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Mississauga First Nation, also spelt Mississaugi, is one of the six
First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...
that make up the
Mississauga Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...
Nations. It is located directly west of
Blind River, Ontario Blind River is a town situated on the North Channel (Ontario), North Channel of Lake Huron in the Algoma District, Ontario, Canada. The town, named after the nearby Blind River (Ontario), Blind River, celebrated its centennial in 2006. History ...
, Canada, on the Mississagi River 8 Reserve."Mississisauga 8"
First Nation, Canada


Name

The word Mississauga is an anglicized version of the Ojibwe word ''Misswezaagiing'', which means ‘a river with many outlets.’ This name comes from the Mississagi River, which is a bird-foot delta, a haven for fish and waterfowl and is currently a jointly managed
Provincial Park Ischigualasto Provincial Park A provincial park (or territorial park) is a park administered by one of the provinces of a country, as opposed to a national park. They are similar to state parks in other countries. They are typically open to the ...
. The people of Mississaugi have resided there since time immemorial.


Governance

The Mississauga First Nation created a Land Code in 2019 governing land use in the community. In 2015, it also adopted the Misswezahging Constitution, which noted that the community had the "inherent right given by the Creator to enact laws necessary in order to protect and preserve
Anishinaabe The Anishinaabe (alternatively spelled Anishinabe, Anicinape, Nishnaabe, Neshnabé, Anishinaabeg, Anishinabek, Aanishnaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples in the Great Lakes region of C ...
culture, to protect our lands, our language, customs, traditions and practices." Later, in 2019, a Community Protection Law was passed. In October 2024, the Mississauga First Nation became the first First Nations in Canada to successfully prosecute someone based on its own legal code. A court in
Elliot Lake Elliot Lake is a city in Algoma District, Ontario, Canada. It is north of Lake Huron, midway between the cities of Greater Sudbury, Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Sault Ste. Marie in the Northern Ontario region. Once dubbed the "uranium ca ...
accepted a guilty plea from an individual for trespassing and failing to comply with an order to leave the community. Police had refused to prosecute using the community's legal code, so a lawyer was hired using funds from a government pilot project for
private prosecution A private prosecution is a criminal proceeding initiated by an individual private citizen or private organisation (such as a prosecution association) instead of by a public prosecutor who represents the state. Private prosecutions are allowed in ...
of Indigenous communities' legal codes.


Notable members

* Cecil Youngfox (1942–1987), artist


References


External links

*
''The Smoke Signal''
Mississaugi First Nation News
"Mississisauga"
Indian and Northern Affairs Canada {{Authority control First Nations governments in Ontario Geography of Algoma District