Maskwacis (; , ), renamed in 2014 from Hobbema (), is an unincorporated community in central

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada at intersection of Highway 2A and Highway 611, approximately south of the City of

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

. The community consists of two

Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...

First Nations communities – one on the

Ermineskin 138 Ermineskin 138 is an Indian reserve of the Ermineskin Cree Nation in Alberta, located between Ponoka County and the County of Wetaskiwin No. 10. Part of the Maskwacis community, it is 13 kilometres south of Wetaskiwin Wetaskiwin ( ) is a c ...

reserve to the north and the other on the

Samson 137 Samson Indian Reserve No. 137, also known as Samson No. 137 and Samson 137, and as the Samson Reserve, is an Indian reserve in Maskwacis, Alberta, Canada. It is inhabited by members of the Samson Cree Nation and was established under the provisio ...

reserve to the south. It also consists of an adjacent

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

within

Ponoka County Ponoka County is a municipal district in Alberta, Canada. It covers and it claims to "embody the essence of rural Alberta". History Ponoka County was founded on January 1, 1952. The county's first public officials were Mr. Bruce Ramsey, who ...

. The community also serves three more nearby

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

reserves including

Samson 137A Samson 137A is an Indian reserve of the Samson Cree Nation in Alberta, located within Ponoka County. In the 2016 Canadian Census The 2016 Canadian census was an enumeration of Canadian residents, which counted a population of 35,151,728, a cha ...

to the south,

Louis Bull 138B Louis Bull 138B is an Indian reserve of the Louis Bull First Nation in Alberta, located within County of Wetaskiwin No. 10. One of four reserves making up the Maskwacis community, it is 16 kilometers southwest of Wetaskiwin. In the 2016 Canadia ...

to the northwest, and

Montana 139 Montana 139 is an Indian reserve of the Montana First Nation in Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alb ...

to the south. The area was originally known as Maskwacis, and Father

Constantine Scollen Father Con Scollen OMI. (4 April 1841 – 8 November 1902) was an Ireland, Irish Catholic, Missionary priest who lived among and evangelized the Blackfoot, Cree and Métis peoples on the Canadian Prairies and in northern Montana in the United S ...

always referred to it as "Bear Hills" when he attempted to re-establish a Catholic mission there, in late 1884 and 1885, around the time that he and Chief Bobtail succeeded in persuading the young men not to join the

North-West Rebellion The North-West Rebellion (), was an armed rebellion of Métis under Louis Riel and an associated uprising of Cree and Assiniboine mostly in the District of Saskatchewan, against the Government of Canada, Canadian government. Important events i ...

. The first railway station was named Hobbema after the Dutch painter

Meindert Hobbema Meindert Lubbertszoon Hobbema (bapt. 31 October 1638 – 7 December 1709) was a Dutch Golden Age painter of landscapes, specializing in views of woodland, although his most famous painting, ''The Avenue at Middelharnis'' (1689, National Galler ...

during the construction of the

Calgary and Edmonton Railway The Calgary and Edmonton Railway (C&E) was an early pioneer railway in what was then the Northwest Territories, now Alberta, Canada. It was laid out from the town of Calgary to a location near Edmonton, at the site of the future town and city of ...

in 1891. As a result, all of Hobbema's neighbouring communities came to bear names of First Nations origin ( Ponoka ("elk"), Menaik ("spruce"),

Wetaskiwin Wetaskiwin ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. The city is located south of the provincial capital of Edmonton. The city name comes from the Cree word , meaning "the hills where peace was made". Wetaskiwin is home to the Reyn ...

("hills where peace was made")), with the exception of Hobbema itself. The community, including the hamlet portion within Ponoka County, was renamed Maskwacis (meaning "bear hills" in

) on January 1, 2014. The community has an employment centre, health board and college.

Geography

The community straddles the boundaries between the Ermineskin 138 reserve, the Samson 137 reserve and Ponoka County. The northern portion of the community is located within Ermineskin 138 on the west side of Highway 2A. The southern portion of the community is located within Samson 137 on the east side of Highway 2A and north side of Highway 611. The remaining portion of the community is located within Ponoka County on the west side of Highway 2A across from the Samson 137 portion of the community and south of the Ermineskin 138 portion of the community. The Ermineskin 138 portion of the community is located within Census Division No. 11, while the Samson 137 and Ponoka County portions are located within Census Division No. 8. Maskwacis serves five

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US v ...

s of four Cree First Nation

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 ...

s, which are collectively known as the "four nations" and are each party to

Treaty Six Treaty 6 is the sixth of the numbered treaties that were signed by the Canadian Crown and various First Nations between 1871 and 1877. It is one of a total of 11 numbered treaties signed between the Canadian Crown and First Nations. Specific ...

. The four nations include the

Ermineskin Cree Nation Ermineskin Cree Nation also known as the Ermineskin Tribe (, ), is a Cree First Nations band government in Alberta, Canada. A signatory to Treaty 6, Ermineskin is one of the Four Nations of Maskwacis, Alberta's largest Indigenous community. A ...

Samson Cree Nation The Samson Cree Nation, () also known as the Samson First Nation, is one of four band governments in the area of Maskwacis, Alberta, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces ...

Louis Bull Tribe The Louis Bull Tribe () is a First Nations band government in Alberta, Canada. One of the "four nations" of Maskwacis, it controls one Indian reserve, Louis Bull 138B Louis Bull 138B is an Indian reserve of the Louis Bull First Nation in Albert ...

