Whitefish Island Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Whitefish Island
Indian reserve
Whitefish Island Indian Reserve
Aerial view of the St. Marys River; Whitefish Island is just to the left of the rapids.
Whitefish Island Location in Ontario
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
District	Algoma
First Nation	Batchewana Ojibways
Area
• Land	0.17 km² (0.07 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	0
• Density	0/km² (0/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC-5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
Website	www.batchewana.ca

National Historic Site of Canada
Official name: Whitefish Island National Historic Site of Canada
Designated:	1981

Whitefish Island is an island in the St. Marys River, just south of Sault Ste. Marie, in Ontario, Canada.

History

It was an ancestral fishing station to the Anishenabek of the Great Lakes region for over 2,000 years. It was reserved for the use of Chief 'Joe Sayer' Nebenaigoching and his band in the Robinson Huron Treaty, 1850 with the British Crown.

In 1895 it became part of the west side of the Sault Ste. Marie Canal.

After it was taken in a series of expropriations from 1902 to 1913 for railway purposes, it became a park in the Parks Canada national inventory. The island was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1981.

A land claim was filed in 1982 by the Batchewana Indian Band, of the Batchewana First Nation of Ojibways, for the 22-acre (89,000 m²) island. After years of unsuccessful negotiations, hereditary Chief Edward James Sayers Nebenaigoching occupied the island from 1989 until the claim was settled in 1992. 3.5 million dollars in damages were paid to the tribe, and the island was returned to Indian reserve status in 1997.

Welcome to White Fish Island
Ancient fishing weir
Birch bark longhouse
Longhouse in winter
Birch bark lodge
Boardwalk with 7 flood control gates open (equivalent).
Sault Ste. Marie waterfront, as seen from Whitefish Island
St. Marys Rapids
Beaver dams along Whitefish Channel
February daphne flowers (native to Eurasia, unknown how they arrived)
Narrow-leaf blue-eyed grass flowers near the St. Marys Rapids
Nodding ladies'-tresses
Small purple fringed orchid
Trout-lily flower in early spring
Wild leek in early spring
Wild raisin in fruit
Steelhead trout caught in the St. Marys Rapids (introduced species)

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Whitefish Island Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.

Whitefish Island facts for kids

History