WAUZHUSHK ONIGUM — Three Kenora-area First Nations are fighting to take control of Anicinabe Park from the city.
In a press conference Tuesday, Niisaachewan Anishinaabe Nation, Wauzhushk Onigum Nation and Obashkaandagaang First Nation (Washagamis Bay) announced a joint legal claim to the land at Kenora’s Anicinabe Park, currently owned and operated by the City of Kenora.
The land claim, made public today at the Golden Eagle Bingo Hall in Wauzhushk Onigum, aims to reclaim the area for use by the First Nations to move forward with reconciliation through education, cultural regeneration and sharing knowledge.
It was stated that the nations have been in talks with the City of Kenora for three years and nothing has moved forward during that time.
“We have done our best to avoid any type of this direction, that we just announced this morning. We’re very peaceful people, we did not want to go to this route, but you know, in order to move forward, and to reclaim our land that is rightfully ours, we have to do this,” said Chief Chris Skead of Wauzhushk Onigum.
According to the claim, the three First Nations were once one single nation and the land was jointly utilized since the start of their history on Lake of the Woods. In a complicated set of circumstances, the land was leased to the City of Kenora in 1919 for $10 per year. In 1959, the lease was then cancelled and the land sold to the city from by Canada's Crown Assets Disposal Corporation for $1,875.
Many times over its history, after this sale, there were attempts to regain the land.
Most significantly, however, was 50 years ago in the summer of 1974 which became the site of an armed occupation. The occupation lasted about six weeks and did not end with the land back in First Nations hands.
“It’s so significant because we held ceremonies, we did gatherings, people sang songs together and all of that stuff is near and dear to us to this day and this is one step to make sure that we reacquire our land that is rightfully ours,” said Skead.
The City of Kenora has twenty days to respond to the claim, according to filed documents.
