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Cultural Heritage

Foundations – Is Our Past Our Future?

September 12, 2025

By Doug Gilmore

Recently I found myself reflecting on the early days of Pimachiowin Aki. Many fond memories quickly floated to the surface. At the time my role was Park Superintendent of Woodland Caribou Provincial Park, located in Northwest Ontario near the town of Red Lake. Woodland Caribou Park is part of the Pimachiowin Aki World Heritage Site. I recall that I was very excited to take part in the Pimachiowin Aki World Heritage Site process, although at the outset the site had yet to receive that wonderfully appropriate name.

It was in my role as park superintendent only a few years earlier that I had initiated and led a planning process for Woodland Caribou Park. That project was one of my first exposures to working closely with First Nation Communities. To expand on the previous sentence, I must add that this exposure cemented my understanding and belief that working together with Indigenous people is extremely beneficial. Looking back, coming from my Wemtigoshi background, I can easily admit at the outset to looking at things from one perspective, but keeping an open mind to all possibilities.  It took no time at all to come to the realization that this was the only way forward and that any product which may result from our efforts would be the better for our working closely together.

At an early Pimachiowin Aki meeting, members from each community expressed very clearly what was important for their community. Things like protecting the rock paintings, not to over harvest the animals, acting carefully around areas that act as water filters for the watershed were comments common to most. People spoke about the high levels of unemployment in their communities and the desire that this project could help to alleviate that. It was clearly stated that their traditional lands used to provide a livelihood for their people but this no longer was the case.  Community presentations included the desire from their Elders to “protect traditional lands”.  One individual recalled a comment from a grandparent that “we need to protect our lands” and it came with a warning that “there may be difficulties ahead”. Another spoke about how he was raised by his grandparents. They taught him how to preserve food in the summertime and spoke about how they used the land and how he wanted to keep the teachings of his grandfather. He gave an example where people used dried moss as diapers and that one of the teachings of the moss was to put it back in its place.

Someone much smarter than I at an early meeting summarized all the comments by describing the activities of the people on the land as the cultural foundation of the project. The term Living Landscape was used, reflecting on the strong linkage between the land and the people. Strong linkage? I have come to understand it as an inseparable linkage.

Fascinating… an education in real time.

In the months and years to come the World Heritage process continued to be an educational one, enlightening me on what it meant to grow up in a remote First Nation Community where at one time it was normal or part of everyday life to go out on the land or trapline to perform livelihood pursuits. This once normal activity would slowly or in some cases abruptly change to where it became more and more difficult to access the bush to carry out livelihood activities on a regular basis.

The World Heritage process also included working as a member of parallel planning processes with Little Grand Rapids and Pauingasssi First Nations for the part of their traditional territories that lies in the Province of Ontario. This included many opportunities to visit these communities, meet with elders and community members in workshop and open house events. It also included travelling to Weaver Lake as a guest of Poplar River First Nation to attend a Pimachiowin Aki meeting and workshop there. 

Photo: Otake Hidehiro

The workshop events were perhaps the ones that were most impactful for me as we were able to spend a few days in the communities allowing for a less frenetic pace for the exchange of information. Remaining with me are memories of sitting with the late Russell Keeper pouring over maps of his trapline and of him describing in detail the landscape of his youth and how it supported his present-day activities on the land. What also sticks with me is the pride in the voices of various community members as they relayed stories and teachings of their family members and how they are determined to bring them forward and keep them going. Equally impactful was the coordination and care shown by the land use planning representatives for each community, Augustine Keeper and the late Joe Owen, and on the performance of their duties and the responsibility that the community had entrusted them with.

It was brought to my attention that although I was working in partnership toward our common goal, I was sometimes guilty of describing Indigenous land activities as happening in the past, not in the present. Not intentional of course but my background being what it was I periodically fell into the trap of just copying what I heard or read. There is a term for this, a term identified to me by an Indigenous planning partner as “the Invisible Indian Syndrome”. It’s a real thing, definitely! What an eye opener. You’re never too old to learn.

The take away from my perspective is this, the Indigenous people of Pimachiowin Aki gain their life from the land, they always have. Their links to the land are real and permanent and it is through Pimachiowin Aki that they will share it with the world. The stories, traditions and culture they choose to share with the world will be the foundation for the site into the future. For me I think this is unique, for them it’s probably everyday life. 

Filed Under: Cultural Heritage, Indigenous Traditional Knowledge, Knowledge Keepers, Uncategorised, UNESCO World Heritage

Wisdom of the Living Landscape: 21 Quotes from Knowledge Keepers

September 12, 2025

1. There is a big circle we call The Circle of Life. Every living thing The Creator made fits on this circle side by side. Every living thing, including the smallest insect, was given jobs to do. Plants and trees for example were given many jobs, cleaning the air, medicines, as food for the birds, animals, fish and people. Some of the animals, birds and fish where given the job to feed us and much more. Our job as given to us by The Creator was to take care of all life on earth.

Albert Bittern (November 2013)

2. As Annishinaabe people we want to leave a lasting legacy to protect and preserve of this area for the benefit of the planet.

Sophia Rabliauskas, July 1, 2018 (remarks to the World Heritage Committee following inscription of Pimachiowin Aki on the World Heritage List)

3. We want to keep the area the way it always was, to keep it for our children, grandchildren and unborn children, so that they can use and care for it as we have.

Victor Bruce, March 200

4. Traditional knowledge was offered to others only if the Elder felt it was appropriate.  People weren’t forced to know about the tradition, but they would be noticed by the Elders as time went by.

