Peepeekisis Cree Nation (Band number 384)( cr, ᐲᐦᐲᑭᓰᐢ, ''pîhpîkisîs'', literal meaning: ''Sparrow Hawk'') is a

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...

First Nation Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

in southern

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

, Canada. Its

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 vi ...

s include Peepeekisis 81;

Treaty Four Reserve Grounds 77 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, t ...

, which is shared with 32 other bands; and Peepeekisis Cree Nation, which is located east of Balcarres, Saskatchewan, on Highway 10.

Population

A census report for 2021 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 ...

of the Government of Canada placed the total registered population at 3,148, with 726 people on a reserve or other band land and 2,422 off reserve.

History

Chief Can-ah-ha-cha-pew (Making Ready the Bow) signed

Treaty 4 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 Ma ...

on September 21, 1874. Upon his death, his son Peepeekisis (Sparrow Hawk) became chief, and that same year the band moved from the Cypress Hills to settle on a reserve in the File Hills, about east of Balcarres. In 1896, when Indian Agent W.M. Graham arrived at the agency, the band was without a leader and was unable to prevent Graham’s creation of the File Hills Colony (1898) on the reserve. The plan brought young male industrial school graduates (members of bands other than Peepeekisis) to live, farm and eventually become members of the Peepeekisis Band. The original Peepeekisis Band members were displaced from their homes and deprived of the use of their communal lands. Their complaints led in 1945 to questions raised about the validity of the transfers into the band, but it was not until 1986 that they were able to submit a specific claim to the Department of Indian Affairs. In 2004, the Indian Claims Commission found Canada in breach of its lawful obligations to the band, and recommended that the claim be accepted for negotiation under Canada’s Specific Claims Policy. It has yet to be settled. The reserve covers , with an additional share in the of the Treaty 4 Reserve Grounds (Fort Qu’Appelle). The band’s infrastructure includes a band office, gymnasium, school, health clinic, and other maintenance facilities; it has a membership of 2,215 people, 607 of whom live on reserve.\ In 2021, the Peepeekisis Cree Nation and the federal government reached a $150 million settlement. On August 3, 2022, Marc Miller, the

Minister of Crown–Indigenous Relations The minister of Crown–Indigenous relations (french: ministre des relations couronne-autochtones) is a minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet, one of two ministers (the other being the minister of northern affairs) who administer Crown-I ...

, apologized in Peepeekisis Cree Nation, acknowledging that the federal government's "radical social engineering" had resulted in cultural loss through restrictive land and household access as well as a ban on cultural practices. In September 2022, the Peepeekisis Cree Nation completed its acquisition of the

Temple Gardens Hotel & Spa The Temple Gardens Hotel & Spa (formerly Temple Gardens Mineral Spa) is a hotel located in downtown Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada. The resort features 181 rooms, a spa, banquet facilities, a rooftop indoor/outdoor mineral pool, and is connect ...

in Moose Jaw.

References

{{authority control First Nations in Saskatchewan