Saugeen and Cape Croker Fishing Islands 1 is a

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 ...

reserve consisting of 89 islands in

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is shared on the north and east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the south and west by the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the lake is derived from early French ex ...

off the western coast of the

Bruce Peninsula The Bruce Peninsula is a peninsula in Ontario, Canada, that divides Georgian Bay of Lake Huron from the lake's main basin. The peninsula extends roughly northwestwards from the rest of Southwestern Ontario, pointing towards Manitoulin Island, wi ...

in Ontario. They extend north of Chief's Point 28 for up to Pike Bay. These islands are shared between the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation and Saugeen First Nation.

History

Fishing activity has been observed on the Bruce Peninsula as far back as 1000 BC, in the Archaic period. In the Late Woodland period, there is evidence for both Algonquian and

Iroquoian The Iroquoian languages () are a language family of indigenous peoples of North America. They are known for their general lack of labial consonants. The Iroquoian languages are polysynthetic and head-marking. As of 2020, almost all surviving I ...

peoples being present and fishing in the area. Around the time of European contact, the

Petun The Petun (from ), also known as the Tobacco people or Tionontati (Dionnontate, Etionontate, Etionnontateronnon, Tuinontatek, Dionondadie, or Khionotaterrhonon) ("People among the hills/mountains"), were an indigenous Iroquoian people of the w ...

and

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

peoples were known to be fishing there. They were displaced by the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

during the

Beaver Wars The Beaver Wars (), also known as the Iroquois Wars or the French and Iroquois Wars (), were a series of conflicts fought intermittently during the 17th century in North America throughout the Saint Lawrence River valley in Canada and the Great L ...

of the late 17th Century, but the area was reclaimed by Algonquian peoplesprincipally Chippewaafter 1701. Written accounts of the Native fishing activity were made as early as 1788. Local

factor Factor (Latin, ) may refer to: Commerce * Factor (agent), a person who acts for, notably a mercantile and colonial agent * Factor (Scotland), a person or firm managing a Scottish estate * Factors of production, such a factor is a resource used ...

s of the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

La Cloche Island LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smi ...

also made records of it, and trading activity began to occur in 1818 at the mouth of the

Saugeen River The Saugeen River is located in southern Ontario, Canada. The river begins in the Osprey Wetland Conservation Lands and flows generally north-west about before exiting into Lake Huron. The river is navigable for some distance, and was once an im ...

. When the Chippewas surrendered the

under the Saugeen Surrenders of 1854, they retained title to the surrounding islands to sustain their fishing activities. The fish were reported to be abundant, and were mainly caught in the Smokehouse Channel, Indian Channel and the Gut, and being smoked on Smokehouse Island. European settlers would later participate in the fishing as well. Alexander Macgregor of Goderich would be the first to do so in 1831, establishing his headquarters on Main Station Island.

Seine fishing Seine fishing (or seine-haul fishing; ) is a method of fishing that employs a surrounding net, called a seine, that hangs vertically in the water with its bottom edge held down by weights and its top edge buoyed by floats. Seine nets can be dep ...

was the principal technique that was in use, and

gillnet Gillnetting is a fishing method that uses gillnets: vertical panels of netting that hang from a line with regularly spaced floaters that hold the line on the surface of the water. The floats are sometimes called "corks" and the line with corks is ...

and pound net fishing were employed as well later on. In 1834, Macgregor was displaced by the Niagara Fishing Company (in which William "Tiger" Dunlop was a part owner), which secured the sole licence for the Islands. The Company would sell its licence in 1848 to several local fishermen in

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

. In October 1885, these islands were surrendered under Treaties 222 and 223, in which they were described as: The islands were described as being "fronted by a continuous shallow

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

, extending in some cases to [] offshore, but outside this bank the water is good and soon deepens to []." In 1968, the title to 89 of the smaller islands in the group, totalling in area, was returned to Chippewa control.

Notes and references

Notes

References

{{authority control Ojibwe reserves in Ontario Communities in Bruce County Unceded territories in Ontario Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation Saugeen First Nation Populated places on Lake Huron in Canada

History

Further reading

Notes and references

Notes

References