Joe Owen, March 2014

5. Teachings are shared through drumming, singing, community gatherings, offerings. For as long as we remember, the Elder that has the most knowledge and wisdom is the community leader. This Elder would perform traditional drum songs, provide medicine for healing, and use many other traditional methods.

Solomon Pascal (in translation, January 2014)
Whitehead Moose, 2007

6. The Creator has a match and that match is the Thunderbird. He brings that match to the land when the forest gets too old and can’t grow anymore. So the thunderbird comes to earth. After the forest is burnt new growth starts. Animals get tired of eating old food. Just like you and me. The Creator knows that animals need new food. The fire there brings fresh food to eat. As an example: rabbit favours new growth area. When you look at rabbit I think it is like a food chain for animals. Rabbits have three litters a summer. Fox, lynx, marten all depend on rabbit. The Creator has to care for all animals so he sends Thunderbird to earth to make food for rabbit. We like to eat rabbit, too. So he burns for us, too. Where fire comes to a rock area, blueberries come after the fire. [That] feeds a lot of animals. We eat blueberries, too. Fire makes good food areas.

Whitehead Moose, June 2006

7. This place is sacred to me. Why? For as long as I can remember my family trapped, hunted, gathered, had ceremonies. My parents and great grandfather would sing pow-wow and play the drum. They used to do this by the end of the day to give thanks to Manidoo, Creator.

Melba Green, March 2014
Giiwiich, Photograph A115, American Philosophical Society

8. Since stones are grammatically animate, I once asked an old man, Alex Keeper (Giiwiich), ‘Are all of the stones we see about us here alive?’ He reflected a long while and then replied, ‘No! But some are.’ This qualified answer made a lasting impression on me.  

A. Irving Hallowell, 1930s

9. After the Creator finished making everything on earth, he decided to create human beings. He took pieces of mud from the four directions and made them into the shape of a man. Then he took a miigis [cowrie] shell, blew his breath into it and placed it in the man he had made. The man came to life. The Creator gently took this man in his hands and lowered him onto the earth and said, “This is my beautiful garden and I am asking you to take care of it.

Abel Bruce and Albert Bittern

10. There is a cliff-rock-painting of a snapping turtle [on a certain river]. When someone travels along over there, they’d cut some tobacco. They would hope to kill a moose, they would say. Sure enough, that was exactly what would happen. That person would get the blessing to kill a moose. This is the reason they put tobacco in their pipe. They would say, I will kill a moose, as they placed tobacco in their pipe. That was the purpose of the cliff rock-paintings.

Kenneth Owen
Ed Hudson

11. The head of the family would make the decisions in regards to the land. If there was a shortage of beaver or muskrat for example they would leave that area alone for a while, until these populations increased. They did this to ensure future use of these resources.

Ed Hudson, September 2013
Joe Owen, 2008

12. The most qualified wildlife hunter that existed in the boreal forest region. People are very concerned that nobody will carry on or replace such skills.

Joe Owen, 2010

13. Well, the women wear the bells too.  Goodness did they sound good when they were sliding their feet and dancing … Mii wa’a igi ikwewag, igi Gichi-Ikwewag! These were the women. The Grand Women!

Maangoons Strang (Little Loon), 1992

14. The medicines have kept us alive and helped to cure sickness. The bush is our drugstore and we are grateful for all those plants that are happy to give up their lives to help us.

Abel Bruce and Albert Bittern

15. Most people think about a landscape as a physical and natural backdrop for life, a sort of stage upon which life happens. But in the Ojibwe way of thinking, the landscape is alive; it is full of human and non-human beings that engage with the people who know a certain place thoroughly.

Pauingassi Lands Management Plan 
Sophia Rabliauskas, Pimachiowin Aki Press Conference, November 2010

16. The water represents life to the Anishinaabe people. The Creator gave the responsibility to women to create life and to care for the health of the water. Life begins by being surrounded by water in our mother’s womb. In our ceremonies it is the women’s responsibility to carry that water and share it with others. In our stories and teachings, it has always been the grandmothers who watch over the water and they are still carrying out that sacred responsibility today. We were also taught that the water is very spiritual and that we need to acknowledge that spirit in our prayers each day.

Sophia Rabliauskas, December 2011

17. Ji-ganawendamang Gidakiiminaan is itself a tradition of monitoring, of keeping the land by watching over the land.

Enil Keeper, October 2014

18. My dad told me that I had to have a net, hooks, and snare. If you ever go hungry, you can set snares for rabbits and set those hooks for fish. If you do that all the time, you won’t go hungry. If you use your gun to fish with, you won’t kill fish that way. You don’t kill everything with a gun.

Adam Owen, March 1984

19. We don’t laugh at or tease any animals. We hold them with much respect because it is not proper in our culture to tease animals, whether they are large or small. They will hear you when you don’t respect them and they will come after you, get even with you.

Anishinaabe Elder, in translation
Melba Green

20. Knowledge of when and what to harvest, trap and hunt has been passed down through generations. For Anishinaabeg, it’s like instinct.

Melba Green

21. It’s always important to respect people when you meet them because you don’t know what carries them or what watches over them. It’s not the person that you offend. That person may forgive you but the one that’s watching over that person may not forgive you. That’s why it’s important that we always talk polite to people. Even when we travel, we always travel with tobacco and offerings out of respect.

Clinton Keeper (in response to the Wiindigoo Story told to him by Maggie Duck)

Feature Image: Elder Abel Bruce © Otake Hidehiro

Filed Under: Cultural Heritage, Indigenous Traditional Knowledge, Knowledge Keepers, Uncategorised

People and Place Names: 5 Highlights from Presenter Gerald Neufeld 

March 19, 2025

For years, Gerald Neufeld (Kaahkaapish) has been researching original names of people and places in the Pimachiowin Aki area and sharing his discoveries.  

