07/10/2023
Chippewas Of The Thames First Nation No.42 (Ojibwe: Deshkaan-ziibing Aniishinaabeg) is an Anishinaabe (Ojibway) First Nations band government located 24 kilometers (15 mi) west of St. Thomas, in southwest Ontario, Canada. Their land base is the 3,652.60 hectares (9,025.8 acres) Chippewas of the Thames First Nation 42 reserve, which almost entirely surrounds the separate reserve of Munsee-Delaware 1. As of January 2014, their registered population is 2,738 people with 957 living on reserve.
TERRITORY
According to Chippewas of the Thames consultation protocol called "Wiindmaagewin", its traditional/ancestral lands, "Traditional Anishinaabe territory in southwestern Ontario north of the Thames River includes the 2.78 million acres marked on treaty maps concerning the Longwoods (1822) and Huron (1827) tracts. In addition, south of the Thames River, the traditional territory also includes the lands addressed in the McKee Treaty (1790), the London Township Treaty (1796), and the Sombra Township Treay (1796). Deshkan Ziibiing is a party with other Anishinaabe nations to several of these treaties but is the sole Anishinaabe party to the Longwoods Treaty.
As recognized in these treaties, the ancestral lands of Deshkan Ziibiing thus include all the lands and waters between Lake Huron to the north and Lake Erie to the south and stretching eastward from the eastern banks of St. Clair and Detroit rivers to the Mississaugas of New Credit 1792 Treaty lands, a line running northwards from Point Bruce on the Erie shore, to Point Clark on the Huron shore. In addition, Deshkan Ziibiing's territory extended into what are now the American states of Michigan and Ohio. Historically, we [Anishinaabek] managed portions of our territory in common with other Anishinaabe nations, and at times in partnership with the Haudenosaunee. Nevertheless, the lands bordering the northern bank of the Thames River have been solely in the stewardship and possession of Deshkan Ziiibiing since before the treaty era."
Chippewas of the Thames First Nation Treaties, Lands and Environment Department has a Treaty Research Unit responsible for researching Chippewas of the Thames' history. All treaties, the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation are signatory to, are pre-Confederation treaties. That is to say, they were negotiated and signed before Canada's Confederation in 1867. While Canada's government structure has changed significantly from the early days of British colonialism to the present, a continuous political tradition can be identified. This tradition is commonly represented through the British Monarch and their representatives often referred to as the Crown. Land claims research indicates the Crown representatives did not always properly uphold their treaty obligations. It is therefore the job of researchers to provide the historical information required to take legal action against the Crown.
Chippewa members can train to be Archaeology Field Liaison or Archaeology Monitors. The monitors learn to identify features, remains, types of chert and the tools previously used by ancestors of Chippewas of the Thames people, as well as various methods for testing and excavating archaeology sites. This training is provided by the Ontario Archaeology Society. Archaeology assessments are mandatory for developers, municipalities, and other entities wanting to develop
HISTORY
In 1763, Chief Seckas of the Thames River brought 170 warriors to the siege of Detroit during Pontiac's uprising. The reserve was established in 1819, as part of a treaty by which the Chippewas of the Thames agreed to share 552,000 acres (2,234 km2) of land with the British for an annuity of £600 and the establishment of two reserves, of which reserve no. 42 is larger. In 1840 the Chippewas reached an agreement with the Munsee-Delaware Nation to allow the Munsee to live on 1 square mile near the Thames River. The Munsee portion of the reserve became part of the new Munsee-Delaware Nation No. 1 reserve in 1967.
Aboriginal Rights, Treaty Rights, and Title Rights at Chippewas of the Thames
Assertion Activities (Implementation)
DUTY TO CONSULT AND ACCOMMODATE
ISSUE: Crown did not consult the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation as per its obligations under Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution. Instead, the National Energy Board which is a delegated authority acting as a tribunal made a decision that ignored or is contrary to the Crown's constitutional obligations to Aboriginal Peoples to consult and accommodate Aboriginal Peoples. The decision was taken to the Supreme Court of Canada and heard on November 30, 2016.
CONTEXT: Chippewas of the Thames First Nation is the single signatory to the Longwoods Treaty which includes title to the lands and waterbed of Deshkan Ziibi (Thames River). The NEB authorized Enbridge Pipelines Inc. to reverse the flow of a section of pipeline between North Westover, Ontario, and Montreal, Quebec: and, to expand the annual capacity of Line 9; and, to allow heavy crude to be shipped on Line 9 and did not "express an opinion as to whether the Crown had a duty to consult or accommodate in respect of the Proposed Project or, more importantly, whether the Crown had fulfilled its duty to consult"[4] given the potential harm the decision could have on the overall health of the river. The pipeline crosses the river within the Longwoods Treaty Territory.
TIMELINE: 2017-July-26: Appeal dismissed by SCC, stating, "A majority of the Federal Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding that, in the absence of the Crown as a participant in the original application, the NEB was not required to determine whether the Crown was under a duty to consult, and if so, whether the duty had been discharged. Nor was there any delegation by the Crown to the NEB of any power to undertake the fulfillment of any such duty. In dissent, Rennie J.A. would have allowed the appeal, concluding that the NEB was required to undertake a consultation analysis as a precondition to approving Enbridge's application."After the Chippewas of the Thames community filed suit against Enbridge to stop its controversial pipeline through Chippewas land, in July 2017, the Supreme Court of Canada ordered the community of 3,000 to pay Enbridge's legal costs.
2015-October-20: Federal Court of Appeal upheld the National Energy Board's decision to allow Enbridge Inc. to modify its Line 9B pipeline.
ENVIRONMENT
Chippewas of the Thames First Nation is part of the Thames River watershed. Dawson Creek, Hogg Creek, and Big Bear Creek are three of many creeks running into the Thames River through the community.
Chippewas of the Thames First Nation Environment Unit conducts Benthic sampling at 17 locations within the community. Benthic sampling measures the organisms (bugs) that live in the sediment in the top layer of the riverbed (also called the Benthic Zone) as an indicator of water quality. Chippewa uses the same collection protocols used at the Upper and Lower Thames Conservation Authorities which are a 3-minute 'Kick and Sweep' method, bugs preserved in 95% ethanol, and samples taken to the lab for identifications. The amount and type of bugs found, indicate the water quality based on the Family Biotic Index (FBI). The FBI reflects the bugs varying tolerance to water pollution. The average Benthic Water Quality Rating for Chippewas of the Thames First Nation is 5.66, this rates Chippewa's average water quality as 'Fair'.
Chippewa of the Thames First Nation has had a recycling program in place for many years. It has grown from a drop-off location to a weekly curbside recycling pick-up program. In the May 2019 Treaties, Lands & Environment Department BiAnnual Newsletter May 2019, it was reported that 97 cubic yards of landfill space were avoided, 506,110 liters of water saved, 451 trees saved and 36,268 pounds of air pollutants were avoided.
Through ongoing relationship building with the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority (LTVCA), free parking permits to the LTVCA public conservation areas were granted to Chippewas of the Thames First Nation band members as of April 1, 2019.
