View source for Alderville First Nation

{{short description|Band of indigenous people in Canada}}
[[Image:Alderville First Nation Band Office.jpg|thumb|Alderville First Nation Band Office]]

'''Alderville First Nation''' is a band of [[Mississaugas]], a sub-nation of the [[Ojibwe|Ojibway]]s. The '''[[Alderville, Ontario|Alderville]]''' and '''[[Sugar Island 37A, Ontario|Sugar Island 37A]]''' [[Indian reserve|reserve]]s belong to that [[First Nations in Canada|First Nation]] [[band government]].

==First Nation==
The Alderville First Nation is an [[Anishinaabe]] [[First Nations in Canada|First Nation]] located in southern [[Ontario]], Canada. As of December 2017, Alderville First Nation had 1,162 registered band members, of which their on-Reserve population was only 323 people, meaning the majority of their registered population live outside the reserve (off-reserve) in neighbouring communities.<ref>[https://fnp-ppn.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/FNP/Main/Search/FNRegPopulation.aspx?BAND_NUMBER=160&lang=eng Registered Population]. ''First Nation Profiles''. Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.</ref>

===Governance===
The community is governed by an elected Chief and Council and maintains political affiliations with the [[Ogemawahj Tribal Council]], a non-political Regional Chiefs' Council, and the [[Anishinabek Nation]] political organization.

==Indigenous reserve==
The reserve comprises two areas. The main reserve, the [[Alderville, Ontario|Alderville First Nation]] (formerly designated as Alderville Indian Reserve 37 by [[Indian and Northern Affairs Canada]]), is located near the south shores of [[Rice Lake (Ontario)|Rice Lake]] in Ontario (<small>{{coord|44|11|N|78|04|W|display=inline|region:CA-ON}}</small>). It consists of six non-contiguous areas within the [[Alnwick/Haldimand, Ontario|Alnwick/Haldimand Township]] approximately {{convert|30|km|mi}} north of [[Cobourg, Ontario|Cobourg]], and occupies a total area of {{convert|1199.8|ha|acre}}. They also maintain a smaller parcel of land on nearby Sugar Island, the {{convert|40.5|ha|acre}} [[Sugar Island 37A, Ontario|Sugar Island 37A Indian Reserve]] (<small>{{coord|44|13|N|78|8.25|W|display=inline|region:CA-ON}}</small>).<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20051228155126/http://pse2-esd2.ainc-inac.gc.ca/FNProfiles/FNProfiles_DETAILSRE.asp?RESERVE_NUMBER=06211 Reserve Detail]. ''First Nation Profiles''. Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.</ref>  It has been home to the Mississauga division of the [[Anishinaabe]] (Ojibwa) Nation since the mid-1830s.<ref name="History">[http://alderville.ca/alderville-first-nation/history/ General History]. Alderville First Nation.</ref>

== History ==
For centuries until the early 19th century, the ancestors of the people who would found Alderville First Nation had lived in their traditional lands around the [[Bay of Quinte]] - located approximately {{convert|90|km|mi}} east of the Nation's current location.

With the influx of refugee settlements following the [[American Revolution]], the community found itself under increased pressure.<ref name="History" /> Having lost its American colonies, the British relocated the soldiers and civilians loyal to the crown (also known as the [[United Empire Loyalists]]) around the Bay of Quinte area. A swath of land between Belleville and [[Brockville]] was purchased from the Mississaugas in the 1783 [[Crawford Purchase]], and the land around the Bay of Quinte was given specifically to the Mohawks under the leadership of [[John Deserontyon Odeserundiye|Chief John Deserontyon]], who had been dispossessed of their traditional territory in modern-day [[New York (state)|New York State]]. This group of Mohawks came to be the [[Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation]] on what is now known as the [[Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory]].

The Mississaugas of the area lived alongside the Mohawks and other [[Haudenosaunee]] for the first few decades after the latter's canoes made landfall. In the 1820s, many people in the community converted to [[Methodism]], and in the case of the two or three hundred Mississaugas who converted, this led them to settle on the small Grape Island, located off Gravelly Point in [[Prince Edward County, Ontario|Prince Edward County]].<ref name="History" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrymUCtIP8E |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/HrymUCtIP8E |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=The Path of Traditional Chiefs - Part 1|date=January 7, 2019|last=Rae|first=Trish|type=Recorded lecture|publisher=Tsi Tyónnheht Onkwawén:na|orig-year=Recorded 2018|access-date=June 30, 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

==Cannabis industry==

Alderville Reserve is home to "The Green Mile", a concentration of cannabis dispensaries that are sometimes described as a [[grey market]], neither subject to nor operating by provincial dispensary laws.<ref>Austen, Ian [https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/01/23/world/2-years-after-legalizing-cannabis-has-canada-kept-its-promises/ "2 years after legalizing cannabis, has Canada kept its promises?" '''Boston Globe'''] (Jan. 23, 2021)</ref>

== Albert Smoke ==
[[Albert Smoke]] (1894–1944) was a long-distance runner who competed at the [[1920 Summer Olympics]] and placed third at the 1922 [[Boston Marathon]].<ref>[https://parks.canada.ca/pn-np/on/rouge/culture/autochtone-indigenous/athlete Profile from Parks Canada]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.alderville.ca Alderville First Nation]
*[https://fnp-ppn.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/fnp/Main/Search/FNMain.aspx?BAND_NUMBER=160&lang=eng Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada profile]
*{{Cite news
| last = Valerie MacDonald
| title = Alderville First Nations to learn native language
| work = Northumberland Today
| accessdate = 2012-08-08
| date = 2012-02-23
| url = http://www.northumberlandtoday.com/2012/02/23/alderville-first-nations-to-learn-native-language
}}

{{Ogemawahj Tribal Council}}
{{Anishnabek Nation}}
{{Northumberland County, Ontario}}
{{Peterborough County}}
{{Anishinaabe}}

[[Category:Mississaugas]]