He quoted George Orwell while presenting a slide show at the recent Pimachiowin Aki AGM in Winnipeg. “The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.” 

Gerald grew up in Pauingassi First Nation and has been working with his father Henry (Ochichaahkons), Elders, and community members in Pimachiowin Aki to restore “histories that have been erased through time.”

He described his research as a slow process, but one that is essential to reclaiming cultural identity and heritage. “Sometimes, it’s like molasses in January to figure this out,” he said. 

Gerald with his father Henry (Ochichaahkons) at the Pimachiowin Aki AGM. © Bruce Bremner

He said his discoveries are made possible by the earlier work of anthropologist A. Irving Hallowell, who visited the Berens River Ojibwe in the 1930s and Gary Butikofer, who taught at Poplar Hill Development School in the 1970s.    

Here’s what we learned from his presentation:

1. Lakes near Little Grand Rapids were named after aircraft 
 

Ingenium Archives, Ken Molson Fonds, KM-08049, http://collection.ingeniumcanada.org/en/id/KM-08049/

Vickers Viking amphibian aircraft first arrived in Canada in 1922 and in the years following, “planes were active in the [Pimachiowin Aki] area,” said Gerald. “We can see that lakes near Little Grand Rapids were named after them,” he said while pointing out four lakes on a map:

  • Viking Lake
  • Vickers Lake
  • Amphibian Lake
  • Hangar Lake
Photo: map custom made for Gerald by Province of Manitoba 

More Lake Names 

If you click this link and scroll down to page 17, you’ll find a long list of Manitoba lakes in alphabetical order with details on who or what they were named after. The list includes English and Indigenous names. Examples:

Abraham Lake (64 A/9) North of Split Lake. CPCGN records (1975) indicated this to have been named after Abraham Wavey who trapped in this area years ago.

Ameekwanis Lake (64 K/13) Northeast of Reindeer Lake. A Cree name meaning small spoon.

Amphibian Lake (52 M/13) West of Family Lake. Named in 1926 after the type of aircraft used in photographing the area (Douglas 1933).

Kosapachekaywinasinne (64 C/7) Locality southeast of Lynn Lake. CPCGN records (1979) indicated that this name was Cree meaning looking inside rock. Apparently old people used to go to this place to see into the future.

Kokasanakaw River (53 M/8) Flows northeast into Swampy Lake. A local Cree name meaning lots of fish.

Makataysip Lake (53 D/14) Southeast of Gunisao Lake. A local Saulteaux name meaning black duck.

 Makatiko Lake (62 P/9) North of the Bloodvein River. CPCGN records (1978) indicated it to be a local Native name meaning crippled deer.

Vickers Lake (52 M/13) On Pigeon River west of Family Lake. GBC records (1926) indicated that the name was adopted over the common local name Goose Lake. It was the name of the company that manufactured the aircraft used to photograph the area. Goose Lake had been recorded on maps from possibly A. Graham (post 1771; HBC) onwards, although often in the wrong position. GBC correspondence (1929; from the Hudson’s Bay Company) listed the local name Big Goose Lake.

2. Aircraft Changed How Maps Were Made

Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3643612

“This is Amphibian Lake. There’s the airplane, there’s the flying boat, and there’s the camera. They would take photograph after photograph—boom, boom, boom, as they flew along—and they would give that to the mapmakers.”

By using photos taken from the sky, mapmakers were able to create maps that were more accurate and detailed. Gerald described a photo from a 1924 aerial survey, showing the Bloodvein River.

“It is hard to see much here but I circled an area that shows some white spots. You have to look closely, but I think these spots may be dwellings.”


Bloodvein Aerial Photo, Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada, marked up by Gerald

“That’s what people lived in back in the day. These white tents are dwellings.”


Little Grand Rapids, 1925, J.W. Pierce, DLS  

3. Maps changed how people traveled

The ability to map the area from the sky was a significant technological leap, but the shift also led to a disconnect from the traditional ways that people identified and traveled the land.

“In earlier years, people from the area travelled east-west along the Berens and Bloodvein rivers,” said Gerald. “The rivers were the primary passageways.” Gerald explained that several factors disrupted this over time.

The slow growth of change began with the assignment of the Manitoba-Ontario boundary in 1912. This was followed by the introduction of aircraft. Also, Manitoba and Ontario no longer shared responsibilities for communities. “Eventually, Education and Health services expanded according to provincial jurisdiction,” said Gerald.  

“Over time, commercial airplane operations and transportation routes were established, and these ran north-south. Travel increased immensely since then, but east-west travel is almost non-existent. Also, we have transitioned from light-weight, birch bark canoes to heavier alumunium boats with larger motors. These boats are heavy and much more difficult to portage, making the use of traditional travel routes difficult.”

4. Pikangikum residents named the first-ever plane to land there Big Duck  

Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada

“This photo was taken on July 31, 1922. The G-CYBT made a trip to Kenora and got lost along the way and landed in Pikangikum. There were no maps. Whenever they’d see somebody on the water, pilots would land and ask them to draw a map. Can you imagine flying a big airplane like this and just working off a hastily drawn sketch that has no landmarks? Well, they’d get lost again and they would land again…”

The momentous event of seeing a plane land for the first time is still remembered in the oral histories of Pikangikum residents, said Gerald. “They talk about how afraid they were when this huge gichi zhiishiib, meaning Big Duck, landed. The aircraft was a monstrosity, and it nearly sunk when it struck the only rock near the surface of the lake. They managed to get it to shore, which you see in the photo.”

