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Complete Lists
Chiefs
of Ontario contact list for the 134 first nations in
Ontario.
Aboriginal
Affairs Contacts on the Ontario
Native Affairs Secretariat
website.
First Nations
Information Project
Key Websites
Here are the websites for
the major first nations groups in Ontario:
Chiefs of Ontario:
In March of 1975, at the First All Ontario Chiefs Conference, a joint First Nations Association Coordinating
Committee was formed. The purpose of the committee was to provide a single Ontario representative to the
Assembly of First Nations. From this committee emerged the Chiefs of Ontario office. Chiefs of Ontario is a
coordinating body for 134 First Nation communities located within the boundaries of the Province of Ontario.
The purpose of the Chiefs of Ontario office is to enable the political leadership to discuss regional, provincial
and national priorities affecting First Nation people in Ontario and to provide a unified voice on these issues.
Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians:
The Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians was established primarily as a political organization in 1969
to represent its member Nations in any negotiation or consultation with any level of government affecting
the well-being of the member Nations as a whole. The Association currently represents eight (8) Nations of status Indians in Ontario with a membership of
approximately 16,000 people.
Anishinabek Nation:
The Anishinabek Nation, founded in 1949 as the Union of
Ontario Indians, is a political advocate and secretariat
to 43 member First Nations across Ontario. The
Anishinabek Nation territory encompasses First Nations
along the north shore of Lake Superior and surrounding
Lake Nipigon, the north shore of Lake Huron, Manitoulin
Island, east to the Algonquins of Golden Lake (150 km
east of Ottawa), and through the south central part of
Ontario to the Chippewas of Sarnia First Nation. Tribal
groups represented within the Nation include Odawa,
Ojibway, Pottawatomi, Delaware, Chippewa, Algonquin and
Mississauga.
Nishnawbe-Aski Nations
(NAN): Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) evolved out of Grand
Council Treaty #9, which was established in 1973 as the
regional organization representing the political,
social, and economic interests of 49 First
Nations in Northern Ontario who are signatories to
Treaty No. 9 and Treaty No. 5 (in Ontario). In 1982, the
name changed to Nishnawbe Aski Nation. NAN’s
traditional territory, which encompasses two thirds of
the province of Ontario, stretches from the Quebec
border in the east to the Manitoba border in the west
and from the James Bay and
Hudson’s Bay watersheds in north to roughly the
Canadian National Railway in the south.
Assembly
of First Nations (AFN): The Assembly of First
Nations (AFN) is the national representative/lobby
organization of the First Nations in Canada. There are
over 630 First Nation's communities in Canada. The AFN
Secretariat, is designed to present the views of the
various First Nations through their leaders in areas
such as: Aboriginal and Treaty Rights, Economic
Development, Education, Languages and Literacy, Health,
Housing, Social Development, Justice, Taxation, Land
Claims, Environment, and a whole array of issues that
are of common concern which arise from time to time.
Ontario
Métis Aboriginal Association: OMAA was founded in
1971 (originally as the Ontario Metis and Non-Status
Indian Association). OMAA offers
representation to the 250,000 Indian and Metis peoples
living off reserves in Ontario. OMAA is today an
incorporated (as a non-share capital Ontario
corporation) umbrella organization representing
community based local associations, known as
"Locals", and five regional organizations,
known as "Zones". Each Local is affiliated
both with a Zone and directly with OMAA.
Métis Nation of
Ontario: The Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO)
was founded in 1994 at a delegates meeting that brought
together Métis from nearly 100 Ontario
communities. Today, over 380 communities and
12,000 individuals are included in the
MNO
Registry
of Métis people.
Ontario Native Women's Association:
The Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA) is
a non-profit voluntary organization founded in May 1st,
1972. It is based on the belief of unity among
Aboriginal women.
Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship
Centres: The Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship
Centres (OFIFC) is a provincial Aboriginal organization
representing the collective interests of twenty-seven
member Friendship Centres located in towns and cities
throughout the province.
