abstract
| - Mtigwaki, Ontario is a fictional First Nations reserve in the comic strip For Better or For Worse. The town, located in Northwestern Ontario, is home for a tribe of the Anishinabek Nation. The name, pronounced [m̩tɪɡwʌkɪ] (or approximately mm-tigwak-ih), means "Land of Trees" in the Ojibwa language. Elizabeth Patterson, one of the strip's main characters, lived and worked in Mtigwaki for two years while teaching elementary school. For the series of strips in Mtigwaki, strip creator Lynn Johnston received the Debwewin Citation for excellence in Aboriginal issues journalism from the Union of Ontario Indians. The community was created with Baloney & Bannock comic creator Perry McLeod-Shabogesic, of the N'biising Nation (Anishinabek Crane Clan). McLeod-Shabogesic collaborated with Johnston to create an authentic world for the characters to inhabit. His son, Falcon Skye McLeod-Shabogesic, created the Mtigwaki First Nation's logo, which is partially inspired by a dreamcatcher, and his wife Laurie assisted Johnston with the Ojibwa language and was written directly into the strip as a teaching colleague of Elizabeth's.
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