View source for Sweetgrass First Nation

{{Short description|Cree First Nation reserve in Canada}}
{{Infobox First Nation
| band_name = Sweetgrass First Nation
| endonym = wîhkaso-kisêyin
| people = Cree
| treaty = Treaty 6
| headquarters = Cut Knife
| province = Saskatchewan
| main_reserve = Sweetgrass 113
| area = 205.73
| pop_year = 2019
| on_reserve = 749
| on_other_land = 
| total_pop = 2051
| chief = Lori Whitecalf
| council = * Donovan Arcand
* Rod Atcheynum
* Ray Fox
* Hazen Paskimin
* Trina Albert
* Isaac Thomas
| tribal_council = Battlefords Agency Tribal Chiefs Inc.
| website = {{official URL}}
}}The '''Sweetgrass First Nation''' ({{langx|cr|ᐑᐦᑲᓱᑭᓭᔨᐣ, wîhkaso-kisêyin}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Cree Place Names Project|website=Cree Literacy Network|first=Arden|last=Ogg|date=August 19, 2015|access-date=October 21, 2021|url=https://creeliteracy.org/2015/08/19/cree-place-name-project/}}</ref>) is a [[Plains Cree people|Cree]] [[First Nations in Canada|First Nation]] [[Indian reserve|reserve]] in [[Cut Knife, Saskatchewan]], Canada.  Their territory is 35 kilometres west of [[Battleford, Saskatchewan|Battleford]].  The reserve was established when Chief Sweetgrass signed [[Treaty 6]] on September 9, 1876, with the Fort Pitt Indians.<ref name="sweetgrassfirstnation.ca">{{Cite web |title=Sweetgrass First Nation Community Site |url=https://sweetgrassfirstnation.ca/ |access-date=2023-03-08 |website=sweetgrassfirstnation.ca}}</ref>  Chief Sweetgrass was killed six months after signing Treaty 6, after which Sweetgrass's son, Apseenes (Young Sweet Grass), succeeded him. Apseenes was unsuccessful in leading the band so Wah-wee-kah-oo-tah-mah-hote (Strikes him on the back) became Chief after he signed Treaty 6 in 1876 at Fort Carlton.<ref name="sweetgrassfirstnation.ca" /> Wah-wee-kah-oo-tah-mah-hote served as Chief between 1876 and 1883 but was deposed and Apseenes took over as Chief.<ref name="sweetgrassfirstnation.ca" />

== History of the Cree ==
The Cree ({{lang|cr-Latn|nêhiyawak}}) occupy Saskatchewan from the northern woodlands to the southern plains. Southern Cree groups moved onto the prairies in 1740 and became middlemen in the fur trade, forming an alliance with the [[Saulteaux First Nation|Saulteaux]] and [[Assiniboine]] in the [[Iron Confederacy]].{{cn|date=March 2024}} After the Cree maintained positive relations with European traders and held their  trading advantage through the late 1800s, they became the dominant indigenous group in the northern section of North America.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cree: History, Culture & Traditions {{!}} StudySmarter |url=https://www.studysmarter.us/explanations/history/us-history/cree/ |access-date=2023-03-07 |website=StudySmarter US |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Cree culture ==
The [[Cree]] believe that humans have an intimate relationship with their environment. For example, hunters have {{lang|cr-Latn|pawâkanak}} (dream helpers) which lead them to game. The Cree also valued oral story telling<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wheeler |first=Winona |chapter=Cree Intellectual Traditions in History|editor-last1=Finkel |editor-first1=Alvin |editor-last2=Carter |editor-first2=Sarah |editor-last3=Fortna |editor-first3=Peter |title=The West and Beyond: New Perspectives on an Imagined Region |date=2010 |location=Edmonton |publisher=Athabasca University |isbn=9781897425817 |oclc=671389307}}</ref> and {{lang|cr-Latn|wâhkotowin}} (kinship) which is important for growing the connection with the Spirit of {{lang|cr-Latn|Nêhiyawêwin}}.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Napier |first=Kyle |last2=Whiskeyjack |first2=Lana |date=2021 |title=wahkotowin: Reconnecting to the Spirit of nêhiyawêwin (Cree Language) |url=https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/esj/1900-v1-n1-esj06141/1078626ar/abstract/ |journal=Engaged Scholar Journal: Community-Engaged Research, Teaching and Learning |language=en |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=1–24 |doi=10.15402/esj.v7i1.69979 |issn=2369-1190|doi-access=free }}</ref> Cree elders have found that their environment is capable of healing the mind and spirit.<ref>{{Cite book |editor-last1=Cote-Meek |editor-first1=Sheila |editor-last2=Moeke-Pickering |editor-first2=Taima |url=|title=Decolonizing and Indigenizing Education in Canada |date=2020 |location=Toronto |publisher=Canadian Scholars |isbn=978-1-77338-181-7 |oclc=1141255777}}</ref> One Sweetgrass First Nation Elder, Archie Weenie, believes that land and plants have the power and energy to communicate with people which serves as a means of survival.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stiffarm |first=Lenore A. |url=|title=As We See-- : Aboriginal Pedagogy |date=1998 |publisher=University Extension Press, University of Saskatchewan |location=Saskatoon |isbn=978-0888803849 |oclc=39912918}}</ref>

== Population ==
As of December 31, 2019,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sweet Grass First Nation - Indigenous Saskatchewan Encyclopedia {{!}} University of Saskatchewan |url=https://teaching.usask.ca/indigenoussk/import/sweet_grass_first_nation.php |access-date=2023-03-06 |website=teaching.usask.ca}}</ref> the Sweetgrass First Nation consists of 2051 registered band members. 749 people, including non-first nation people and people from other first nations, currently live on the reserve. The nation is currently led by Chief Lori Whitecalf.<ref name="www.batc.ca">{{Cite web |title=Sweetgrass First Nation |url=https://www.batc.ca/member_first_nations/sweetgrass.html |access-date=2023-03-06 |website=www.batc.ca}}</ref>