T.S.10122, Library and Archives Canada

What are these women looking at?

CI [illegible]-1925, Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada

“These women are all looking to the right,” noted Gerald. “The big question is, what were they looking at?” Gerald solved the mystery by looking at photo archive numbers. 

T.S.10127, Library and Archives Canada

He explained that pilots and surveyors sent photos to different archives, so their photos were numbered differently. “The first photo was taken by a pilot. The number is illegible, but it ends in 1925. The second photo of the women was taken by a surveyor and labeled T.S.10127.”

By putting surveyor photos T.S.10122 and T.S.10127 in sequence, Gerald noted there were only four pictures in between. “It was that same day,” he concluded. “That’s what these women were looking at. They were probably seeing Big Duck, the very first airplane to land in their area.”

Gerald credits a small group of researchers for helping him “figure this out.” He says, “Their guidance has advanced my understanding of all the activity around airplanes, surveying, etc.” 

5. A special treaty list reveals who was standing in line together

Gerald presented Treaty Lists and colonial practices that shaped how local Anishinaabe names were documented and changed. 

Blood Vein River Treaty List

Source: Government of Canada Library and Archives

Here, by 1876, they call it Blood Vein River,” said Gerald, as he pointed to the top left of the pay sheet. “Until around 1820, it was named Blood River, and now it’s Blood Vein River. So something happened in there. I don’t know what it is.”

Gerald turned his attention to the 18 names listed on the sheet. “These are Anishinaabe names. At the top of this list is a prominent name, Sagachiwayas, who was the chief,” said Gerald. “He was also known as Peter Stoney. We know that from a different document.”

Sagachiwayas had also collected treaty in 1875 when Treaty 5 was signed at Berens River, said Gerald. “The names with red dots beside them had collected treaty elsewhere, so they weren’t allowed to negotiate this treaty. Only six people on this list, the ones with green dots, were permitted to negotiate the treaty.”

The other ones had already all collected at either Berens River or at Lac Seul (Lac). 

Lac Seul Treaty List

The names on the treaty pay list for Lac Seul in 1874 (below) are familiar, said Gerald.

Source: Government of Canada Library and Archives

“These are Upper Berens people for the most part, along with [Kisikakishik (#46 in L.S. list and #6 In B.V. list] who’s from Bloodvein. [Oshkineegee #44 In L.S. and #22 in Sandy Narrows list] is from Little Grand. [Kackeekaiwayweetung #36 In L.S. list and #20 on Sandy Narrows list] is from Pauingassi. And the rest are all from Pikangikum and Poplar Hill.”

Sandy Narrows of the Berens River Treaty List

Gerald emphasized the importance of the Sandy Narrows of the Berens River list. 

Source: Government of Canada Library and Archives

“This was the first time these names got recorded formally,” he explained. Gerald said the list is unique in its accuracy. It is based on Anishinaabe clan names.

“What happened here is that people acted as we do today. When you’re with friends or family that you’re close to, these are the people that you cluster up with in line. They were together in line for the treaty money.”

Gerald pointed out the names of people who were standing together. “Ayasa #5 (also known as Naamiwan, or Fairwind fm Pauingassi)was the son of Shenawakoshkank #6. Newepeenoukumwekwape #4 was another one. He is the brother-in-law to Ayaasa #5 and son-in-law to Shenawakoshkank #6. They’re all very close together. When you get down further, these are all the Pikangikum and Poplar Hill people. So that’s how they clustered up. And that’s just human nature.”

But the traditional Anishinaabe system of lining up based on the strength of kinship ties was soon lost.  

“The British were a very regimented people,” noted Gerald. “They were very orderly. They liked things done in a certain way. After that year, people were lined up alphabetically according to the sound of their last name. And after 1891, they were lined up alphabetically according to the English, Scottish, and French names imposed on them.” 

The impact of this erasure (loss of the knowledge of clans) continues to affect families, communities, and their connection to the land.

“People have forgotten their history. They’ve forgotten their relationships because it all changed from the traditional Anishinaabe names in the clan system.” 

With traditional names having “disappeared off the map,” Gerald now uses “forensic strategies” to track the lineage of community members in Pimachiowin Aki. 

His message is clear: remembering the past is crucial to understanding the present, and preserving ancestral connections is vital for future generations.

Filed Under: Cultural Heritage, Geneaology, Named Places, Uncategorised Tagged With: Gerald Neufeld

Place Name Changes on Early Maps  

March 19, 2025

“This is one of the first maps that Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) made,” said Gerald Neufeld, referring to the map below. “It was likely based on the first journey inland from the Hudson Bay and James Bay posts to look for opportunities to expand the fur trade. Tomison, the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) employee from the Severn River post, had not yet found the Berens River and Poplar River.”

Neither Poplar River nor Berens River appear on this 1769 A. Graham map, marked up by Gerald.

“As the years advanced, HBC became more aware of the east side of Lake Winnipeg, and so did their competition, the NorthWest Company out of Montreal.”

Lakes and Rivers Renamed

The 1802 Arrowsmith map (below) shows that familiarity with the region had advanced quickly, said Gerald. 

Today’s Fishing Lake, Viking Lake, and Moar Lake appear as Goose, Moose, and Eagle Lakes on this Arrowsmith map, 1802, marked up by Gerald.. 

From 1923-1926 the region’s lakes and rivers, once bearing Ojibwe names that carried stories and meanings, were renamed. “The Royal Canadian Air Force decided that if they were going to fly their airplanes in this region, they would need proper maps,” said Gerald.  

