Cross Lake First Nation

Located in north central Manitoba, about 520 kilometers or 323 miles north of Winnipeg, Manitoba, and 120 kilometers or 74 miles south of Thompson, Manitoba, is the Anishinabe cross lake first nation which is also known as the Pimichikamak First Nation. In history, the Anishinabek possibly first settled in this region of central Manitoba between the 1860s or 1880s, under the guidance of ogima (chief) Kinistin. But it may have occurred much earlier. Ogima Kinistin probably first had to request from the Chippewan (Chipewyan) people for their permission for the Anishinabek to live on their land, or he had his soldiers force their way in. The Chippewan (Chipewyan) are really Anishinabek who absorbed a great many non Algonquian Indians amongst them. Or the Anishinabek forced their way in to this part of Manitoba sometime during the 18th century to control the invading Freemasons who were, of course, the English and French. The whites armed the Athabascans and Dakotas with their guns and ammunition but it only temporarily delayed the Anishinabe conquest. Anyway, a large group of Anishinabek did enter this region of central Manitoba and adjacent Saskatchewan to live, in the decades between the 1860s and 1880s, or much earlier as stated. Total area covered by this First Nation which has 11 reserves, is at least 2,037 total hectares or 5,034 total acres. Total population is 6,969, with most (4,953) living on the Reserve, while the rest live off reserve.