The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN, ) is a

band government In Canada, an Indian band (), First Nation band () or simply band, is the basic unit of government for those peoples subject to the ''Indian Act'' (i.e. status Indians or First Nations). Bands are typically small groups of people: the largest in ...

. It represents local people of the Denesuline (Chipewyan) ethnic group. It controls eight

Indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve () or First Nations reserve () is defined by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." ...

s: Chipewyan 201 and Chipewyan 201A through

Chipewyan 201G Chipewyan 201G is an Indian reserve of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation in Alberta, located within the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. It is on the east bank of the Athabasca River The Athabasca River (French: ''Rivière Athabasca'') ...

, near Fort Chipewyan, Alberta. The band is party to

Treaty 8 Treaty 8, which concluded with the June 21, 1899, signing by representatives of the Crown and various First Nations of the Lesser Slave Lake area, is the most comprehensive of the eleven Numbered Treaties. The agreement encompassed a land m ...

, and is a member of the Athabasca Tribal Council. The ancestors of today's ACFN were evicted from

Wood Buffalo National Park Wood Buffalo National Park is the largest national park of Canada at . It is in northeastern Alberta and the southern Northwest Territories. Larger in area than Switzerland, it is the second-largest national park in the world. The park was estab ...

by the Government of Canada beginning in 1944, according to research published by the band. The band launched a court challenge in 2007 to an oilsands lease given to

Shell Canada Shell Canada Limited () is the principal Canadian subsidiary of British energy major Shell plc and one of Canada's largest integrated oil companies. Exploration and production of oil, natural gas and sulphur is a major part of its business, as ...

by the provincial government which, the band alleged, they were not given a chance to oppose. In 2011, the band lost its suit, but planned to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. The band was the focus of

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

's 2014 concert campaign against the

Athabasca oil sands The Athabasca oil sands, also known as the Athabasca tar sands, are large deposits of oil sands rich in bitumen, a heavy and viscous form of petroleum, in northeastern Alberta, Canada. These reserves are one of the largest sources of unconventi ...

development. In the wake of that the band withdrew from the Oil Sands Monitoring program, which they say lacks input from aboriginal peoples and does not address treaty rights. Chief Allan Adam was arrested by the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

in March 2020, tackling him and punching him severally in the head whilst he lay on the ground.

References

External links

First Nation homepage
{{Authority control First Nations governments in Alberta Dene governments

References

Further reading

External links