First Nations in Alberta facts for kids

First Nations in Alberta are groups of people who have lived in the Canadian province of Alberta for thousands of years. They are part of the larger First Nations family across Canada. This term refers to Indigenous peoples in Canada, but it does not include the Inuit or the Métis.

In 2011, about 116,670 people in Alberta identified as First Nations. This makes Alberta home to the third-largest First Nations population in Canada. Nearly half of these people (47.3%) live on special lands called reserves. The rest (52.7%) live in cities and towns. For example, in 2011, about 31,780 First Nations people lived in Edmonton, Alberta's capital. Another 17,040 lived in Calgary. Alberta has 45 First Nations governments, often called "bands." These bands belong to nine different cultural groups, each with its own ancestral language.

Understanding First Nations Groups in Alberta

There are many ways to understand the different First Nations groups in Alberta. One way is to look at how they lived based on the land and climate.

Life in Northern Alberta

In northern Alberta, people were known as Subarctic peoples.

• They lived in the boreal forest.
• Their main food came from animals like moose and woodland caribou.
• They were skilled at ice fishing.
• For travel, they used canoes, snowshoes, and toboggans.

Life in Southern Alberta

In southern Alberta, people were called Plains Indians.

• They lived mostly in the prairie grasslands.
• They also had access to the nearby Rocky Mountains.
• The plains bison (or "buffalo") was their most important food source.
• They used a special sled called a travois for moving their belongings.

People living in central Alberta, in the aspen parkland area, often blended both ways of life.

How First Nations Organized Themselves

Long ago, First Nations people in Alberta organized themselves into different groups.

Lodges and Bands

• The smallest group was a lodge. This was usually an extended family living together in one home, like a teepee or wigwam.
• Several lodges living together formed a band.
• Bands were small groups that moved around a lot.
• They often had a respected leader, sometimes called a chief.
• Bands were big enough to protect themselves and hunt together.
• They were also small enough to make decisions as a group, where everyone agreed.
• Leaders guided the group but did not force people to do things.
• People could leave a band or join another. Bands often split or merged.
• Among the Peigan people, bands could have 10 to 30 lodges, meaning about 80 to 240 people.

Tribes and Confederacies

A tribe is a group of people who share the same language and culture.

• Bands from the same tribe usually helped each other against outsiders.
• In Alberta, tribes were not strict organizations. Leaders from different bands would meet to make decisions.
• Today, there are about nine main First Nations tribal groups in Alberta.
• These include the Beaver, Blackfoot, Chipewyan, Plains Cree, Sarcee, Saulteaux (Plains Ojibwa), Slavey, Stoney, and Woodland Cree.
• People often married outside their immediate group, and bands sometimes had people from different tribes speaking different languages.
• Sadly, diseases like smallpox in the late 1700s and early 1800s greatly reduced populations. This often forced bands to join with others.

Language Families of Alberta's First Nations

First Nations groups are also often grouped by their language families. People with related languages often share similar cultures. In Alberta, First Nations languages come from three main families:

• Algonquian: This family includes Blackfoot, Cree, and Saulteaux.
• Athabaskan or Dene: This family includes Beaver, Chipewyan, Slavey, and Sarcee.
• Siouan: This family includes Stoney.

Major Cultural Groups

• The Blackfoot people are made up of three main groups: the Siksika, the Piikani, and the Kainai. They were close allies.
• The Cree are the largest First Nations cultural group in Alberta. This includes the Woodland Cree and Plains Cree.
• There are 32 First Nations bands in Alberta linked to Cree culture.
• The Woodland Cree lived a Subarctic lifestyle, while the Plains Cree lived a Plains lifestyle. They spoke different, but related, dialects of the Cree language.
• The term Dene refers to several related peoples, including the Beaver, Chipewyan, Slavey, and Sarcee in Alberta. They share similar spiritual beliefs.
• The Stoney people are related to the Assiniboine and Sioux. They are divided into Woodlands and Plains groups.
• The Saulteaux people in Alberta are represented by the O'Chiese First Nation. Many other Saulteaux bands live in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Other Groups in Alberta's Past

