marie Canal.

After it was taken in a series of expropriations from 1902-1913 for railway purposes, it became a park in the Parks Canada national inventory. The island was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1981.^[1]

A land claim was filed in 1982 by the Batchewana Indian Band, of the Batchewana First Nation of Ojibways, for the 22-acre (89,000 m²) island. After years of unsuccessful negotiations, hereditary Chief Edward James Sayers Nebenaigoching occupied the island from 1989 until the claim was settled in 1992. 3.5 million dollars in damages were paid to the tribe, and the island was returned to Indian reserve status in 1997.

• 
  Welcome to White Fish Island
• 
  Ancient fishing weir
• 
  Birch bark longhouse
• 
  Longhouse in winter
• 
  Birch bark lodge
• 
  Boardwalk with 7 flood control gates open (equivalent).
• 
  Sault Ste. Marie waterfront, as seen from Whitefish Island
• 
  St. Marys Rapids
• 
  Beaver dams along Whitefish Channel
• 
  February daphne flowers (native to Eurasia, unknown how they arrived)
• 
  Narrow-leaf blue-eyed grass flowers near the St. Marys Rapids
• 
  Nodding ladies'-tresses
• 
  Small purple fringed orchid
• 
  Trout-lily flower in early spring
• 
  Wild leek in early spring
• 
  Wild raisin in fruit
• 
  Steelhead trout caught in the St. Marys Rapids (introduced species)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Whitefish Island.

• Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada profile

		Sault Ste. Marie Sault Ste. Marie Canal
	St. Marys River		St. Marys River
		Whitefish Island
		St. Marys Rapids, Soo Locks Sault Ste. Marie

Algoma District, Ontario
Cities	Elliot Lake Sault Ste. Marie
Towns	Blind River Bruce Mines Spanish Thessalon
Townships	Dubreuilville Hilton Hornepayne Huron Shores Jocelyn Johnson Laird Macdonald, Meredith and Aberdeen Additional The North Shore Plummer Additional Prince St. Joseph Tarbutt and Tarbutt Additional Wawa White River
Villages	Hilton Beach
First Nations	Batchewana Garden River Hornepayne Michipicoten Missanabie Mississauga Sagamok Serpent River Thessalon
Indian reserves	Garden River 14 Goulais Bay 15A Goulais Bay 15C Gros Cap 49 Gros Cap Village 49A Missanabie 62 Mississagi River 8 Obadjiwan 15E Rankin Location 15D Sagamok Serpent River 7 Thessalon 12 Whitefish Island
Local services boards	Aweres Batchawana Bay Goulais and District Hawk Junction Missanabie Peace Tree Searchmont Wharncliffe and Kynoch
Unorganized areas	North South East
See also: Communities in Algoma District Census divisions of Ontario

National Historic Sites of Canada by location
Provinces	Alberta British Columbia Manitoba New Brunswick Newfoundland and Labrador Nova Scotia Ontario Hamilton Kingston Niagara Ottawa Toronto Prince Edward Island Quebec Montreal Quebec City Saskatchewan
Territories	Northwest Territories Nunavut Yukon
Other countries	France
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