== Lands ==
After Wah-wee-kah-oo-tah-mah-hote signed Treaty 6 at Fort Carlton on August 28, 1876, a reserve was established west of Battleford in 1884. Here, melded band members maintained crops<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sweetgrass First Nation Farming |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/sweetgrass-first-nation-farming-1.5818088 |website=CBC}}</ref> and livestock while selling wood and hay to support their economy. The band currently controls 20,573.80 hectares of land with the largest block being 26 kilometers west of North Battleford.<ref name="sweetgrassfirstnation.ca" />

=== Land use ===
38% of Sweetgrass First Nation land is used for cropland, 21% is native grassland, 34% is tree cover, and 2% constitutes small bodies of water and marshes. Other classes of land include forage and treed areas and other uses include residential areas.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Benfield |first=Denise |title=Sweetgrass First Nation #113 Summary of the Background Report for the Source Water Protection Pilot Project |publisher=First Nations Agricultural Council of Saskatchewan, Inc. |pages=2}}</ref>

=== Reserves ===
The Sweetgrass Nation currently controls the following reserves:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sweet Grass 113 SK – municipal building Council and more information |url=https://www.municipality-canada.com/en/indian-reserve-sweet-grass-113.html |access-date=2023-03-08 |website=www.municipality-canada.com}}</ref>
* [[Sweetgrass 113]]
* [[Sweetgrass 113A]]
* [[Sweetgrass 113B]]
* [[Sweetgrass 113-C7]]
* [[Sweetgrass 113-C19]]
* [[Sweetgrass 113-D12]]
* [[Sweetgrass 113-E22]]
* [[Sweetgrass 113-F16]]
* [[Sweetgrass 113-G7]]
* [[Sweetgrass 113-H1]]
* [[Sweetgrass 113-I4]]
* [[Sweetgrass 113-J3]]
* [[Sweetgrass 113-K32]]
* [[Sweetgrass 113-L6]]
* [[Sweetgrass 113-M16]]
* [[Sweetgrass 113-N27]]
* [[Sweetgrass 113-P2]]
* [[Sweetgrass 113-S6]]

== Government ==
The Sweetgrass First Nation is governed by an elected seven-member Chief and Council.<ref name="sweetgrassleadership">{{Cite web |title=Sweetgrass First Nation Community Site |url=https://sweetgrassfirstnation.ca/our_community/chief_council.html |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=sweetgrassfirstnation.ca}}</ref> The nation is a member of a tribal council--the Battlefords Agency Tribal Chiefs (BATC).<ref name="McDowell-2015">{{Cite thesis |last=McDowell |first=Megan |date=2015 |title=Neocolonialism, First Nations Governance and Identity: Community Perspectives from Battleford Agency Tribal Chiefs (BATC) First Nations |location=Saskatoon |publisher=University of Saskatchewan |degree=M.A. |oclc=1033023918}}</ref> As of May 2025, Sweetgrass First Nation is represented on BATC committess by Chief Lori Whitecalf (BATC Executive Council, and BATC Investments - Chair) and Councillors Trina Albert (BATC Social Development, BATC Employment & Training, BATC Athletics), Donovan Arcand (BATC Investments), Kelsey Pooyak (BATC Housing), and Isaac Thomas (BATC Community Development Corporation).<ref name="www.batc.ca" />

=== Chiefs ===
List of historic chiefs:<ref name="McDowell-2015" />

* Sweetgrass (1876)
* Wah-wee-kah-oo-tah-mah-hote (1876–1883)
* Apseenes (1884–1886)
* Harry Atcheynum (1920–1924)
* Sam Swimmer (1925–1964)
* Andrew Swimmer (1956–1957)
* Ben Atcheynum (1957–1958)
* James Favel (1958–1959)
* Solomon Albert (1959–1960)
* John Weenie (1961–1962)
* Adam Paskemin (1963–1964)
* Ben Atcheynum (1965–1966)
* Joseph Weenie (1967–1970)
* Ben Atcheynum (1971–1972)
* Stephen Pooyak (1972–1973)
* Ben Weenie (1973–1974)
* Stephen Pooyak (1974–1979)
* Gordon Albert (1979–1982)
* Roderick Atcheynum (1983–1984)
* Don Pooyak (1985–1988)
* Edward Wayne Standinghorn (1989–1999)
* Tommy Whitecalf (2000–2003)
* Rod Atcheynum Jr. (2003–2005)
* Edward Wayne Standinghorn (2005–2011)
* Lori Whitecalf (2011–2017)
* Laurence Paskemin (2017–2019)
* Lori Whitecalf (2019–present)

== Economic development ==
According to the Sweetgrass First Nation 2020–2021 Annual Report, the band has planned to increase source revenues, focusing on revenues from investments made on urban reserve. The band was approved for $160,000 in funding from Indigenous Services Canada to be used for site infrastructure.<ref name="sweetgrassfirstnation.ca" /> The band also increased employment by partnering with the BATC Atoskewin Success Centre to build two tiny homes which are now being occupied by tenants.<ref name="sweetgrassfirstnation.ca" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Coord|52|49|02|N|108|33|05|W|display=title}}
{{First Nations in Central Saskatchewan}}
{{Numbertreaty|treaty=6}}
{{SKDivision12}}
{{SKDivision16}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Division No. 13, Saskatchewan]]