Piikani Nation
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The Piikani Nation (, formerly the Peigan Nation) (, ) is a First Nation (or an Indian band as defined by the ''
Indian Act The ''Indian Act'' () is a Canadian Act of Parliament that concerns registered Indians, their bands, and the system of Indian reserves. First passed in 1876 and still in force with amendments, it is the primary document that defines how t ...
''), representing the Indigenous people in Canada known as the Northern Piikani (, ) or simply the Peigan ( or ).


History

Historically speaking the
Blackfoot language The Blackfoot language, also called Niitsi'powahsin () or Siksiká ( ; , ), is an Algonquian languages, Algonquian language spoken by the Blackfoot Confederacy, Blackfoot or people, who currently live in the northwestern plains of North Americ ...
and members of the
Blackfoot Confederacy The Blackfoot Confederacy, ''Niitsitapi'', or ''Siksikaitsitapi'' (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning "the people" or "Blackfoot language, Blackfoot-speaking real people"), is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up ...
(), the Peigan people occupied territory before the 1870s on both sides of what is now the
Canada–United States border The international border between Canada and the United States is the longest in the world by total length. The boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Canada' ...
. The
Blackfoot Confederacy The Blackfoot Confederacy, ''Niitsitapi'', or ''Siksikaitsitapi'' (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning "the people" or "Blackfoot language, Blackfoot-speaking real people"), is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up ...
signed several treaties with the US and received the Great Northern Reservation, an initially vast reservation in present-day Montana. However, 220 Peigans were massacred by the US Army in 1870 and American authorities pressured the Blackfoot to give up more and more lands to settlers ( were ceded in 1887), leading some Peigans to relocate to Canada and sign Treaty 7 with the Canadian government in 1877. The Peigan are now divided between the Blackfeet Nation ( or "Southern Piikani") based on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in
Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...
, and the Piikani Nation ( or "Northern Piikani") 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. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
. The other members of the Confederacy are the Blackfoot-speaking or Blood and the or Blackfoot, as well as the or Sarcee who only became allied later and spoke an unrelated language. At the time the treaties were signed, the Northern Peigan were situated on the
Oldman River The Oldman River is a river in southern Alberta, Canada. It flows roughly west to east from the Rocky Mountains, through the communities of Fort Macleod, Lethbridge, and on to Grassy Lake, where it joins the Bow River to form the South Sa ...
, west of the future site of
Lethbridge Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 106,550 in the 2023 Alberta municipal censuses, 2023 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...
, to the west of the tribe. With its headquarters in Brocket, Alberta, the Piikani Nation controls two parcels of land, Peigan Timber Limit "B" and the Piikani 147 Indian reserve (on which Brocket is located). the band had a registered population of 3,638 members, of whom 2,358 lived on Piikani Nation reserves. The band is a member of the Treaty 7 Management Corporation. The Piikani Nation has a history of firsts. It was the first band in Alberta to demand a vote in provincial elections, the first to allow liquor onto a reserve, the first to assume administration of their reserve, and the first to host Indian Day Celebrations as a means of retaining and maintaining their culture.Piikani (Peigan) Nation
Education has been controlled by the band since 1986 when a high school was built on the reserve. This is managed by the Peigan Board of Education, a non-profit society registered under the ''Societies Act of Alberta'', comprising six trustees elected at large by the band's membership and one appointed by the band council. Scholarships and bursaries are provided by the Piikani Youth & Education Foundation with monies from the Piikani Trust Agreement (see below). The band is governed by a council comprising a chief and twelve councillors elected according to custom rather than the provisions of the Indian Act. To this end, in 2002, the Piikani Nation implemented the ''Piikani Nation Election By-law'' and ''Regulations'' (collectively referred to as the "Election Code"). This code includes a reference in its preamble to , the traditional teachings of the Piikani, and allows for councillors to be dismissed if they are found to be in violation of the tenets of . A court case in 2008 also allowed for the principles of to be invoked to ''prevent'' a candidate from running from office, rather than to remove them once in office. The court found that the elders of the community functioned like a
senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
, and that they were the proper body to advise the Piikani Nation Election Removals Board and the Chief Electoral Officer. The court ruled that the Election Code did not include such powers for the elders as written, however, and so it gave the band six months to clarify the code. The principles of were invoked once again when on December 13, 2013, Gayle Strikes With A Gun was removed as chief by the Piikani Nation Removal Appeals Board because she "failed to maintain a standard of conduct expected of a member of the Piikani Nation Council, as set out in the Election Bylaws and in keeping with the principles of ." In 2002 the voters of Piikani Nation approved a $64.3 million settlement with the governments of Alberta and Canada over Piikani water rights impacted by the Lethbridge Northern Irrigation Headworks on the Oldman River. The monies were deposited in the Piikani Trust governed by the Piikani Trust Agreement. The agreement also allowed the Nation to acquire of new reserve land. The band later took out loans against the trust to invest in industrial developments, and were then sued by a band member alleging mismanagement. The band then filed suit against a Calgary-based investment broker for defrauding it of $23 million from the settlement. In 2012, the band's investment company, Piikani Investment Corporation, was restructured in the bankruptcy courts. The alleged mismanagement became part of a
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 ...
investigation in 2013.


References


External links


Nation's website

Introduction to photo essay, ''Nitsitapiisinni: Our Way of Life''
Glenbow Museum
Concise description of the Blackfoot tribes
{{Numbertreaty, treaty=7 First Nations governments in Alberta