People | Saulteaux |
---|---|
Treaty | Treaty 4 |
Headquarters | Cowessess |
Province | Saskatchewan |
Land [1] | |
Main reserve | Cowessess 73 |
Other reserve(s) | |
Land area | 421.843 km2 |
Population (2019) [1] | |
On reserve | 846 |
Off reserve | 3449 |
Total population | 4295 |
Government [1] | |
Chief | Erica Beaudin |
Website | |
cowessessfn.com |
Cowessess First Nation (Ojibwe : Gaa-awaazhishiid) [2] is a Saulteaux First Nations band government in southern Saskatchewan, Canada. The band's main reserve is Cowessess 73, one of several adjoining Indigenous communities in the Qu'Appelle Valley. The band also administers Cowessess 73A, near Esterhazy, and Treaty Four Reserve Grounds 77, which is shared with 32 other bands. [1]
The First Nation is named for Chief Cowessess (Ka-wezauce, "Little Boy", or "Little Child"), who was the leader of a mixed band of Plains Cree, Saulteaux and Métis. They were nomadic bison hunters, ranging from Leech Lake (Saskatchewan) as far southwest as the Milk River basin in Montana. In September 1874, Cowessess signed Treaty 4 at Fort Qu'Appelle, ceding his group's Indigenous title to the British Crown. They continued to roam until 1878-79, when they began farming near Maple Creek in the Cypress Hills. In 1880, a reserve was surveyed for them at Crooked Lake, in the Qu'Appelle Valley. Cowessess himself remained in the Cypress Hills until spring 1883, but Headman Louis O'Soup led a dissident group which settled on the reserve. [3] [4]
The community was originally known as Crooked Lake Mission, until it was granted a post office by the name Marieval in 1908. [3]
The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate built a log schoolhouse in 1880. In 1898, a residential school opened, operated by the Sisters of St. Joseph of St. Hyacinthe. As in the wider Canadian Indian residential school system, physical and sexual abuse were widespread [ citation needed ]. Parents of the Cowessess reserve petitioned for a non-sectarian day school as early as 1949, but were dismissed. The federal government took control of the building in 1968, and the school passed to First Nation control in 1981. The school closed in 1997 and was demolished in 1999. [3] [5]
Although local management improved conditions somewhat, abusive practices continued into the 1990s. Amber K. K. Pelletier, who attended the Marieval residence from 1993 to 1997, was the youngest survivor interviewed by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. [5]
In June 2021, using ground-penetrating radar, the Cowessess First Nation located 751 unmarked graves on the Marieval school site. [6]
Almost immediately, white settlers near Cowessess began petitioning to have the southern portion of the reserve surrendered for sale. In the 1890s, these requests were refused by the Indian agent, who was concerned about the First Nation's ability to increase its stock. Residents and territorial legislators unsuccessfully sent appeals to Ottawa in 1899 and 1902. Under Frank Oliver's ministry, reserve surrenders were actively pursued by the federal government, and approval to issue a surrender document was given in October 1906. The band held a vote on January 29, 1907. With 15 members in favour, and 14 against, with the deciding vote cast by the English interpreter, the land was subdivided in May. [7]
In 1981, the Cowessess First Nation submitted a specific claim to the federal government, challenging the surrender on the grounds of fraud, fiduciary duty, and unconscionable conduct. Almost 75% of the First Nation's open arable land had been lost, leaving it unable to support itself. Allegations were also raised about the role of the band's English interpreter, who had a vested interest in the surrender. While Cowessess' earlier claims were rejected, the First Nation has been able to participate in Saskatchewan's umbrella Treaty Land Entitlement process, expanding its reserve lands through a modern willing-seller buyback process. [7]
The Saulteaux, otherwise known as the Plains Ojibwe, are a First Nations band government in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, Canada. They are a branch of the Ojibwe who pushed west. They formed a mixed culture of woodlands and plains Indigenous customs and traditions.