 No regard was given to traditional place names of lakes and rivers.

“The problem with their effort from today’s vantage point is that no permissions from Indigenous Peoples were obtained,” Gerald said. “They just went ahead and put names on the lakes and rivers. Some are Indigenous names, others are interpreted names that emulate the Indigenous names and many are names of fallen soldiers, aviators, and land surveyors. They got away with making the changes back in the 1920s, because most people in the region were unable to read or speak English.” 

Today’s Bloodvein River appears as Blood River in a section of thisHudson’s Bay Company map (Peter Pond, 1785); marked up by Gerald.

Reclaiming Place Names

Land Guardian Melba Green of Bloodvein River First Nation explains the importance of named places. “Our Elders tell stories about places that were named after the plants and animals who live there, or ancestors who traveled across the land. Some names are based on the rocks or the water that flows there. Water gives life, and the land gives gifts and tools to use and to survive.  These names are in our language and remind us to be respectful. They give us important information, like what to expect, or what to watch out for when we’re there.” 

That’s why Gerald Neufeld’s work is important and why our communities are creating traditional place names maps that preserve our cultural heritage.

Little Grand Rapids First Nation and Pauingassi First Nation are in the process of creating place names maps to preserve the language, cultural identity, and knowledge of place and travel routes.

12 Named Places to Discover in Poplar River First Nation

 

Filed Under: Cultural Heritage, Indigenous Traditional Knowledge, Named Places

Oral History Recordings – Drum Dance Ceremony and Interview with Little Grand Rapids First Nation Medicine Man William Bones Leveque

June 20, 2024

A Pimachiowin Aki Director learned years ago that an interview with Little Grand Rapids First Nation medicine man William Bones Leveque was recorded in the 1960s.

 “I read about the interview in the Hudson Bay Company (HBC) records when we did a history project at school for the community,” says the Director for Little Grand Rapids First Nation.

He has wanted to hear the recordings ever since. It was his idea to find the recordings and share them with the people of Pimachiowin Aki.  

The recordings (below) are part of a collection of film and sound recordings that were either created or acquired by HBC.

Learn more about the Hudson’s Bay Company film, video and sound collection

Feature Photo: William Bones Leveque answering questions for tape recorder operated by Don Ferguson 
Photographer: Don Ferguson, 2 July 1963
Don Ferguson fonds, Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, Archives of Manitoba

HBCA-T7-1

Little Grand Rapids [drum dance ceremony and interviews with medicine man William Bones Levesque, interpreter David Duck and HBC employee Walter Moar], [Moccasin Telegraph, Fall/Winter 1963]


HBCA-T7-2

Part two of an oral interview with HBC employee Walter Moar. See transcript below.


HBCA-T7-2 Transcript

Transcribed to the best of our ability.

[Speaker 1] Interviewer Don Ferguson (HBC employee)
[Speaker 2] Interpreter Walter Moar (HBC employee)
[Speaker 3] Unknown
[Speaker 4] Unknown

Relocation after the store burned down

[Speaker 1] (0:00) When did they move over to the other location?

Inaudible

[Speaker 1] Why did they move over there?

[Speaker 2] Well, they figured, they see, when the store burned out here, because they had hard time to come across here, see, with the water, because the water’s always open

Click here for full transcript

[Speaker 1]  I see.

[Speaker 2] (0:27) They have to go around. When they put the store out there, see, they can go in right there.

[Speaker 1] Right

[Speaker 2] Even the airplane couldn’t land here, they have to go around before they can get a mail.

[Speaker 1] I see, and that’s why they moved across.

[Speaker 2] I think that’s what they had to do.

[Speaker 1] I see. And then, um, uh, they just let these buildings go after that, didn’t they?

[Speaker 2] Yeah, yeah.

[Speaker 1] But they burned out, the store burned down, eh?

[Speaker 2] Yeah, yeah. The store burned down and then they built the other one across.

[Speaker 1] I see.

[Speaker 2] This one was… I’ve got this one. They tear it down, they leave boards.

[Speaker 1] Yeah, yeah.

[Speaker 3] Inaudible

[Speaker 2] 01:15 No, no. I think it’s the first one was used by my grandfather, Tony Moar.

[Speaker 1] This is the one that’s still left.

[Speaker 2] Yes. Tony Moar, yeah. 

[Speakers] Inaudible  

[Speaker 1] 01:28 But, uh, Walter says that they first established at Moar Lake. I didn’t know that. Uh, the first store, and then they came here, and then over to the present site.

[Speaker 3] Inaudible

Moving goods by canoe

[Speaker 2] 1:58 This would be after the Berens River. Well, I guess that’s what they said. They got energy from the Berens River to Moar Lake, and they hauled it in by canoe.

[Speaker 1] 2:20 Can you come from Berens River to here now without a portage?

[Speaker 2] No, no, not a portage. Without a portage is…

[Speaker 1] Fifty-two. Fifty-two…

[Speaker 2] Yeah, we used to haul it straight.

[Speaker 1] You were a boy back then.

[Speaker 2] Yeah, when I was a young boy, yeah. I used to haul it straight to the Berens River.

[Speaker 1] Oh, yeah.

[Speaker 2] 2:47 Well, before they moved, they had a tractor over here. They’d bring the stuff by the tractor to here, see?

[Speaker 3] Oh, yes.

[Speaker 2] And after that, they moved across.

[Speaker 1] I see.

[Speaker 2] That was before we used to haul it by canoe. About 1,500 pounds in each canoe.

[Speaker 1] I see.

[Speaker 2] Too many.

[Speaker 3] And you carried 90-pound packs like they used to carry all day?

