Beardy's and Okemasis' Cree Nation is a

Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

band government In Canada, an Indian band (), First Nation band () or simply band, is the basic unit of government for those peoples subject to the ''Indian Act'' (i.e. status Indians or First Nations). Bands are typically small groups of people: the largest in ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, Canada. Their reserves include: * Beardy's & Okemasis' 96 & 97 * Beardy's & Okemasis' 96 & 97A * Beardy's & Okemasis' 96 & 97B * Beardy's & Okemasis' 96 & 97C

History & Etymology

The nation is named for Willow Cree Chiefs Beardy (''kâmiyescawesit (Kah-mis-cho-wey-sit)'', "one who has a little beard") and Okemasis (''okimâsis'', "little chief", diminutive of ''okimâw''). Together, they led two-thirds of the Willow Cree band and settled west of Duck Lake prior to the signing of

Treaty 6 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. Specifi ...

in 1876. With adjoining reserves, the two bands have since merged into a single First Nation. The Cree name for this combined reserve is ᓃᐱᓰᐦᑯᐹᐏᔨᓃᓈᕽ ''nîpisîhkopâwiyinînâhk'', "among the Willow Cree".Wolvengrey, Arok, editor. Cree: Words. Regina, University of Regina Press, 2001
https://itwewina.altlab.app/word/n%C3%AEpis%C3%AEhkop%C3%A2wiyin%C3%AEn%C3%A2hk/
/ref> The remaining Willow Cree today form the One Arrow First Nation. The Willow Cree are a sub-group of the Plains Cree tribe located today in the geographic regions of the Saskatchewan parklands, situated on the southern edge of the Boreal Forest and northern edge of the Great Plains, also situated between the North Saskatchewan and South Saskatchewan Rivers.

References

External links

* First Nations in Saskatchewan Cree governments {{FirstNations-stub