In September of 1856, five families petitioned the Governor General for a grant of 200 acres of land per family since their hunting grounds had been opened up for settlement and sale. Their request was denied. However on September 17, 1873, the Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn received Crown Patent to a total of 1561 acres and became Golden Lake First Nation. This was the beginning of life outside of the lands we had roamed for time immemorial.

Our community is now known as the Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn. Registered membership is over 1,800 and almost 400 reside in the community. Commonly known families include: Amikons, Baptiste, Benoit, Bernard, Cooke, Commanda, Jocko, Kohoko, Lavalley, Leclaire, Meness, Sarazin, Tennisco and Whiteduck.

Many Algonquin skills are still practiced here though assimilation with surrounding non-native communities and enforced Residential schooling has had an impact on our people. Many Algonquin were raised without their culture, language and traditions. Much of our past was lost to us. Now efforts are being made to bring culture, language and tradition into the forefront of our lives. Community members still participate in Harvesting for food and fur, an annual Pow-Wow unites people and tribes, food and crafting skills have survived and language skills though greatly diminished are being introduced into the community again.

Despite being driven to life on a government run reserve, during times of war the community enlisted in great numbers to preserve the freedom of this country. During the First World War voluntary enlistment depleted the Pikwàkanagàn male community of age and fit to serve, to three single men.

More than 7,000 native men and women served in the first and second world wars and the Korean War. After the wars native veterans did not have access to the same benefits, entitlements and programs as non-native veterans. On June 21, 2002, the Canadian government announced $39 million for eligible First Nations veterans. Those who settled on reserves and had their benefits administered on reserve were eligible to receive $20,000 each.

The Canadian War Museum, now being rebuilt on unceded Algonquin Territory, plans to highlight the military contributions of aboriginal people's.

Past History
Archaeological information indicates that the Ottawa Valley has been inhabited by Native peoples for 8,000 years prior to the arrival of Europeans.



"Entrance of the Rideau Canal,
Ottawa River, Canada
Watercolour by Henry Pooley, 1833
National Gallery of Canada.
This scene was painted from a spot located more or less between the two wings of the Canadian Museum of Civilization."
Painting located at: www.civilization.ca




The Algonquian were once the most populous and widespread North American Native groups, with tribes originally numbering in the hundreds and speaking several related dialects. Algonquians inhabited most of the Canadian region south of Hudson Bay between the Rockies and the Atlantic Ocean.

Algonquin (or Algonkin) are used in reference to the tribe, but Algonquian either refers to the Algonquin language or to the group of tribes that speak related dialects. The word "Algonquin" means "At the place of spearing fishes and eels".

The name Algonquin refers to all the Native people clustered around ten communities; Pikwàkanagàn in Ontario, and in Quebec, the Pikogan, Lac Rapide, Grand-Lac-Victoria, Kebaowek, Lac-Simon, Winneway, Maniwaki, Timiskaming and Hunter's Point. Current political borders now separate the tribes into two provinces but once we all roamed freely about our traditional territory.

In the past the Algonquin were a semi-nomadic people, moving from one place to the next in search of food. All our food sources once came from hunting, trapping, fishing and gathering. We traveled on foot and by birchbark canoe in the summer months and used toboggans and snowshoes in the winter. Our clothing and tents were made from animal skins, though our tents, also known as wigwams, were sometimes made of birchbark. During the summer months we would gather in groups along the river to fish, hunt and socialize. When winter arrived we separated and spread out into small hunting camps made up of large related families. The climate was harsh and starvation was not uncommon.

Beside a common language, most Algonquian-speaking tribes shared similar stories of creation. Many believed in a Great Spirit or Creator, and other spirits responsible for the elements. There are often stories of a hero figure who taught our people how to survive. These stories might explain how to remove sap from a tree for food or how to get fish from under the frozen rivers.

The rivers were the main means for transportation. The Algonquin were among the first North American Natives to make alliances with the French along the Kichi Sibi (now known as the Ottawa River). The French then adopted our methods of travel, using the toboggan, snowshoes and the canoe.

The Algonquin are renowned for our use of the birch-bark canoe to travel great distances for trade, and our strategic location on the Ottawa River became the preferred route. An example of Algonquin skills in birch-bark canoe making is hanging in the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Hull, Quebec.

The website of the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Hull, Quebec, states:
"The arrival of Europeans severely disrupted the life of the Algonquins, the Native people who lived in the Ottawa Valley at the time. By the mid-seventeenth century, several deadly diseases had been introduced, and great numbers of Algonquins perished. Struggles with the neighbouring Five Nations Iroquois Confederacy for control of water routes to the rich fur resources of the hinterland resulted in political intrigue and armed conflict. Together, these factors changed the way of life of the Ottawa Valley Algonquins forever."

Some of the above text was compiled with information located in the Kichi Sibi section of http://www.warmuseum.ca/cmc/archeo/kichisibi/welcome.htm, from the Canadian Museum of Civilization website, the book Algonquin Traditional Culture by Kirby Whiteduck, and the website: http://www.tolatsga.org/alg.html

To view past Algonquin Chiefs click on first link at left.

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