[Speaker 2] 3:16 Oh, yeah. Some of them carried 400 pounds in a bag.

[Speaker 1] That’s bags of flour.

[Speaker 2] Yeah.

Inaudible

[Speaker 2] Get a few lynx, too. Beavers, birds.

Then and now

[Speaker 1] 3:42 Are the people better off now, would you say, than they were, say, 15 years, 20 years ago?

[Speaker 2] Well, first, I think they have a little bit of family allowance, but before they never had family allowance, not in 20 years ago.

[Speaker 1] They’re getting more income and everything now…

Inaudible

[Speaker 1] … and they’re better health-wise, would you say?

[Speaker 2] I think so. I think so.

[Speaker 1] 4:10 Like, with the nursing station being here?

[Speaker 2] It was a long time ago, nobody ever got sick. I never knew. And I never knew (inaudible) long time ago.

[Speaker 1] Mm-hmm. Well, that’s unusual, because there used to be a lot of people go out every Treaty time, didn’t there?

[Speaker 2] Yeah, yeah. But now…

[Speaker 3] The people they have to learn (inaudible).

Trading with Pauingassi

[Speaker 1] 4:43 What about the Pauingassi crowd? What’s happened there?

[Speaker 2] Well, you see, they belong to this Indian reserve. They belong to this reserve.

[Speaker 1] Yeah.

[Speaker 1]  They stay out there, see, because they got the better fishing out there. They eat fish, see. (inaudible)

[Speaker 1] 4:54 I see. I understand they don’t like the people here.

[Speaker 2] I don’t think so. Well, I don’t know much about that… (laughs)

[Speaker 1] Well, what do they do as far as trading, Walter, is concerned?

[Speaker 2] Well, they come down here to…

[Speaker 1] Oh, I see. They would come down once a week, or once every two weeks, you tell me.

Inaudible

Commercial Fishing

[Speaker 1] Oh, I see. I see. Well, Pete Lazarenko was in here commercial fishing, wasn’t he?

[Speaker 2] Yeah, he was, he was, he was… well, in the fall; every fall, October.

[Speaker 1] Oh, I see. Late fall, eh?

[Speaker 2] Yeah, late in the fall.

[Speaker 1] 5:44 And does he take fish right in the, in Berens River, or…

[Speaker 2] Oh, yeah, they take fish in this lake, and they take fish in this fishing lake.

[Speaker 1] I see.

[Speaker 2] In this lake.

[Speaker 1] Tracy’s up there now, is he?

[Speaker 2] 5:54 Yeah, Tracy’s out there. He’s got lots of… (inaudible)

[Speaker 1] Is he getting any business, any customers up there yet?

[Speaker 2] Yeah, he’s got a few now.

[Speaker 1] He has, eh?

[Speaker 2] Yeah.

[Speaker 1] I see.

[Speaker 3] It’s quite early, too. They only opened… (inaudible)

[Speaker 2] Oh, yeah. Oh, yes.

Inaudible

[Speaker 2] Sometimes rain, cloud. They never got wet.

Agriculture

[Speaker 1] 6:28 Oh, I see. So they, that’s another reason why they kept, moved across, eh?

[Speaker 2] Yeah. Yeah (inaudible). Another one way out there. Gardens.That was my grandfather’s here. Potatoes. He had lots of rhubarb.

[Speaker 1] Rhubarb.

[Speaker 2] Oh, yeah. Everything, they had here.

[Speaker 1] Oh, yeah.

[Speaker 2] They had two horses here.

Inaudible

[Speaker 3] 7:04 Well, they usually have many horses in this part of the country, right?

[Speaker 2] And since when we went out to Berens River, no more horses.

[Speaker 1] No.

Inaudible

Waste Disposal Practices

[Speaker 1] This is still the, the path, like, that they used to come up on, eh? And they hump the flour on their back coming up here. Walter, do you know where the garbage dump was, where they threw the garbage and that?

[Speaker 2] Oh, it was way up in the bank there.

[Speaker 1] I see. Doctor, uh, Walter was saying that their refuse disposal was way behind the house there. That might have been an interesting spot to look into.

[Speaker 2] Oh, yeah. Well, everything, they must have… they bury everything. See, they dig down the hole and they throw everything in there.

[Speaker 1] Is that, that was how they used it, eh? They buried all the garbage?

[Speaker 2] They buried out all that stuff in their cans and all that stuff.

Trading a Double Barrel for a Single Barrel

[Speaker 4] 08:13 Warden Crone, the manager, was at Pukatawagan.

[Speaker 1] Oh, yeah.

[Speaker 4] And he got it from, eh, in Dillon… Dillon, Saskatchewan.

[Speaker 1] 08:20 Oh, yeah.

[Speaker 4] 08:13 And I had, I got a double barrel. See, I got a double barrel in Pukatawagan and I traded him plus ten dollars for this single barrel.

[Speaker 1]  Oh, I see.

[Speaker 4]  But the double barrel, they sawed it off, you see. It was a sawed-off shotgun, just like it. So I wouldn’t, you know, this was in bad condition. I’ve got it at the post office.

[Speaker 1] Yeah, I’d like to have a look at it when we get back.

