Recording the Rich First Nations Heritage
by Scott Stephenson for the Sarnia Observer
(2003) European settlers documented their important events, but native communities have traditionally relied on elders to pass down an oral history of the culture to younger generations. Concerned that the early history of the Chippewa communities is being lost, the Aamjiwnaang First Nation in Sarnia has launched a new effort to document its history.
“There’s probably less than five (people) that would be able to come up with their own documentation, and that’s really not enough,” said band member Wilson Plain. Putting important information down on paper will help create a data base that educators and others will draw on for historically accurate information, said Plain, who notes the project is in its infancy. Date-sensitive information is being compiled using documentation contained in federal and provincial government archives, and various other sources.
“It’s the first time we are relating our history with the documentation,” Plain said.
The first European settlers didn’t arrive on the banks of the St. Clair River until around 1800, half a century before The Observer began publishing. To satisfy a need for land for new settlers, the Crown acquired much of Lambton from its native owners in three sections beginning in 1796 when it obtained Sombra in a land sale of about 46,000 acres. The land purchased lay along the St. Clair River north of Wallaceburg. The cost of 800 pounds sterling was paid in goods: 872 blankets, 2,304 tobacco pipes, 960 fish hooks, about 1,200 yards of cloth, 21 pounds of thread, 80 ivory combs and 100 combs made of horn.
A portion of south Lambton, 580,000 acres located north of the Thames River in Brooke-Alvinston, Enniskillen and Warwick Township, was purchased in 1822 for two pounds, 10 shillings to each man, woman and child.
In 1827, the Crown purchased the remaining 2,200,000 acres of land, including the rest of Lambton and all of Perth and parts of Waterloo, Wellington and Oxford counties for an annual payment in goods. Chief Joshua Wawanosh retained four reserves for the exclusive use of his people. Walpole Island, which was settled by natives who fought on the British side during the American Revolution, remained unceded territory.