When I first heard about a newly incorporated Indigenous reserve called the Kawartha First Nation, this was eyebrow-raising news to be sure.

Here’s the skinny: the Kawartha First Nation supposedly encompasses 15,000 square kilometres of land and bodies of water.

That’s about the size of Georgian Bay.

And part of that land mass incorporates large portions of the Greater Toronto Area, including cities such as Pickering, Ajax, Whitby, Oshawa, Bowmanville, Clarington and East Gwillimbury.

Such a swath of land is surely worth trillions of dollars.

The leader of the Kawartha First Nation is 66-year-old Bill Denby. He is a resident of the City of Kawartha Lakes. But he now goes by the name Chief Lone Wolf. He claims his First Nation has some 1,200 members.

That’s all well and good… except that as it turns out, numerous sources are adamant that the Kawartha First Nation is not legitimate. And that the people behind this initiative aren’t even Indigenous. Rather, they have been labeled as “Pretendians”, a la U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren. Although in the defence of Pocahontas, at least she’s not claiming to lord over 15,000 square kilometres of U.S. territory.

By way of background, I first met Bill Denby, a.k.a., Chief Lone Wolf, some five years ago in Bobcaygeon when I was doing a COVID-related story. I found Bill to be a friendly, jovial character. However, some will tell you he has a dark side, which does percolate to the surface when he writes emails to those people he disagrees with – think block capitals, excess punctuation marks, and in some cases, the suggestion of physical violence.

Regardless, Bill wasn’t a chief of anything back in 2020 and he never spoke of this land mass called the Kawartha First Nation.

But in recent years, Bill says he discovered his Indigenous ancestry due to exhaustive research, typically historical documents and maps. This led Bill to adopt his new moniker of Chief Lone Wolf and to map out the immense territory of the Kawartha First Nation.

As he fights for recognition – which is no mean feat – Bill also runs a business called Treasure Island Casino in the City of Kawartha Lakes. This Treasure Island casino should not be confused with the one in Las Vegas given its location and the fact that wagering is confined to all-terrain vehicle races that take place on the property. Not sure that’s legal, but again, Bill will tell you that he is a First Nation caretaker, so anything goes on sovereign land I guess.

Bill’s Treasure Island also serves as the world headquarters of the Kawartha First Nation. And this patch of real estate makes for a somewhat surreal sight. There’s a large teepee on the property, along with a couple of purple and white flags that display the image of a wolf head. This is apparently the official flag of the Kawartha First Nation.

Also on the property are no fewer than eight Confederate flags flapping in the wind, some bearing the slogan, “The South Will Rise Again.”

Bill told me that along with ATVs, he also sells flags. And he told me the Confederate flag is his top seller. As well, he noted that most of the purchasers of the Confederate flag are black people. This struck me as very odd indeed given what black people had to endure in the Southern Confederacy back in the day. But I digress…

Still, Bill is adamant that the Kawartha First Nation is recognized by the federal government. Proving this claim is another story. Indeed, when I asked for verification of official government recognition, Bill sent me a press release he crafted. It is dated December 13, 2024 and entitled, “Kawartha First Nation Reclaims Land after Acknowledgment by Government of Canada.”

Here's the opening paragraph of that press release:

“The Honourable Gary Anandasngaree, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Canada (now Attorney General of Canada), officially acknowledged that the Kawartha First Nation (KFN) is now recognized as a sovereign nation within Canada. This milestone was achieved with the support of the Alliance of Indigenous Nations, of which KFN is the 62nd member. KFN is protected under AIN Treaty, its international tribunals, and international law, which recognize the right of Indigenous sovereign nations to establish their own justice systems.”

But when I pressed Bill for actual documentation from the former Indigenous Affairs Minister stating this very fact, no such evidence was forthcoming.

As well, I could find nothing on the federal government’s website verifying any of the claims in Bill’s press release, most notable of which is that the Kawartha First Nation is recognized as a sovereign nation within Canada. For the record, Bill also asserts that Quebec is a sovereign nation… which makes me ponder why la belle province had two referendums on separation in 1980 and 1995, but never mind…

However, what I did find was a smattering of local media stories debunking Bill’s claims. And get this: the UK’s Guardian newspaper found this tale so compelling that the paper dispatched a reporter to Canada last year. That story did not go well for Bill Denby. The Guardian could not find a single scintilla of evidence that Bill is Indigenous or that the Kawartha First Nation is bona fide. Nor could the Guardian find formal recognition of the Kawartha First Nation by any level of government or any verified Indigenous organization.

So it was that cameraman Lincoln Jay and I made the road trip to the City of Kawartha Lakes some 90 minutes north of Toronto. We wanted to see for ourselves if the Kawartha First Nation was real. And naturally we wanted to get Bill Denby’s side of the story.

I should note that prior to our visit, a spokeswoman for the City of Kawartha Lakes, Cheri Davidson, provided me with the following statement:

“It is vital to clarify that the term ‘First Nations’… does not include the group who refer to themselves as ‘Kawartha Lakes First Nation’ or the ‘Assembly of Kawartha First Nation’. The City of Kawartha Lakes does not acknowledge this group as a First Nation or as an Aboriginal people. They have not been recognized as a First Nation by the federal government, nor has this group been identified as a collective whose identity as Aboriginal people and Constitutional rights-holders have been affirmed by the courts. This group also lacks any connection to a historical Indigenous community in Kawartha Lakes. Acknowledging entities that falsely claim Indigenous status undermines the process of reconciliation and does a disservice to legitimate rights holders. City of Kawartha Lakes is actively involved in ongoing consultations and engagement with Aboriginal and treaty right holders in the region, including the Williams Treaties First Nations.”

I should also note that when I had phone conversations with Bill Denby prior to our face-to-face interview, I continually asked him for proof of his lofty claims. At the very least, I was hoping to receive a copy of a letter from the Ministry of Indigenous Affairs confirming that the federal government does indeed recognize the Kawartha First Nation. No such evidence was ever provided, and I have doubts that it even exists.

I also discovered that what Bill Denby reckons to be proof of his claims would certainly not meet the benchmark for proof in any court of law that I am familiar with.

For the record, I also received many emails from Bill which, frankly, made me question his credibility. Check out this excerpt from an email sent to me on May 30th:

“NO CONTACT FROM THE RCMP, LOOKS LIKE THEY ARE JUST AS CORRUPT AS ALL THE REST OF THE POLICE FORCES IN CHINADA! I AM GOING TO CALL MY 3rd COUSIN PRESIDENT DONALD J TRUMP TO ASK HIME TO HAVE THE USA MILITARY ON STAND BY AT THE BASE @ WATER TOWN , NEW YORK IF WE NEED THEM TO COME IN TO PROTECT US FROM ALL THESE UNHINGED SICK EVIL PEOPLE INSIDE CITY HALL [and the], LINDSAY COURT HOUSE.” 

I found this email to be downright astonishing. Apparently, Bill Denby/Chief Lone Wolf of the Kawartha First Nation is somehow related to U.S. President Trump?

Naturally, no proof of this jaw-dropper was provided.

But even if Donald Trump and Bill Denby are somehow related, it’s staggering that Bill seems to believe that President Trump would essentially commit an act of war by dispatching the U.S. military into Ontario to help Bill settle some sort of score he has with the City of Kawartha Lakes. For some reason I don’t think this issue is on Trump’s front burner right now…

Still, there’s always two sides to every story. And so it was that we interviewed Bill Denby, a.k.a., Chief Lone Wolf. You be the judge: is Bill Denby on solid ground when he claims to be Indigenous and the Chief of the Kawartha First Nation? Or is there something else at play here?

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