Fort William First Nation councillor talks treaty relationships during Lakehead University virtual event
By Rick Garrick
THUNDER BAY — Fort William Councillor Michele Solomon highlighted the lands taken from her community during her April 5 Lakehead University Understanding the Treaty Relationship: Robinson Superior, Fort William First Nation and The Crown virtual presentation.
“When we talk about the [1905 Railway Taking] lands, most people know that there was an agreement to settle over this land, so the land was returned to Fort William First Nation and there was a large financial settlement attached to that,” Solomon says. “This [land] has since been made addition to reserve; however, the municipality (Thunder Bay) has had a taxing authority on this land and maintains taxing authority on this land. Fort William First Nation has said that you cannot tax us for our own land and we have never ever given up this land so therefore, you can’t tax us on our own land. The province has yet to remove the taxing authority from the municipality so you can see how even more than 100 years later, there are still issues to be resolved.”
Solomon says the community originally had farms, homes, a church and a cemetery along the Kaministiquia River on the 1905 Railway Taking lands.
“All the buildings had to be moved from the land, the church … had to moved,” Solomon says. “But for me the most troubling part of this is that even the cemetery had to be evacuated, so essentially the ancestors that had passed prior to this all had to be unearthed and moved.”
Solomon also spoke about some of the other lands that were taken during her presentation, including the 1859 Neebing Surrender, 1904 and 1907 Rifle Range, 1909 Mining Claims, 1910 Pipeline Right of Way, 1917 Chippewa Park and 1962 Ontario Hydro Right of Way.
“Only nine years after the signing of the treaty 6,300 acres west of Mt. McKay (Anemki Wajiw) along present Hwy. 61 were sold (1859 Neebing Surrender), and this was sold under questionable circumstances,” Solomon says. “This was Fort William First Nation’s only other arable farmlands along the Kaministiquia River. It was surrendered to the Crown for future sale and the land eventually became part of what is now Neebing Township in 1860. In 1930, a parcel of approximately 1,700 acres was returned to the reserve because it was deemed useless for residential or agricultural purposes.”
Solomon says Fort William was left with no frontage on the Kaministiquia River after the 1859 Neebing Surrender and the 1905 Railway Taking.
“In 1917, Fort William First Nation surrendered 270 acres of land for a park to the City of Fort William (now part of Thunder Bay) for what is present day Chippewa Park,” Solomon says. “This completed the loss of Fort William First Nation’s best waterfront land along the Kaministiquia River and Lake Superior.”
Solomon says Fort William resisted the sale of the 1907 Rifle Range lands, but eventually sold the land, which provided the community with some help to rebuild after being displaced from the 1905 Railway Taking lands.
“In 1914, Canada passed an Order in Council that exchanged the 1907 Rifle Range for new land without any monetary compensation to Fort William First Nation and against the expressed wishes of the Chief and Council,” Solomon says. “The Department of National Defence operated the rifle range until 1997 when it was decommissioned. This land was along the foot of Anemki Wajiw — when the militia was provided this land they actually used the mountain as the backstop for their rifle practice.”
Solomon notes that Anemki Wajiw is known for its significance as a sacred gathering site across northern Ontario and beyond.
“It just speaks to the lack of understanding of the relationship to land that Indigenous peoples have and have had, and that certainly was not respected or acknowledged in any way through any of these land takings,” Solomon says.