Mississauga First Nation

Mississauga First Nation, also spelt Mississaugi, is one of the six First Nations that make up the Mississauga Nations. It is located directly west of Blind River, Ontario, Canada, on the Mississagi River 8 Reserve.^[6]

Mississauga First Nation
Band No. 200
Misswezahging

People	Ojibwe
Treaty	Robinson Huron
Headquarters	P.O. Box 1299, Blind River
Province	Ontario
Land[1]
Main reserve	Mississagi River 8
Land area	160.75 km2
Population (2024)[2]
On reserve	389
On other land	5
Off reserve	1117
Total population	1511
Government[3]
Chief	Brent Niganobe
Council	Denise Boyer-Payette Jubilant Sky Cada Crystal Dawn Chiblow Chance Counsell Gloria Daybutch Kenneth Macleod Laura Mayer Peyton Pitawanakwat Nancy Whitehead
Tribal Council[4]
Anishinabek Nation Mamaweswen, The North Shore Tribal Council
Website
https://www.mississaugi.com/

Mississagi River 8 Misswezahging
Indian reserve
Mississagi River Indian Reserve No. 8
Mississagi River 8
Coordinates: 46°13′N 83°00′W
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
District	Algoma
First Nation	Mississauga
Area [5]
• Land	18.41 km2 (7.11 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[5]
• Total	390
• Density	21.2/km2 (55/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC-5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
Website	www.mississaugi.com

Name

The word Mississauga is an anglicized version of the Ojibwe word Misswezaagiing, which means ‘a river with many outlets.’ This name comes from the Mississagi River, which is a bird-foot delta, a haven for fish and waterfowl and is currently a jointly managed Provincial Park.

The people of Mississaugi have resided there since time immemorial.

The sign for the Mississauga First Nation on Ontario Highway 17

Governance

The Mississauga First Nation created a Land Code in 2019 governing land use in the community. In 2015, it also adopted the Misswezahging Constitution, which noted that the community had the "inherent right given by the Creator to enact laws necessary in order to protect and preserve Anishinaabe culture, to protect our lands, our language, customs, traditions and practices." Later, in 2019, a Community Protection Law was passed.^[7]

In October 2024, the Mississauga First Nation became the first First Nations in Canada to successfully prosecute someone based on its own legal code. A court in Elliot Lake accepted a guilty plea from an individual for trespassing and failing to comply with an order to leave the community. Police had refused to prosecute using the community's legal code, so a lawyer was hired using funds from a government pilot project for private prosecution of Indigenous communities' legal codes.^[7]

Notable members

• Cecil Youngfox (1942–1987), artist

References

1. "Mississauga First Nation - First Nation Detail". Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
2. "Mississauga First Nation - First Nation Detail". Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
3. "Mississauga First Nation - First Nation Detail". Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
4. "Mississauga First Nation - First Nation Detail". Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
5. "Mississagi River 8 census profile". 2011 Census of Population. Statistics Canada. 8 February 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
6. "Mississisauga 8", First Nation, Canada Archived July 22, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
7. Jackson, Kenneth (October 30, 2024). "Trespassing conviction makes history for First Nation law in Ontario". Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. Retrieved October 31, 2024.

External links

• Media related to Mississauga First Nation at Wikimedia Commons
• The Smoke Signal, Mississaugi First Nation News
• "Mississisauga", Indian and Northern Affairs Canada