Thursday, April 7, 2011

IT Is The Chippewas Of Rama.

In 1996 the Chippewas of Rama Chief and Council changed the name Rama to Mnjikaning with out consulting the community. The whole matter of our name and who we are has created stress for many, particularly our Elders, who were not   consulted on this change.  We were known as the Ojibwes or Chippewas of Lake Simcoe and Huron. We came into this area in the 1700,s. Our Chief was William Yellowhead (Sr). known as Musquakie ( Mayawassino, Waisoindebay, who died in 1864 aged 95-100yrs. The elder Yellowhead maintaining his alliance to th British was wounded in the war of 1812 defending York (present day Toronto). Four years later at the desire of his father the son, also called William Yellowhead assumed the position of Chief of the Ojibwas of Lake Simcoe and Huron. In the early 1800,s while treaties were signed by Chiefs Yellowhead, Snake and Assance. Yellowheads,s people continued to move around and for a time there was a settlement on Chief Island then known as Yellowhead island. In 1830 the Chippewas of Lakes Simcoe and Huron under Chief Yellowhead, settled at the Narrows(present day Orillia while Chief Snake and his people went to Snake Island and Chief Assance took his people to Coldwater. Under pressure from the non- native government in 1836 surrender of the Narrows now named Orillia took place. With no land base,in 1838 Chief Yellowhead and his people combined their annuity money to purchase 1600 acres on th eastern shore of Lake Couchiching and moved there 1838-1839. The written record calls us the Chippewas of Lakes Simcoe and Huron, and we moved to the eastern shores of Lake Couchiching, present day Rama Reserve located within Rama Township, Simcoe County and Huronia. Our People the Chippewas of Rama worked hard to build a new community on land deemed uninhabitable by the settlers. Our churches, businesses, our sports teams are named after Rama our mail comes to Rama, Rama Road runs through our community.A community survey in2004 found that 151 respondents identified with Rama while 56 preferred Mnjikaning. In  October 2007 a petition with 244 signatures, supporting our name as  chippewas of Rama was submitted to Chief and Council. While Chief and Council could have changed back to Rama via a BCR they decided to have a referendum, on May 23 2008 . The Chippewas of Rama voted to  for the name acquired in th1800,s   by Irene Snache and Cheryle Snache
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6 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 8, 2011 at 5:29 PM

    If our name is Rama then why does the name Mnjikaning appear on our departmental forms? When an organization changes its name, all printed forms containing the former name are destroyed.

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  2. AnonymousApril 10, 2011 at 12:05 PM

    I dont know where they got the word Mnjikaning from. It was called Machickning long ago . this word was used when talking about the Chippewas of Rama or the Chippewas of Lake Simcoe and Huron. So history shows. This was there location.

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  3. AnonymousApril 10, 2011 at 9:03 PM

    What Rama needs is a Cultural Dept.

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  4. AnonymousMay 15, 2011 at 10:26 AM

    I have always felt resentment in that we do not have an Anishinaabemowin name for our nation. Having been named Rama because we settled in a township named by European who happened to have some connection to Spain is a dubious reason to keep the name for a Nation It smacks of colonial assimilation and acceptance of the status quo. While the name Mnjikaning has been flatly rejected, Rama can still hold a place name in our nation but the Territory should be an Ojibway name.

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  5. AnonymousMay 15, 2011 at 2:45 PM

    If any thing we should have kept our name chippewas of lake huron and simcoe, thas what we were called untill 1844.Mnjikaning is a made up nam which means nothing to the people of rama as we did nt use the fish weirs and are the work of the Hurons.

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  6. Tracey SnacheJanuary 10, 2012 at 9:54 AM

    I am pleased that the C&C bent to the people for once. We are the Chippewas of Rama, descendents of Chippewas of Lakes Simcoe and Huron. It only took a petition and fact. But the name change shouldnt have even happened in the first place. And, we do have a culture dept, and have had one for a number of years. I am not up-to-speed on their mandate but would assume their direction comes from C&C. And if lm wrong, someone should please share...

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