Some other First Nations groups lived in Alberta long ago:

• The Hidatsa or Mandan peoples may have built a fortified village at Blackfoot Crossing around 1740 CE.
• The Assiniboine people lived in Alberta when Europeans first arrived. The Stoney people are thought to be a branch of the Assiniboine.
• The Eastern Shoshone may have lived in Alberta before the Blackfoot displaced them by 1787.
• The Gros Ventres were active in southern Alberta until the late 1800s.
• The Kutenai moved west out of Alberta but still hunted bison in the Bow River area.
• People from other groups, like the Métis and Iroquois, sometimes married into local bands or formed new mixed-heritage bands. An example is the Michel Band.

Alliances and Conflicts

Plains peoples could gather in larger groups when following buffalo herds. They had more complex political systems than Subarctic peoples, who needed to stay spread out to find food.

• A group of bands that joined together for defense was called a confederacy.
• These confederacies often included bands from different tribes.
• Two important confederacies in Alberta were the Blackfoot Confederacy and the Iron Confederacy.
  • The Blackfoot Confederacy included the Piegan, Kainai, and Sikisika nations. Later, the Tsuu T'ina and, for a time, the Gros Ventre joined them.
  • The Iron Confederacy included bands of Plains Cree, Assiniboine, and Saulteaux, and Stoney.
• These two groups were initially friendly but later became enemies. The Battle River was named after a conflict between them around 1810. Their hostilities ended with the Battle of the Belly River in 1870.

Treaties and Reserves

When Canada claimed the land that is now Alberta in 1870, the government began making treaties with First Nations.

• Each band could choose whether or not to sign a treaty.
• Three main treaties affect Alberta:
  • Treaty 6: Signed from 1876 to 1879, this treaty is with the Plains Cree and their allies. It covers central Alberta.
  • Treaty 7: Signed in 1877, this treaty is with the Blackfoot Confederacy and the Stoney. It covers southern Alberta.
  • Treaty 8: Signed in 1899, this treaty is with the Woods Cree, Beaver, and Chipewyan. It covers northern Alberta.

Under these treaties, First Nations in the south accepted Canadian settlers on their lands. In return, they received help because the buffalo herds, their main food source, were disappearing. Northern bands faced less farming settlement but dealt with mining and logging companies wanting access to their lands.

As part of the treaties, Indian reserves were created. First Nations people were expected to settle on these reserves. This meant ending their nomadic hunting lifestyle. They were encouraged to farm and be accessible to government officials and missionaries. Not all bands agreed easily with the treaties. Some, like Piapot's band, signed but refused to choose a reserve site, wanting to stay nomadic. Others, like the "Battle River Crees" led by Big Bear, refused to sign at all.

Today, each band is linked to one or more reserves. Bands have a list of members who can live on the reserve and receive treaty benefits. The band is now the main unit of governance under the Indian Act. This law was first passed in 1876 and is still in use today with changes. Modern band governments are the legal successors to the bands that signed the treaties.

As of 2013, there were 48 band governments in Alberta with their own councils and chiefs. However, for the Indian Act, the federal government lists 45 separate bands. For example, the Saddle Lake First Nation and Whitefish Lake (Goodfish) Nation are managed separately but counted as one band. Similarly, the Chiniki, Wesley, and Bearspaw First Nations are separate but considered one band government called the Stoney Nakoda Nation. The newest First Nation band in Alberta is the Peerless Trout First Nation, created in 2010.

Working Together: Tribal and Regional Organizations

First Nations bands can work together by forming regional councils. These are often called "Tribal Councils." They help bands share resources and deal with issues related to their treaties.

Some of these organizations in Alberta include:

• Athabasca Tribal Council
• Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations
• Four Nations Administration
• Kee Tas Kee Now Tribal Council
• Lesser Slave Lake Indian Regional Council
• North Peace Tribal Council
• Treaty 8 First Nations of Alberta
• Treaty 7 Management Corporation
• Western Cree Tribal Council
• Yellowhead Tribal Council

First Nations in Alberta (2019)