OUR territory

The Kenogami Watershed, also referred to as the artic watershed, flows north of Kenogami Lake. Onward it passes through hwy 11 and drains into the Hudson Bay. The majority of this watershed the people of Constance Lake First Nation had made their territory for many years. Constance Lake First Nation members had gathered in an area called Mamawmatawa (where four rivers meet), also known as the English River Reserve to which Constance Lake First Nation had attained later in 1970.

Within in the watershed there is an abundance of lakes, rivers and creeks throughout the area with large stands of birch, poplar, jack pine, white and black spruce, tamarack and cedar, which continue to play a vital role in the daily lives of community members as part of their historical connection to their traditional land.

Our ancestors inhabited the Kenogami, Kabinakagami, Nagagami, Pagwachuan, Wakashi, Awagakama, Squirrel, Fox, Pitukupi, Little Ash, Big Ash, Little Current, Drowning, Ridge, Oba, Missinanabie, Albany and Shekak river systems and Pledger, Pitukupi, Constance, Trilsbeck, Serinack, Martison, Ridge, Melanson, Fushimi, Fox, Bannerman, Luhta (Medicine Creek) lake systems since time immemorial, as told by Elders in the late eighteen hundred, and nineteen hundred.

A long line of hunters, fishers, medicine healers and leaders have acquired a long set of skills and talents. In such instances, the protection and preservation of cultural heritage is well preserved and highly valued. On these lands our departments have identified sensitives areas through Indigenous Traditional Knowledge research. These features include burial sites, historical camp and hunting sites, settlement locations, culturally modified trees, just to name a few. These features testify to longstanding occupation by First Nations people, which is further confirmed through archaeological records.

CONSTANCE LAKE FIRST NATION MAP