Pimachiowin Aki

World Heritage Site

Cultural Heritage

Grandpa’s Story: Gwiigwiishiwag

Whiskey Jack bird in tree.
Gwiigwiishiwag (Photo: Christian Artuso)

When I was out as a young boy with my slingshot, my Grandpa always told me not to bother Canada Jays, Gwiigwiishiwag, because they help moose hunters find moose. My Grandpa would talk to that bird, and they would understand him. Whichever direction the bird flies, he would go hunting for the day. Most of the time he was successful. My Grandpa would feed Gwiigwiishiwag, except before he went hunting. After Gwiigwiishi would show him the way, he would feed that bird, not one particular bird, but the one that showed him the way that day.”

—Little Grand Rapids First Nation Guardian Dennis Keeper tells his Grandpa’s story  

Dog Sledding for Land-Based Learning

Surrounded by the expansive boreal forest and the soft sounds of canine paws on snow, Sidney Klassen glides through Bloodvein River First Nation behind his team of dogs. Mr. K, as he’s known to students at Miskooseepi School, is providing a “hands-on experience for the kids to be out in nature.“ Dog sledding is part of the school’s newly-formed Land-Based Learning program.

“We take the dogs out and I show students how to handle them, how to bring them to the truck and bring them to the staging area where we launch,” Sidney explains. Students practise getting the sled ready and hooking up the team. They also learn parts of the sled, like rigging and lines. But their learning runs deeper than physical skills.

“The kids learn about the connection between the dogs and humans when they take care of the dogs,” says Sidney. “They develop responsibility. The implications for learning are endless.”

Who is Sidney Klassen?

Sidney is a former physical education teacher. He has grown to love his new role as Land-Based Instructor but he’s not comfortable with the title. “I’d change Instructor to Coordinator or Facilitator,” he says. ‘Instructor’ is more suitable for a local, not a former Winnipegger like him, he explains.

Sidney with the dogs and a student

“I’m not from Bloodvein River First Nation and I don’t know the land like the locals do.”

Sidney works closely with teachers and residents of the Manitoba First Nation community to connect traditional knowledge to classroom learning.   

“The goal is to get the kids outside on the land, in the bush behind the school, out on the river in canoes, or on hiking field trips,” he says. It’s all part of learning science, social studies and mathematics in new ways. 

From the Circus to Teaching

Sidney became a teacher at age 39, after an unusual career route.

His inspiration to teach started when he “ran away with the circus.”  

Years ago, Sidney worked as the crew chef with the Caravan Stage Company, a traveling circus on a tall ship sailing boat. “The pirate ship theatre was started by two old, card-carrying hippies and it led me to look at my life and chase my dreams. I thought that if they can build a hippy pirate ship, I can do what I want to do.”

What he wanted to do was teach.

How Sidney Started Dog Sledding

He left the traveling circus with a plan to go to university. But first, he took a trip to the Yukon. The trip sparked a new passion. “I took up dog sledding and fell in love with it. I was working for an esteemed champion dog musher and he taught me about dog mushing. I loved being able to see beautiful territory, and I loved the interaction between the humans and dogs.”

When he returned to Winnipeg for university, Sidney formed a dog sled team of his own. With his two dogs, and sometimes a friend’s dog, he traveled the city’s river trails. He had no idea that his love of dog sledding would one day carry into his classroom in Bloodvein River First Nation.

“When I got to Bloodvein, I wanted to start a dog team,” he says. “I put together a fundraiser to raise funds for equipment and got started.”

The team began with six dogs donated by Kevin Lewis who runs the Cree cultural immersion camp in Saskatchewan called kâniyâsihk Culture Camps.

Showing Students the Ropes

The dogs live with Sidney. He has a kennel with doghouses behind his home. “I take students on a tour of the kennel to meet the dogs. I show them how the kennel is set up, and how to care for them.”

Sidney also takes students dog sledding along Indigenous travel routes. The trip includes Ojibwe teachings from an Elder and local trapper.

