Nakoda people

from the Stoney Nakoda First Nation, circa 1905 The Nakoda are descendants of individual bands of the Assiniboine, from whom they spun out as an independent group in about 1744. The Nakoda was divided geographically and culturally into two tribal groups or divisions with different dialects, which in turn were further divided into several bands: Wood Stoney ( – 'Big Woods People', often called Swampy Ground Assiniboine, northern tribal group) • Alexis' band (Stoney, Métis, Woodland Cree) • Paul's band (Danezaa, Stoney, Woodland Cree, Iroquois) Mountain Stoney ( or Hebina – 'Rock Mountain People', often called Strong Wood Assiniboine, Thickwood Assiniboine, southern tribal group) • Sharphead's band (, Wolf Creek Stoney, or Pigeon Lake Stoney, often called Plains Assiniboine) (Stoney, Métis) • Stoney Nakoda First Nation, Comprising the three following bands: • Wesley's (Goodstoney's) band (Stoney, Plains Cree, Métis) • Chiniki's band (Métis, Stoney, Plains Cree) • Bearspaw's band (Stoney, Cree) ==Treaties==

Members of the Nakoda nations of Paul and Alexis signed an adhesion to Treaty 6 in 1877. In 1877, representatives of the Nakoda Nations of Bearspaw, Chiniki, and Goodstoney met with representatives of the British Crown to discuss the terms of Treaty 7. In exchange for the use of traditional lands, the Crown agreed to honour their right to self-government and an ancestral way of life. They were also promised reserve lands, 279 km2 situated along the Bow River between the Kananaskis River and the Ghost River, which became the Big Horn, Stoney, and Eden Valley reserves, shared between the Bearspaw, Chiniki, and Goodstoney tribes. ==See also==