Opaskweyak First Nation

Located in the western part of central Manitoba, about 510 kilometers or 317 miles northwest of Winnipeg, Manitoba, and 294 kilometers or 183 miles southwest of Thompson, Manitoba, is the Anishinabe opaskweyak 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. 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. Total area covered by this First Nation is 5,925 hectares or 14,641 total acres. Total population is 2,944, with most living on the Reserve and the adjacent city of The Pas, Manitoba.