The Ojibway and Cree Cultural
Centre
Located in the administrative
centre of Timmins, Ontario, east
of the Missinaibi River, the Ojibway
and Cree Cultural Centre serves
50 native communities of the Nishnawbe-Aski
nation of northern Ontario. The
Centre serves a remote and far-flung
population of about 29,000 people,
providing Ojibway, Cree and Oji-Cree
resources, educational materials,
language and cultural workshops
and translation services, and
supporting cultural heritage and
cross-cultural awareness. |
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Remnants of a 15th century fish camp and an
Ojibway canoe-building site in the upper reaches
of the Missinaibi River, as well as one of
Ontario's most significant pictograph sites
on Missinaibi Lake, recall up to 2,000 years
of aboriginal habitation along the Missinaibi
river corridor. Iroquoian ceramics found in
archeological sites along the waterway reveal
that the Ojibway and Cree of the forest country
between the Great Lakes and Hudson Bay participated
in a sophisticated trading relationship with
First Nations far to the south. In some areas,
the overlap of the 2 First Nations resulted
in the development of a combined culture recognized
today as Oji-Cree.
Contemporary First Nations communities in
the Missinaibi-Moose River region include:
• Brunswick House First Nation - Duck
Lake Reserve and Mountbatten Reserve (Cree)
• Chapleau Cree First Nation - Chapleau
Reserves (Cree)
• Chapleau Ojibway
First Nation - Chapleau Reserves (Ojibway)
• Missanabi First Nation - Dog Lake (Cree)
• Moose Factory First Nation - Factory
Island Reserve, Moose Factory Reserve (Cree)
 Pictured
Waters: The Fairy Point Pictographs
Who painted the more than 100 pictographs
that cover the rock face of Fairy Point, at
the west end of Missinaibi Lake in Missinaibi
Lake Provincial Park? Was it an Ojibway shaman,
bobbing precariously in a birch bark canoe,
struggling to complete his work as crosswinds
sent 2-metre waves crashing against the granite
cliff?
Mishipizhiw:
Spirit of the Water
Among the pictographs at Fairy
Point, at the west end of Missinaibi
Lake, are spine-tingling portrayals
of Mishipizhiw (also known as
Mishipizheu or Gitche-anahmi-bezheu),
an animal Manitou associated with
the underwater realm, and sometimes
regarded as an evil spirit of
rapids and troubled waters.
In Cree and Ojibway cultures of
the region, Mishipizhiw, was both
feared and revered as a demi-god
of the water. Sometimes taking
the form of a menacing, snake-like
creature with sharp teeth, horns,
and "power lines" emanating
from its body, Mishipizhiw was
also pictured as fiercely feline
(the "Great Lynx", "great
underwater wildcat," "underwater
panther," or "fabulous
night panther"). Like other
Manitous, Mishipizhiw had the
power to shape-change into various
animal forms.
The Mishipizhiw Manitou is a dominant
theme in Cree-Ojibway spirituality,
and appears not only in pictographs,
but also in traditional stories
and legends. The Mishipizhiw water
spirit has been portrayed by noted
aboriginal artists such as Norval
Morrisseau.
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Signs in the Sun: The symbolic images
of canoes, fish, caribou and mythical figures
that cover a 35-metre-wide swath of rock
at Fairy Point are designed to be viewed
from the water. The paintings face the setting
sun, naturally illuminated each day just
before nightfall. They have been rendered
in a long-lasting red ochre paint, made
of a soft iron oxide blended with grease,
and protected from the elements by the vertical
profile of the cliff.
While the age of the Fairy Point pictographs
is not known, the name of the river on which
they are found suggests that they have existed
for at least 225 years. "Missinaibi"
is thought to be an English version of the
Cree word for "pictured waters."
When European traders first arrived at Missinaibi
Lake in 1777, the name was already in use.
Pictography was used by the Cree and Ojibwa
for both sacred and secular purposes, and
included inscriptions on birch bark scrolls,
personal totems carved on the trunks of
trees, images placed on gravemarkers, and
symbols carved or painted on rocks or boulders.
Some rock paintings are thought to have
recorded the dreams and visions of shamans.
Paddler Proclamations: Like the Fairy
Point pictographs, rock paintings throughout
Ontario are typically located on dramatic
cliffs towering over rugged shorelines,
accessible only to those who are afloat.
Similar sites can be found in Bon Echo Provincial
Park in eastern Ontario, Quetico Provincial
Park on the north shore of Lake Superior,
and at Agawa Rock in Lake Superior Provincial
Park near Wawa, Ontario.
Memegwaysiwuk:
The River Fairies
As you round the point at the
western end of Missinaibi Lake,
look carefully into the deep crevices
of the granite walls and picture
-at least for a moment - the hairy
faces of playful, prankish people
who emerge from their rocky refuge
to pilfer your supplies or rock
your canoe with wind and waves.
Your tiny tormentors are the Memegwaysiwuk,
the river fairies whose stone
canoes are painted on the wall
above you. Fairy Point, one of
Ontario's most significant pictograph
sites, is named for these mischievous
sprites. |
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