[Speaker 3] (inaudible)

Gallery

Photo Galleries

Photographer: Ōtake Hidehiro, May 2024
Keeper of the William Bones Leveque drum: Carlisle (Car Leslie) Bushie

Don Ferguson fonds (1987/273). Photographer: Don Ferguson, 2 July 1963
Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, Archives of Manitoba 




William Bones Leveque with pipe
William Bones Leveque, medicine man, singing. Full name, according to Nurse Lowry: Flatstone Jackfish Whiskyjack Joseph William Bones Leveque, known as ‘William Bones’



William Bones Leveque (with pipe) and Chief Sam Bushie






Observers. David Duck holding baby on left 
Women dancing anticlockwise circling drum in small step and dip: 1. Louise Leveque; 2. Sarah Leveque; 3. Frances Bascombe; 4. Marion Eaglestick 



Extreme left David Duck with 4 men dancing. At drum L to R: Bones, Bascombe, Bushie, Keeper. 4 women dancing: Louise Leveque, Sarah Leveque, Frances Bascombe, Marion Eaglestick



David Duck (interpreter on the left) and Robertson (photographer in back)
Observers



HBC post buildings 



Bill Mayer Oakes 



Remains of old HBC post across river from present post 
This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is HBCA-1987-273-022-1-1020x1024.jpg



Cemetery at Little Grand Rapids 



In stern of boat Eric Dranthee, post manager Little Grand Rapids, clerk (only stayed 10 months with Company) Barry Tuckett 

Hudson’s Bay House Photo Collection
Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, Archives of Manitoba 

Little Grand Rapids HBC post, July 1963
William Bones Leveque (left), Little Grand Rapids, July 1963
William Bones Leveque (left), Little Grand Rapids, July 1963
William Bones Leveque (centre), Little Grand Rapids, July 1963
Little Grand Rapids HBC post buildings, 1967. Photographer: George Hunter
Little Grand Rapids HBC post, 1967. Photographer: George Hunter

Thank you to the Pimachiowin Aki Director for Little Grand Rapids First Nation for your efforts to connect people of Pimachiowin Aki with our cultural heritage. Thank you also to drum keeper Carlisle Bushie and photographer Ōtake Hidehiro for making it possible for us to share images of the William Bones Leveque drum today, and to the staff of the Archives of Manitoba for providing Pimachiowin Aki with digitized copies of the audio recordings and photographs donated to the Archives.

Filed Under: Cultural Heritage, First Nation Communities, Knowledge Keepers, Uncategorised Tagged With: Hudson Bay Company, Little Grand Rapids First Nation, Manitoba Archives, Medicine Man, Pauingassi First Nation

Lessons in Ojibwe – Tips and Fast Facts

March 11, 2024


This is part two of a two-part interview with educator Jason Jones. Read more from Jason in our past newsletter.

1. Let’s get straight to a few fast facts about Ojibwe. There’s no F in the Ojibwe alphabet?

There’s also no Q, R, U, V or X. The alphabet has 17 consonants and seven vowels, including double vowels:

  • b, ch, d, g, h, j, k, m, n, p, s, sh, t, w, y, z, zh
  • a, aa, e, i, ii, o, oo

2.  Also, what is the ‘ called and how is it used in Ojibwe?

This is called glottal stop, a sudden stop in speech. I don’t think English language has this sound.


Omagakee’ominitik or omakakii’ominiti
(a reef where there are frogs)
Wawezhi’onan (dance capes)

Examples of the glottal stop in use

3. Ojibwe words have special categories, like animate/living and inanimate/nonliving. What is animate, what is inanimate, and how do you tell?

If you don’t understand, ask someone to pluralize the word – if it ends in G/K, it’s animate. If it ends in N, it’s inanimate after you pluralize it. Sometimes we may look too far into this concept and ask why something is considered alive or not alive. It simply has to be one or the other.

Mazina’igan (book) is inanimate. I see it. If I see a mashkikiwinini (person) or Animosh (pet), I see him or her.

When talking about mitigoog (trees), it’s him or her, not it. We see trees as animate and alive. There are spirits inside there. Asiniig (rocks) are animate. Mishoomisaabikwag (Grandfather rocks) are alive and need to be respected.

4. What about fruits and vegetables? Are they animate or inanimate?

It gets a little complicated when you talk about fruits and vegetables. Some are alive and some are not – miskominag (raspberries) are animate and miinan (blueberries) are inanimate.

Photo: Ōtake Hidehiro

5. Do you know the reason for this?

The closest I can get is that raspberries have seeds. Another interesting one is that mikwam (ice) is animate, nibi (water) is inanimate.

In Manitoba and Ontario, odaabaanan (vehicles) are inanimate. But if you go down south to Minnesota, they’re animate, odaabaanag.

It leads me down this tunnel wondering why. But Elders have told me that it’s just the way it is. It has to be one or the other. Some things have culture built into them, as to why they are animate, like when we mentioned rocks and trees.

6. How is respect is built into the language?

When we’re in a crowd, or we have the microphone, we usually have a humbling statement. I hear this often with Elders. They’ll even acknowledge everyone by saying, “Hello my relatives” because were all related; we all have the same mother – mother earth.


Boozhoo nindinawemaaganag

Mother earth

Another example is that Katakosign giizis is a month that teaches how to be respectful. In our area it’s spelled Gaa-dakoozid giizis and means February. Its literal translation is “the one that is being short, month,” in reference to the number of days in the month. But to take it one step further, we know that other cultures have this as the shortest month – our speakers named it after that because they wanted to show respect to other cultures. When we see these names of the months, we can see our speakers/ancestors recognizing other cultures, which is through respect. This is what I mean when I say “respect is built into the language.”

Also, there are no swear words in Ojibwe/Anishinaabemowin, so right off the bat there’s respect that’s built in there.

7. How do people express themselves in place of swear words?

People call each other bad words by using body part words. They’re not swear words, but probably the closest you can get to swearing. There are other words one can use as well, most of them are visual words though. Most of the time, when one says bad words to someone, it ends in laughter.  

