Historical Background
The Early Nbisiing:
Archaeological studies indicate that the Lake Nipissing and its environs have been occupied for at least 9,600 years. At the time of European contact at the beginning of the 17th century, the people called themselves Nipissing or NBisiing, after the lake that is located at the centre of their traditional territory. The word NBisiing means “little water” and is probably a comparison to the larger Great Lakes to the west and south. The present day Anishnabek people who live at Lake Nipissing are of Nipissing, Ojibway and Algonquin descent.
First Contact:
Dr. R.B. Orr in his report “The Nipissing, Coming of the White man”, 29th Archaeological Report quoted the primary source writings of Jean Recollet in the Jesuit Relations to describe the Nipissing people at first contact.
“Each man’s and woman’s liberty was absolute and inviolable. A Nipissing came as near as possible to Rousseau’s perfect and “ideal man.” He was untainted by civilization, did what he liked, and was moved only by natural impulses, and if, (according to the French deist, “L’homme qui relechiot est un animal deprave” – “the man who meditates is a brute”.) the Nipissing was not a free man and independent man, then there was no absolute freedom or independence on earth”.
To the descendents of the Nipissing, this description may only instil pride in their ancestors’ basic principle of personal freedom and independence. This principle is the corner stone of the present day Nipissing in their governance, as freedom and independence is as important today as it was in the past.
The Nbisiing Trader:
The Nipissing’s have been documented in various historical references as traders. Their commodities of trade being fish and furs harvested from their vast territory. The Nipissing traditional territory is approximately 100 miles by 250 miles in what is now the Province of Ontario. Nipissing trade activity predated the 17th century contact by Samuel de Champlain. Bruce G. Trigger and Gordon M. Day, in Chapter 4 of the book “Aboriginal Ontario” write that;
“Archaeological evidence exists of close relations between the Huron and the Nipissing dating back several centuries prior to European contact.”
Trigger and Day further relate that;
“Before 1612, Nipissing traders had begun to travel as far north as James Bay each summer, exchanging Huron corn and European goods for furs that ultimately made their way to the French Traders on the St. Lawrence.”
The pre-contact Nipissing trader controlled trade routes in four directions. They traded as far west with the Ojibway at Lake Nipigon. The trade route north to Hudson Bay allowed for trade with the Cree and in later years the English. The southern trade route into Huron Territory put them in contact with the Winnebagoe traders and other southern tribes. The eastern trade route allowed for trade through the Nipissing at the Two Mountains (Oka) with the tribes located as far east present day Quebec City and later with the French.
The Nipissing traded furs and fish for corn, nets, tobacco and other supplies. These trade routes formed a junction on Lake Nipissing. The importance of this junction and their command on the middle man monopoly on the trade became their downfall, beginning at the time of European contact.
The Nipissing first caught the attention of the French government in 1613. Day in the “Handbook for North American Indians, Vol 15, writes;
“Champlain first heard of the Nipissings at Montreal in 1613 and tried to visit them, but the Algonquins of Morrison’s Island refused to help him. They said the Nipissing’s were malevolent sorcerers, but their reason was probably their unwillingness to put the Nipissings in direct contact with the French Trade. He did visit them in 1615 and the following winter tried to get the Nipissings in Huronia to take him to the north sea where they traded, but they in turn put him off.”
The Nipissing also has the reputation of residing in an area rich in natural medicines. The use of these medicines and the spiritual ceremonies which surround the preparation of the medicines, was another contributing factor to the early accounts of the missionaries that reported the Nipissing’s predilection to “black magic”. Early French maps refer to Lake Nipissing as “The Lake of the Sorcerer’s”. The importance of such a description was an attempt at keeping trade alliances in tact.
The French missionaries were sent into the Nipissing territory by Champlain. They were the first to historically document the Nipissing lifestyle. The missionaries recorded that they had some Nipissing’s wintering in Huronia. The Nipissing people’s spiritual nature easily drew them to convert to the Catholicism offered by the missionaries. The Mission of the Holy Ghost was established on the shores of Nipissing in 1615. The missionaries not only recorded the Nipissing lifestyle, but reported the vast trade and wealth of the Nipissing. Champlain shared his observations during a visit to the Nipissing in 1615.
“During the time I was with them, the Chief of these people and others of the elders treated us to several feasts, as is their custom, and took the trouble to go fishing and hunting in order to entertain us as kindly as possible. These people numbered at least seven or eight hundred souls, living continually on the lake, where there are a great number of very pleasant islands, and among others one of which is more than six leagues long and has three or four fine ponds, a number of beautiful meadows, with very beautiful woods surrounding them, and where there is an abundance of game which resort to these small ponds where the Natives catch fish. The north side of this lake is very pleasant as there are fine grasslands for pasturing cattle and several small streams which flow into the lake….This lake (Lake Nipissing) is some eight leagues across and twenty-five long, and into it flows a river from the northwest up which they go to barter the goods we give them in return for their furs with those who live up there….”The French Regimein the Upper Country, Jaenen, (Sieur de Champlain, Voyages et Descovvertures faites en la Nouvelle France, depuis l’annee 1615 jusques a la fin de l’annee 1618 (Paris: Claude Collet, M DC XIX), pp. 17-35v.)
Champlain saw the riches of the Nipissing’s’ central position on Lake Nipissing and the vast territory. Of the lake he noted the beauty and abundance of game. Reports such as this put more emphasis on exploration and heightened awareness of potential resource, wildlife and land exploration.
Direct trade between the Nipissing and French and the Nipissing’s’ ideal location at the junction of the trade routes at Lake Nipissing meant that the eastern Nations became less involved with trade in the area. This direct French contact put the Huron and then the Nipissing at odds with the Iroquois. In 1630 the Iroquois began their assault into Huron territory. The fall of the Huron territory allowed for the Iroquoian assault into the Nipissing’s territory. In 1647, after brutal conflicts with the Iroquois, the Nipissing were pushed westward into the Lake Nipigon area. The Nipissing trader did not give up on their trade routes. Historical records of that period tell of the Nipissing running the guantlet into the eastern territory from their north western refuge to ensure their trade routes survived. Reports of ambushes and betrayal by the parties coveting the trade routes are numerous.
The Nipissing were historically documented to have returned to the Lake in the late 17th century. The handbook of North American Indians, Nipissing, Gordon Day p. 789 relates the following:
“Following the French-Iroquois peace of 1667, many Nipissings returned to their old country and became more prominent in the colony records. The Sulpician Father Dollier de Casson spent the winter of 1668-1669 with them, probably in their own country; there were Nipissings present at the installation of the new chief at Sillery in 1669; and in 1670 meetings between Nipissings and Iroquois were peaceable. Father Louis Andre spent the winter of 1670-1671 with them in Nipissing country, and Father Henri Nouvel visited them two winters later; however, the Nipissings were still a dispersed people.”
The Nipissing were a prosperous people into the early 1800’s. This prosperity came to an end with the ever increasing number of competing European fur trappers who gradually took over the fur trade. This takeover ultimately resulted in the lucrative and once bountiful territory being over burdened and over harvested.
In 1850, the Nipissing became signatores of the Robinson Huron Treaty. Chief Shabokeshick and his Head Men, Penassy and O’jeek were recorded in that Treaty as the Chief and the Principal men of their Nation. The Treaty was signed to preserve their way of life and command the northern shore of Lake Nipissing and its main waterways.