Pimicikamak

Pimicikamak /pɪmᵻˈtʃɪkəmæk/ is the name of one of the Cree-speaking aboriginal peoples of Canada. Pimicikamak is "a people of rivers and lakes. The traditional territory of Pimicikamak is around Sipiwesk Lake in the heart of the boreal forest, five hundred kilometres north of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Flowing through their land is Kichi Sipi, the Great River." Pimicikamak's traditional territory also is known as Pimicikamak.

Pimicikamak is related to but appears to be culturally and linguistically distinct from neighboring Swampy Cree and Rock or Rocky Cree peoples of the boreal forest. There is less than complete consensus about these and other such anthropological definitions that may have been confused by changing fashions in colonial naming. The existence of distinct peoples in Canada, though constitutionally entrenched, is controversial by reason of perceived implications for Quebec separatism. The identities and roles of aboriginal peoples in Canada continue to be clarified.

Etymologically, pimicikamāk and related terms were understood as connoting "flowing across". This is widely presumed to be the origin of the name of Cross Lake in Pimicikamak territory. "Pimicikamak" is the collective singular name for the whole people and also the collective name for its traditional territory. Grouped as part of the closely related Rocky Cree, Pimicikamak refer to themselves as Nahathaway (nīhithawī) (those who speak our language) or ithiniwi (real people); they called themselves "Cree" only when speaking English or French.Canada's history of suppressing indigenous languages, including aboriginal peoples' use of their own names such as "Pimicikamak", was controversial until 2008, when Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper publicly acknowledged and apologized for this policy. The name "Pimicikamak" appears to have entered into English-language usage by Cree-speakers in the 1990s. "The Pimicikamak Cree Nation" is a and imprecise description of Pimicikamak, not a name. It is also known in English as "the Cross Lake Band", a description that may be confused with the Cross Lake Band of Indians (now known as the "Cross Lake First Nation").

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