8. Today, many people use miigwech to say thank you. But the word meant something different before. What’s the story behind this?

It’s actually two different words coming together:

  • mii – thus/that
  • gwech – sufficient

A long time ago, Anishinaabeg changed with the times. When we traded with the French, the going rate was a bundle of muskets for a pile of pelts. They were stacked up equally. However high the muskets were was how high the pelts were. When asked, “Mii,mii…gwech, gwech (Is that sufficient)?” the French people thought we said thank you, thank you …. Over time it got figured out. It’s how we came to understand each other, and it stuck.

9. You explained in Part I of our interview that culture is built into the language. They’re inseparable. Can you give us examples of what the language reflects?

a) How natural and dream worlds are perceived
The Creator is constantly trying to communicate with us. We usually put tobacco out and ask for help or guidance, then we pay attention and watch. There was this constellation my grandma told me about called “aatawaamoog.” I could see it in my head, but I couldn’t think of its English name, so I asked out loud, “What is this word in English, I forget?” The next day, I’m standing in line at Safeway and two ladies in front of me started talking about stars. I took my headphones off to listen. Then they said, “Orien’s Belt” and the lightbulb went off in my head and I got my answer. I’d recommend people to try this out – just say things out loud, then wait to see what happens. 

Photo: Ōtake Hidehiro

b) How animals and plants are understood
These are our teachers. We can learn a lot from animals and plants if we pay attention to them. They have so much love for us. When we see a shrew/mole it’s usually a bad sign that someone is going to pass away. But I see it as a good sign, like that animal knows what’s coming and is giving us the heads up, so we can say our last goodbyes to our loved ones. It also reminds us to love one another while we’re here.

Sage plant has things as well, we just have to look more closely. When it gets stepped on or bent, it stays that way until you see it the next day; it’s back to its normal erect state. It’s showing us it can repair itself, and we too have that ability. It could be as easy as telling your body soul spirit to help fix your knee or back problems and it will do its best to help. It’s the same thing with mental health – if we create that way of resetting our minds and giving things a day or two, then we can reset ourselves, much like the sage plant does when it gets stepped on. That’s what it’s trying to show us.

c) How hunting and other practices are expressed  
We see hunting a bit different than Western views. For me, I see the spirit of the deer guiding the bullet to hit the deer and not me, the hunter, shooting him. He’s giving his life so we can live and be healthy. We have to do our part and not waste the meat or talk bad about the animal. His spirit is watching us while we cut him up and he can hear us. That’s why we hear Elders constantly saying thank you or talking highly of him while skinning. 

10. In Anishinaabemowin there no words for ownership and no words for goodbye. How is this a reflection of Anishinaabe values and beliefs?

I guess there are some ownership words. Mostly with family members we see this, like father or mother – they have to belong to someone, so it’s either nindede or nimaamaa for my father or mother. The word parts are dede and maamaa but we won’t see them on their own, they have to have ownership on them. 

Some might say “giga-waabamin” or “baamaa” for goodbye but all it means is, “I will see you (in the future)” or “later.” We truly can’t say goodbye to someone because that would mean we won’t see them any longer, and this gets into death, which can’t happen in our culture. We believe that we are spirits, having a physical experience right now, but we’ll go back to spirit at some time. 

11. Anishinaabeg need language to understand the land. As a language expert for IISD, you translate research on climate change into Anishinaabemowin. What significant lesson has Anishinaabemowin taught you about the land?

The language taught me that much of what we see around us is very much alive.  Also, our language is alive and has the ability to create new words. It is growing and has room for the future, and future words/terms. It comes back to that idea of everything is energy in motion. Our language is moving forward.

12. Eighty percent of people in Pimachiowin Aki speak Anishinaabemowin. What does this mean to you at a time when Indigenous languages around the world are at risk of disappearing? 

Photo: Ōtake Hidehiro

It gives us hope. Most places aren’t as lucky as here. Some communities have lost all their language speakers. I think we’re starting to turn things around – more and more people are talking about the language now and realizing the importance of it. 

13. Here are more words used in Pimachiowin Aki. What can you tell us about them?

a) Gaagige bimosemagan (It exists and travels through eternity)

  • gaagige means for every
  • bim – goes along
  • ose – walks
  • magan turns it into intransitive verb. The thing walks along forever. 

The thing with Ojibwe is, it opens up the meaning of words to mean more than one thing, whereas English tries to narrow things down to one or two meanings. That’s why the translation means “it exists and travels through eternity.” It’s trying to get us to visualize the language and see it. That’s what those smaller word parts do. 

b) Geeminizahgeegink (the land to grow beautifully)
I see “creating an image” that looks nice when I say this word out loud. 

c) Akiiwigikendamowining (Anishinaabe land-based knowledge) 

  • akii- land/earth
  • wi – turns noun to verb
  • gikendamaw (or gikendamow) – is to know  
  • win – turns verb back into noun
  • ing- in/at/ by something

In English, it sounds simple, like knowing the animate land. But the word parts allow us to see this in action, and what we see is where a better translation comes in – we see the land being known. 

Photo: Ōtake Hidehiro

14. Where can people find your lessons to learn Ojibwe and connect to their cultural heritage?

Sayitfirst.ca has much of our books, wakingupojibwe.ca is where I’ve been putting resources. Both of these will help with language. 

Lessons in Ojibwe – Language That Comes From the Land (Part I)
Read Part I of our interview with Jason.

Filed Under: Cultural Heritage, Indigenous Language, Uncategorised Tagged With: Anishinaabemowin, Ojibwe

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