Kitigan Zibi is the largest and oldest Algonquin reserve in Canada. This local history sheds light on the larger experience of the Algonquin First Nations whose traditional lands span the Ottawa River watershed and cross contemporary boundaries. Drawing on archival sources and interviews with community members, Resistance and Recognition at Kitigan Zibi explores the relationship between culture and politics on the reserve during the twentieth century. Despite the disruptions associated with settler colonialism, the Algonquin maintained a distinct cultural identity and waged a multifaceted struggle against assimilation and economic marginalization. Modern First Nations political activism in eastern Canada reaches back to First World War, when veterans and local leaders were among the first to articulate the language of Indigenous rights we know today. That struggle has played out in political spaces including border-crossing celebrations, grand councils, and courtrooms, and informed strategic labour choices, interactions with provincial game wardens, and protests against the Catholic Church. Resistance and Recognition at Kitigan Zibi convincingly demonstrates that the contest for recognition of treaty rights and traditional lands has been longer, broader, and deeper than previously understood.