“Gabriel Green, drives ahead with his snowmobile and takes us down his trapline,” Sidney shares. “He pulls a cargo toboggan behind his snowmobile. The students take turns driving the dog sled or riding in the sled or the toboggan.”

Stopping at designated spots, Gabriel shows his traps and tells stories about the dog team that he had years ago. “Having that platform for Gabriel to share his knowledge and stories is really great,” says Sidney. “We tie-in classroom learning and we’re getting the kids out into nature, over the river and on the trail.”

Students enjoy the adventure. “Just being out on the sled with the kids, even though they might be acting cool at the time, I know they’re excited,” says Sidney. “It’s a beautiful, sunshine-y day, running through a beautiful trail…one of the best feelings ever for me.”

“Word gets around that Mr. K has a dog sled team and takes kids out sledding,” says Sidney. Students like to share stories about their experience of driving the dog sled on their own, he adds.

Each trip includes eight to 10 students from grades four to nine. “Last winter we were out with the kids about five or six times,” Sidney says. The most recent trip was in March, before COVID-19 school closures.

Other Land-Based Learning Activities

The Land-Based Learning program involves more than dog sled education.

“One of my highlights every year is the overnight trip to the Manitoba Museum,” Sidney reflects. The Miskooseepi students spend an overnight inside the museum. It includes a behind-the-scenes tour of the curator’s room to view artifacts from Pauingassi First Nation. Students learn about the importance of protecting their cultural heritage.

“These are items from their culture. They learn that their culture is significant and valued by the world.”

Knowledge keepers like Culture and Language teacher Yvonne Young take students out on the land where they learn to identify plants and pick medicine. They also learn how to use plants, like offering tobacco.

Last winter, a few students took an ice fishing day trip. “We’re fortunate to have William Young be a part of the program. He had ice fishing equipment donated and took us to Round Lake to go ice fishing,” Sidney says.

“The kids have their Anishinaabe culture in their blood,” he says. He notes that many students can teach him about hunting, fishing and living off the land. “They go out with their fathers, uncles, grandfathers or aunts, and they have a lot of knowledge.”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, instructors and students are now doing remote learning. Sidney is running logistics, getting homework packages delivered and monitoring social media. He plans to set up a spot this winter so that students can get out onto the land. “We’ll have the ice fishing shacks, cross-country skis and snowshoes, and let the kids use them.”

The Pimachiowin Aki Song

Cultural heritage expresses who we are and how we live. Anishinaabeg have shared language, stories, and songs for generations in Pimachiowin Aki.

This is the Pimachiowin Aki song—a sacred song created to recognize that Pimachiowin Aki is the land that gives life and is vital to the spiritual, emotional, and physical survival of Anishinaabeg as a people:  

Whey Ha Why Oh Whey
Whey Ha Why Oh Whey
Whey Ha Why Oh Whey
Whey Ha Why Oh Whey Ya Whey Ya
Whey Ha Why Oh Whey
Whey Ha Why Oh Whey Ya Whey Ya

Anishinaabeg dibaajimowin (This is an Ojibwe Story)
Gaagige bimosemagan (It exists and travels through eternity)
Pimachiowin Aki (On the land that gives life)

[The verse is sung four times]

“That song is forever going to sound in this world. And it’s going to sound all over, and the wave that travels to every part of the world, that song will travel to. Our people’s voice needs to be heard. The knowledge that Anishinaabe people have is vital to our own survival. And vital to mankind.”

Eric Courchene, Sagkeeng First Nation

12 Named Places to Discover in Poplar River First Nation

Poplar River First Nation recently completed a Traditional Place Names map, which gives meaning to 149 places. The named places include rivers, lakes, creeks, rapids, points, and islands.

For several years, Elders in Poplar River have been sharing their knowledge to make this map possible. For instance, the Elders have walked the land with us and showed us places and things that are known only because Elders have been there and shared their knowledge. The Elders’ stories and memories are now printed on a huge, colourful map that will hang in community spaces and guide our journeys. The map is almost five feet wide!

