Anishinaabe (Anishinabek Nation)
also known as "Anishinaabe"
Anishinaabe (Anishinabek Nation)
“The Anishinabek Nation established the Union of Ontario Indians (UOI) as its secretariat in 1949. The UOI was established because the Anishinabek Nation did not legally exist and a legal entity was required to enter into legally-binding agreements. The Anishinabek Nation is a political advocate for 39 member First Nations across Ontario. The Anishinabek Nation is the oldest political organization in Ontario and can trace its roots back to the Confederacy of Three Fires, which existed long before European contact.
“The Anishinabek Nation represents 39 First Nations throughout the province of Ontario from Golden Lake in the east, Sarnia in the south, Thunder Bay and Lake Nipigon in the north. The 39 First Nations have an approximate combined population of 65,000 citizens, one third of the province of Ontario’s First Nation population. The Anishinabek Nation has four strategic regional areas: Southwest, Southeast, Lake Huron and Northern Superior. Each region is represented by a Regional Deputy Grand Council Chief.”
There are over 630 First Nations communities in Canada, which represent more than 50 Nations and 50 Indigenous languages. As in the United States, the Canadian Constitution is the supreme law of Canada.
Section 35 of the Constitution Act of 1982 explicitly recognizes and affirms the existing Aboriginal and treaty rights of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada. Section 35 also indicates that the term “Aboriginal peoples of Canada” includes the First Nation, Inuit and Métis peoples of Canada.
Further, section 25 of the Constitution Act, 1982 protects the Aboriginal and treaty rights that are recognized in section 35 and ensures that no other provision of the Charter can take away or supersede those rights.