Ontario First Nations Technical Services Corporation:
The Ontario First Nations Technical Services Corporation is the founding organization in Canada whose purpose is to provide professional technical advisory services to all First Nations in Ontario and to foster technical self-reliance.
Federal Government
Department
of Indian and Northern Affairs
Aboriginal
Canada Portal
You'll find some interesting information in the
Environment and Natural Resources section. There
is also a good list of contacts for Ontario, including
community and organizations websites and community
profiles
Ontario Government
Ontario
Native Affairs Secretariat:
the secretariat under the Ministry of Justice
responsible for native affairs.
First Nations and
Environment
First Nations
Environment Network a Canadian network affiliated
with the Canadian Environmental Network.
Indigenous
Environment Network a North American Network.
Health and the
Environment
The National Environmental Contaminants Program
The National Environmental Contaminants Program (NFNECP)
grew out of the efforts of First Nations
communities in the Great Lakes to understand the effects
Great Lakes contaminants were having on the
Great Lakes First Nations. EAGLE was a community-based
cooperative venture between Assembly of
First Nations and Health Canada. It represented a
different way of doing health and environmental studies.
Using “western sciences” and First Nations
knowledge, EAGLE attempted to study the effects of these
contaminants on the First Nations communities. In the
broadest terms it is research that stands on the three
legs of partnership: mutual respect, equity and
empowerment.
Northern Boreal
Initiative
The Ministry of Natural
Resources is looking to develop northern boreal forest
and is consulting with first nations groups on the development of new, commercial forestry
opportunities. In listing the initiative in the
Environment Registry (#PB01E1012),
the Ministry claims that "planning processes such as the one outlined in this posting will not, in themselves, have a significant effect on the
environment". Ontario's naturalist groups have
expressed "cautious optimism" that the
planning process will lead to community-oriented and
environmentally-sensitive development.
For information on the
NBI, see:
Public Education and
Involvement
Walpole Island
Heritage Centre
The Walpole Island
Heritage Centre links traditional knowledge and
values with current environmental and social
challenges. On the website, you'll find background
papers on values and local environmental projects.
Community Economic
Development
Wikwemikong Community
Forest
Community forestry is a program designed to
stimulate sustainable forest management by, and for, the
local community. The Ontario program was initiated
by the Conservation Council of Ontario in the late
1980's and later supported by the provincial
government. Wikwemikong was one of the first
communities selected to the Ministry of Natural
Resources' pilot program. The funding has expired,
but the project lives on with the community.
Details Indian
and Northern Affairs factsheet
See also the website for the Wikwemikong
Unceded Indian Reservation
See also the First
Nations Forestry Program for more information on
forestry in aboriginal communities.
Niigon Technologies Inc
Niigon Technologies Inc. is being called Canada's
first-ever Aboriginal sustainable industrial project.
Created by
participation from Husky Injection Moulding, federal and
provincial governments, and the Moose Deer Council, this
initiative is expected to yield 69 jobs within the first
five years. Niigon will provide plastic injection
moulding in a 41,000 sq.ft. state-of-the-art facility.
Of the total $23 million invested in the start-up, $4
million was contributed by the Federal government, and
$3.6 million by the Ontario government.
Details: Ontario
Native Affairs Secretariat press release (June 2000)
Develop a provincial aboriginal environment-health strategy. |
Much of the
environment and health projects for aboriginal communities are being
done on a case-by-case basis -- a succession of demonstration
projects. A provincial strategy would help establish targets
for water quality, pollution prevention, ecosystem health, and
sustainable resource management.
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Solicit aboriginal
leadership in defining Ontario's environmental values.
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Each of Ontario's
ministries subject to the Environmental Bill of Rights is required
to publish a Statement of Environmental Values. In addition,
the provincial government has also committed to the development of a
provincial vision for the environment. The people who are too
often at the receiving end of the side effects of poor development
should be asked to help us define the values that will guide our
future development decisions.
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The
Conservation Council of Ontario