When traveling the land, Anishinaabeg tell stories about the named places we encounter along the way. When we learn the names of places, we gain an intimate knowledge of the land. We need this knowledge for survival. Some places are named after plants or wildlife found in the area. Some names warn of dangers. Many reflect the histories of people who have traveled through and made use of the land. 

Named Places to Visit in Poplar River First Nation

Here are a dozen named places to visit using the Poplar River First Nation map:

  1. Nikaminikwaywining (The creek where geese drink)
  2. Pinanaywipowitik (Rapids where people can rest sore legs)
  3. Moozichisking (Big rock shaped like a moose’s rump)
  4. Wapiskapik (The rock island that was painted white so it could be seen)
  5. Kakinoosaysikak (Place where there are lots of minnows)
  6. Weeskwoywisaguygan (Marchand Lake—shaped like a balloon)
  7. Moondeewiminitik (Island named after the late Elder Mooni)
  8. Kaminotinak (Beautiful high ground along the Franklin River where small trees grow)
  9. Nayonanashing (Place to stop for lunch)
  10. Wapeegoozhesse’opimatagaywining (Where a mouse swam across the river)
  11. Paagitinigewening (Tobacco offering rock)
  12.  Kakpikichiwung (Water falls over a rock cliff)

Preserving Cultural Heritage

All 149 places on the Poplar River First Nation Place Names map are now officially recognized in provincial and national geographical names databases. In addition to helping us navigate the land and waters, the map preserves our cultural heritage. In other words, the map preserves Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe language), history, teachings and beliefs. 

Listening to and talking about our place names is like reading a book…these named places ensure that the stories will carry on. When my father was describing where he had been, he would say, kee’yapay namaytoowag, which means he could still feel the presence of people who had been there before. The stories of our ancestors are connected to those places and to us by the place names.

– Sophia Rabliauskas

Meegwetch to the Poplar River First Nation Elders for their generosity, time, and patience in documenting the personal and collective histories of the people who have travelled through, observed and lived on Poplar River First Nation ancestral land, Asatiwisipe Aki.

Do you want to view the full Poplar River First Nation Place Names map on our website? Click on this link and scroll down toward the bottom of the page.

More Place Name Maps for Pimachiowin Aki

Pimachiowin Aki Corporation is working to protect cultural heritage for future generations in all four First Nation communities in Pimachiowin Aki. Cultural heritage expresses who we are and how we live. It consists of everything that we value and share through generations. Cultural heritage includes place names. It also includes travel routes, cabins, songs and traditional knowledge.

We are crossing land and water to inventory Pimachiowin Aki’s cultural sites. For example, we are documenting named places, pictographs, Thunderbird nests, cabins, campsites, and ceremonial sites. Bloodvein River First Nation, Pauingassi First Nation and Little Grand Rapids First Nation are each collecting this information to make their own place names maps.

This summer, eight young adults had a one-of-a-kind experience using the Poplar River First Nation Traditional Place Names map. Read about it here:
13 Rapids with a Traditional Place Names Map in Hand 

13 Rapids with a Traditional Place Names Map in Hand

When young people go out on the land, they come back with their language.

—Anishinaabe Elder, in translation

This summer, eight youth had a one-of-a-kind experience using the Poplar River First Nation Traditional Place Names map. The teens participated in a five-day knowledge-sharing trip hosted by Poplar River First Nation Guardian Norway Rabliauskas and his mother Sophia. Together, with hired guides, the group boated from the Poplar River First Nation community to Pinesewapikung Sagaigan (Weaver Lake). Along the way, they manoeuvred through 13 rapids marked on the map, and translated the names into Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe language).

With names like Thagitowipowitik (Rapids before Poplar River flows into Weaver Lake) and Machi-powitik (Bad rapids where some people sense bad feelings), the map prepared them for the rapids ahead. It also helped them reflect on the past.