The Qu'Appelle River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba that flows 430 kilometres (270 mi) east from Lake Diefenbaker in south-western Saskatchewan to join the Assiniboine River in Manitoba, just south of Lake of the Prairies, near the village of St. Lazare. It is in a region called the Prairie Pothole Region of North America, which extends throughout three Canadian provinces and five U.S. states. It is also within Palliser's Triangle and the Great Plains ecoregion.
First Nations in Alberta are a group of people who live in the Canadian province of Alberta. The First Nations are peoples recognized as Indigenous peoples or Plains Indians in Canada excluding the Inuit and the Métis. According to the 2011 Census, a population of 116,670 Albertans self-identified as First Nations. Specifically there were 96,730 First Nations people with registered Indian Status and 19,945 First Nations people without registered Indian Status. Alberta has the third largest First Nations population among the provinces and territories. From this total population, 47.3% of the population lives on an Indian reserve and the other 52.7% live in urban centres. According to the 2011 Census, the First Nations population in Edmonton totalled at 31,780, which is the second highest for any city in Canada. The First Nations population in Calgary, in reference to the 2011 Census, totalled at 17,040. There are 45 First Nations or "bands" in Alberta, belonging to nine different ethnic groups or "tribes" based on their ancestral languages.
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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. Specifically, Treaty 6 is an agreement between the Crown and the Plains and Woods Cree, Assiniboine, and other band governments at Fort Carlton and Fort Pitt. Key figures, representing the Crown, involved in the negotiations were Alexander Morris, Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba and The North-West Territories; James McKay, The Minister of Agriculture for Manitoba; and William J. Christie, a chief factor of the Hudson's Bay Company. Chief Mistawasis and Chief Ahtahkakoop represented the Carlton Cree.
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Treaty 4 is a treaty established between Queen Victoria and the Cree and Saulteaux First Nation band governments. The area covered by Treaty 4 represents most of current day southern Saskatchewan, plus small portions of what are today western Manitoba and southeastern Alberta. This treaty is also called the Qu'Appelle Treaty, as its first signings were conducted at Fort Qu'Appelle, North-West Territories, on 15 September 1874. Additional signings or adhesions continued until September 1877. This treaty is the only indigenous treaty in Canada that has a corresponding indigenous interpretation.
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The Treaty Four Reserve Grounds 77 are an Indian reserve in Saskatchewan, Canada, shared by 33 band governments from Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The Reserve Grounds are located adjacent to and west of Fort Qu'Appelle. In the 2016 Canadian Census, they recorded a population of 15 living in 6 of their 8 total private dwellings.
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Qu'Appelle Indian Residential School (Q.I.R.S.) or Qu'Appelle Industrial School was a Canadian residential school in the Qu'Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan. As one of the early residential schools in western Canada, it was operated from 1884 to 1969 by the Roman Catholic Church for First Nations children and was run by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate and the Grey Nuns. As of November 8, 2021 Star Blanket Cree Nation started searching for unmarked graves using ground-penetrating radar.
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The Muscowpetung Saulteaux Nation is a Saulteaux band government in southern Saskatchewan, Canada. Their reserves include:
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The Marieval Indian Residential School was part of the Canadian Indian residential school system. Located on the Cowessess 73 reserve in Marieval, Saskatchewan, it operated from 1898 to 1997. It was located in Qu'Appelle Valley, east of Crooked Lake and 24 km (15 mi) north of Broadview.
The Canadian Indian residential school system was a network of boarding schools for Indigenous children directed and funded by the Department of Indian Affairs. Administered by various Christian churches and funded by the Canadian government from 1828 to 1997 Canadian Indian residential school system attempted to assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian culture. Over 4,000 students died while attending Canadian residential school. Students' bodies were often buried in school cemeteries to keep costs as low as possible. Comparatively few cemeteries associated with residential schools are explicitly referenced in surviving documents, but the age and duration of the schools suggests that most had a cemetery associated with them. Many cemeteries were unregistered, and as such the locations of many burial sites and names of residential school children have been lost.
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