The Horse Lake First Nation is a

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

band government In Canada, an Indian band or band (french: bande indienne, link=no), sometimes referred to as a First Nation band (french: bande de la Première Nation, link=no) or simply a First Nation, is the basic unit of government for those peoples subjec ...

west of

Hythe Hythe, from Anglo-Saxon ''hȳð'', may refer to a landing-place, port or haven, either as an element in a toponym, such as Rotherhithe in London, or to: Places Australia * Hythe, Tasmania Canada *Hythe, Alberta, a village in Canada England * T ...

in northwestern

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada. It consists of the Beaver and Cree people. It is a 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 one of eleven Numbered Treaties. The agreement encompassed a la ...

, and is a member of the

Western Cree Tribal Council Western Cree Tribal Council is a Tribal Council representing First Nation communities in the Peace River Country of Alberta, Canada. The council is based in Valleyview, Alberta. Member First Nations Current First Nation members are: * Duncan's Fi ...

. Despite being a member of the Western Cree regional council, the Horse Lake First Nation is linguistically and culturally a part of the Danezaa or "Beavers". , the total population of the band was 1,053 people, of whom 466 (44%) lived on reserve or on

Crown land Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...

and the rest lived off reserve. The band has two reserves, Horse Lakes 152B and Clear Hills 152C with a total land base of . Since 2002, students who are members of the Horse Lake band have been educated in the Alberta provincial education system, specifically the Peace Wapiti School Division (PWSD), rather than separate reserve schools, with the cost being borne by

Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

. However in 2012, this arrangement was put in doubt when the budget for non-Aboriginal "at risk" students received was more than doubled by the provincial government from $2.2 million to $5.1 million per year. Under the terms of the contract between the Western Cree and PWSD, the band must pay the difference between what the provincial government pays for band members, and what the federal government pays for non-Aboriginals. This implies an additional $3,000 per student.

References

{{Authority control Dane-zaa First Nations governments in Alberta