“I think it’s important for the young people to learn whey where they come from, and the history of Pinesewapikung Sagaigan (Weaver Lake),” Norway says.

The map gives meaning to places and helps keep the language and stories about these places alive.  Do you want to view the Poplar River First Nation Traditional Place Names map, with 149 named places? Click here and scroll down toward the bottom of the page.

Learning the History of Weaver Lake

Cultural heritage connects people and unites communities. The group camped on an island, where more people from the community were already gathered. Together, they visited the healing camp near Weaver Lake to learn more about the history of their community, and why the healing camp was established many years ago. 

“We wanted them to know who went there, why the camp exists, and why it is important,” Norway explains. He and Sophia shared with the youth that some Elders in the community were residential school survivors who used this site for their own personal healing journeys. 

Learning the Seven Sacred Teachings

Sophia also explained the principles of the Seven Sacred Teachings that have been passed down from generation to generation: 

  • wisdom 
  • love 
  • respect 
  • bravery 
  • honesty 
  • humility 
  • truth

Inspiring the Next Generation of Guardians

Anishinaabeg were placed on the land by the Creator and have a sacred responsibility to care for it, so the trip included a ride around the lake to see the offering rock and pictographs, with a hike up a high rock to see tea kettles (deep holes in rocks). The youth also learned about the trees in the area. Each youth received an information booklet. 

“I wanted to create a spark that might inspire them to work as Guardians,” Norway says. 

The youth will carry the land-based knowledge and skills with them into the future, he adds, noting that the youth prepared meals and helped around camp. 

“They set up and took down the tents, too,” he says.  “I wanted them to be involved as much as they could.”

Each youth had a journal to write down their own personal reflections.

“On the last day, we went fishing as a group and cooked our meal with the fish we caught,” says Norway.

Because the knowledge-sharing trip was such a success, Norway plans to make it an annual summer outing. “We’d like to make it bigger next year,” he says.

It was Norway’s work with the Education Department that inspired the trip, funded in part by Pimachiowin Aki. Norway facilitates a language and culture program that was cut short this past school year due to the COVID-19 school closures. He intends to continue the program in the current school year with the help of community members who speak Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe language).

We’ve Answered Your Questions: Mixed World Heritage Sites Explained

What is World Heritage?

World Heritage recognizes places on Earth that are of outstanding universal value to humanity. It is like a badge of honour provided by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). When a UNESCO World Heritage site has been added to the World Heritage List, it is the world’s way of recognizing that this place should be preserved for future generations to appreciate and enjoy.

What is Cultural Heritage?

Heritage is our legacy from the past, how we live today, and what we pass on to future generations. Cultural heritage consists of everything that we value and share through generations:

  • Objects that we can see and touch, like cabins, travel routes, manoomin (wild rice), landscapes and artifacts
  • Things like language, songs, knowledge, beliefs and practices

Cultural heritage provides Anishinaabeg with: 

  • Our livelihood, such as hunting, fishing and trapping 
  • Knowledge of the land, like what rivers are safe to cross and what plants can be used as medicine
  • Skills, like how to smoke meat and cure hides

Our cultural heritage is invaluable. It connects people and unites communities, helping us understand who we are and how we contribute to the world. Cultural heritage has helped Anishinaabeg protect and preserve Pimachiowin Aki for millennia. Today, we are connected to the land and care for the land in the same ways we did over 7,000 years ago.

Types of World Heritage Sites

There are three types of World Heritage sites: cultural, natural, and mixed. 

