Oji-Cree Language - Island Lake, Manitoba

Island Lake, Manitoba

The Island Lake community in northern Manitoba consists of a series of adjacent settlements: Garden Hill, Red Sucker Lake, St. Theresa Point, and Wasagamack First Nation, referred to collectively as Island Lake.

As with Severn Ojibwa communities in northwestern Ontario, "According to Canadian Government sources (Canada, 1970), the Island Lake people speak "Cree" and they are in no way distinguished from the Cree of Oxford House, Gods Lake, or Norway House."

Island Lake speech has been described by residents and outsiders alike as containing features of Ojibwe and Cree. A dialect study conducted in the early 1970s concluded that "the speech of Island Lake is Ojibwa with an admixture of Cree." Available information indicates as well that Island Lake Ojibwe shares Severn features: "The dialect affiliation of Island Lake Ojibwa is with Severn Ojibwe. Consistent informant responses indicate almost complete intelligibility with Severn Ojibwa on the one hand, and reduced intelligibility with Berens River, Bloodvein, Little Grand Rapids, and Pikangikaum…"

A review of Island Lake family history indicates that approximately 50% of families listed in 1909 documents originated in the Deer Lake-Favourable Lake area and approximately 25% in the Sandy Lake-Big Trout Lake areas of northwestern Ontario. A complex migration history includes the return of a number of these migrants to their original communities with a subsequent migration of some back to Island Lake.