The Oji-Cree people are descended from historical intermarriage between the Ojibwa and Cree cultures, but constitute a distinct nation.

Oji-Cree at Round Lake First Nation were known as Ajijaakoons (little cranes), due to their chief's name, Ajijaak.

In 2024, 22 different First Nations governments from both Manitoba and Ontario officially adopted the name Anisininew to replace the term "Oji-Cree."

In their declaration, they likened the division of the Anisininew nation across provincial boundaries to the building of the Berlin Wall.

[6] Ontario Member of the Provincial Parliament Sol Mamakwa, elected in 2018, has used greetings and short phrases in Anishininimowin in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario;[7] in 2024, after changes to the standing orders and interpretation services, he gave a ten-minute speech and asking the first question in Question Period in Anishininimowin, becoming the first person to officially address the legislature in an Indigenous language and in a language other than English or French.