, and the

Montana First Nation The Montana First Nation (, ) is a First Nations band government in Alberta, Canada. It is a Treaty 6 government. Formerly the Montana Band of Indians, it is one of four First Nations in the area of Maskwacis Maskwacis (; , ), renamed in 2 ...

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Maskwacis had a population of 64 living in 14 of its 15 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 60. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. As a designated place in the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Maskwacis (Hobbema) had a population of 60 living in 21 of its 22 total private dwellings, an increase from its 2011 population of 0. With a land area of , it had a population density of 226.2/km² in 2016. The total population among the five reserves in the 2016 census was 7,663.

Crime

The community has attracted national media attention in Canada for its problems with crime and gangs. In an attempt to cut down on crime, the Hobbema Cadet Corp was established with the goal of keeping children as young as eight years old off the streets. The Pê Sâkâstêw Centre, a minimum-security facility based on Aboriginal healing processes, is in Maskwacis.

Education and culture

The community is home to

Maskwacis Cultural College Maskwacis Cultural College (MCC) is a private post-secondary institution within the Four Nations of Maskwacis, Alberta, Canada. MCC offers programs from basic adult literacy, two-year college diplomas, to university transfer programs. Partners ...

and CHOB-TV. Maskwacîs Education Schools Commission oversees the 11 schools throughout Ermineskin, Samson, Louis Bull, Montana, and Ma-Me-O.

Wetaskiwin Regional Division No. 11 Wetaskiwin Regional Division No. 11 or Wetaskiwin Regional Public Schools (WRPS) is the school board serving the County of Wetaskiwin No. 10. WRPS is a public school board system obliged to accept anyone who meets age and location requirements. ...

operates public schools serving the area, including

Pigeon Lake Regional School Pigeon Lake Regional School is a public grade 7–12 middle and high school in Falun, Alberta, and a part of Wetaskiwin Regional Division No. 11. It serves Falun, Pipestone, Westerose, the Pigeon Lake area, the reserve of Ma-Me-O Beach First N ...

.Pigeon Lake Regional School
"

. Retrieved on September 13, 2018. "Most of the school's students are drawn from a vast attendance area that includes ..the Hobbema reservation." It was once home to Ermineskin Indian Residential School. It is home to an annual

pow wow A powwow (also pow wow or pow-wow) is a gathering with dances held by many Native American and First Nations communities. Inaugurated in 1923, powwows today are an opportunity for Indigenous people to socialize, dance, sing, and honor their ...

. Pioneering, award-winning First Nations hip-hop groups

War Party War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organize ...

and

Team Rezofficial Team Rezofficial was a Canadian aboriginal hip hop group (primarily Cree from First Nations surrounding Hobbema, Alberta). Founded by former members of War Party, the group included musicians Karmen "Hellnback" Omeasoo, Drezus (Jeremiah Manit ...

are from Maskwacis. Briar Stewart made an award-winning documentary, "Journey to Jamaica", about a group of cadets from Maskwacis.

W. P. Kinsella William Patrick Kinsella (May 25, 1935September 16, 2016) was a Canadian novelist and short story writer, known for his novel '' Shoeless Joe'' (1982), which was adapted into the movie '' Field of Dreams'' in 1989. His work often concerned bas ...

wrote a number of short stories which were set in what was then called Hobbema, including the collections ''Dance Me Outside'', '' The Fencepost Chronicles'', '' Brother Frank's Gospel Hour'', and '' The Secret of the Northern Lights''. The stories "met with controversy from some critics who objected to Kinsella's appropriation of Native voice and what they saw as stereotype-based humour."

Notable people

* Ted Hodgson (born 1945), retired professional ice hockey forward *

Willie Littlechild J. Wilton Littlechild (born 1944), known as Willie Littlechild, is a Canadian lawyer and Cree chief who was Grand Chief of the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations and a member of Parliament. A residential school survivor, he is known fo ...

(born 1944), lawyer and Cree chief *

Willie Nepoose Wilson "Willie" Nepoose (died ) was a Samson Cree man who was wrongly convicted of second-degree murder in 1987. The conviction was overturned in 1992 after an inquiry that revealed perjury by the witnesses, poor police work, withheld evidence, ...

(died c. 1997–1998), wrongly convicted of second-degree murder in 1987 *

Henry Norwest Henry Louis Norwest (sometimes spelled Northwest) MM & Bar (8 May 188418 August 1918) was a distinguished Canadian sniper in World War I. Early life Norwest was born in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta District, North-West Territories, sometime in the ...

(c. 1881–1918), distinguished sniper in World War I *

Shane Yellowbird Shane Yellowbird (July 7, 1979April 25, 2022) was a Canadian country music singer-songwriter from Maskwacis, Alberta. A Cree, in 2007, he was named the Aboriginal Entertainer of the Year at the Aboriginal People's Choice Music Awards, Chevy Tru ...

(1979–2022), country music singer-songwriter

Sports

The community was formerly the home of the

Hobbema Hawks Hobbema Hawks Team Name: Hobbema Hawks Location: Hobbema, Alberta, Canada League: Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) Founded: 1981 ---- History The Hobbema Hawks were established in 1981 as part of the Alberta Junior Hockey League's expa ...

junior "A" hockey team.

Notes

References

{{authority control Communities on Indian reserves in Alberta Cree Designated places in Alberta First Nations in Alberta Hamlets in Alberta Ponoka County