1. What is a mixed World Heritage site?

  • A mixed heritage site is one that contains elements of both natural and cultural significance   
  • There are 39 mixed sites in the world with only one in Canada: Pimachiowin Aki

        
2. What is a cultural World Heritage site?

  • Cultural heritage sites are typically historic buildings and town sites, important archaeological sites, and works of monumental sculpture or painting—like the Writing-on-Stone/Áísínai’pi World Heritage site on the border between Canada and the United States of America, for example 


3. What is a natural World Heritage site?

  • About one in five World Heritage sites is recognized for its outstanding natural value—like the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, for example
  • Natural and mixed World Heritage sites protect over 369 million hectares of land and sea 

Pimachiowin Aki has been described as “a landmark nomination” because it is so unique—it is impossible to separate the people (culture) from the land (nature). The area received worldwide attention and inspired UNESCO to change the way it evaluates mixed World Heritage sites. Read more about how Pimachiowin Aki became a catalyst for change. 

Timeline 

The nomination was a long time in the making. In 2002, First Nations in Manitoba and Ontario signed an Accord to protect and manage ancestral lands and have these lands recognized as a World Heritage site. But the work started even before then.

The First Nation communities of Pimachiowin Aki were working individually on their own land management plans for many years. Board Member Ed Hudson from Poplar River First Nation says, “The protected area came into being before Pimachiowin Aki.” The Poplar River land management plan, and protection of Asatiwisipe Aki (Poplar River ancestral lands), became legally recognized in 2011. 

Pimachiowin Aki became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018. Here’s a quick look at how we got here:

2002 | First Nations sign an accord to protect and manage ancestral lands

2004 | Canada adds Pimachiowin Aki to a shortlist of tentative UNESCO World Heritage sites after a review of 125 potential sites

2006 | Manitoba and Ontario join the First Nations to form the Pimachiowin Aki Corporation. Together, the partners work toward the goal of a Pimachiowin Aki World Heritage site

2011 | After many years of research and community engagement, each First Nation completes a land management plan that sets out how our ancestral lands will be protected and how they can be used in the future 

2012 | Canada submits the World Heritage site nomination bid to UNESCO on behalf of the Pimachiowin Aki partnership

2018 | Pimachiowin Aki becomes the first UNESCO World Heritage site in Manitoba and the only ‘mixed’ site in Canada, recognized for both its cultural and natural values (more on that below)

How Does UNESCO Protect World Heritage Sites?

Raises awareness 
As a World Heritage site, people learn about Pimachiowin Aki’s history and traditions, the environment, and the importance of protecting this rare and special place.

Strengthens authority
Pimachiowin Aki First Nations maintain authority to make decisions about the land. To remain a World Heritage site, the rights of the people who live here must continue to be respected.

May receive expert advice on how to support preservation activities 
Pimachiowin Aki First Nations can benefit from advice on how to explore local economic opportunities like eco-cultural tourism or ways to protect culture heritage, such as land and language programs. 

Protection during a war 
Once declared, Pimachiowin Aki became protected under the Geneva convention against destruction during a war .

For the last two years, Bloodvein River First Nation, Poplar River First Nation, Pauingassi First Nation and Little Grand Rapids First Nation, along with two provincial parks, have added this extra layer of protection for the land and culture. “We’re still in the planning stage for the next steps regarding the Pimachiowin Aki World Heritage site status. We received the status and now we have to work harder,” Ed adds.  

The work that Ed mentions will be done by all of the First Nation communities, and will include protecting cultural and natural values with these guiding principles in mind: 

  • Continue to protect the site
  • Foster local economic growth
  • Safeguard Anishinaabe cultural heritage
  • Safeguard the boreal forest for the benefit of all humanity into the future

In the Ojibwe language Anishinaabemowin, Pimachiowin Aki means the Land that Gives Life. It is a gift from the Creator to share with the world. Anishinaabeg maintain this gift the way it was given to us. With World Heritage Site inscription, we are sharing the expansive boreal forest and all that it provides. In addition, we are sharing our history and inspiring teachings with the world.

See Pimachiowin Aki on the World Heritage List and view the UNESCO photo gallery: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1415/

UNESCO’s mission is to contribute to the building of a culture of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information.

Sources: https://en.unesco.org/about-us/introducing-unesco and discovercorps.com