This post launches a five-part educational campaign by Blackfoot Confederacy Tribal Council—separating fiction from fact, correcting misinformation, and protecting Blackfoot and First Nations’ rights.

Week 2 | MEtis Nation of Alberta (MNA) Harvesting rights in Blackfoot Territory

Fiction:

“The Metis Nation of Alberta have inherent harvesting rights covering every corner of our province including the south.” – Source: MNA website harvesting rights page

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Fact:

The Blackfoot Confederacy has protected, governed, and harvested from this land for thousands of years. Southern Alberta is Blackfoot Territory. It was never the homeland of rights bearing Metis communities.

Throughout the 1800s our main rival on the plains were the Cree. When buffalo herds declined and moved deeper into our territory, conflict concentrated inside Blackfoot homelands. The 1870 Battle of Belly River in Sikoohkotok, present day Lethbridge, was a decisive Blackfoot victory and is recognized as the last large scale battle between First Nations on the northern plains.

United States based fur traders did not attempt to move into southern Alberta until the 1830s because of the strength of the Blackfoot Confederacy. When the Hudsons Bay Company built Old Bow Fort, also called the Peigan Post, in 1832 to pull Blackfoot trade away from American traders, it was abandoned within two years. It provided few furs and required many men because of the danger of operating inside Blackfoot Territory. After it was abandoned, the Blackfoot burned it down.

From 1800 to 1859, Hudsons Bay Company Governor George Simpson marked southern Alberta as “terra incognita,” meaning unknown land. It was unknown to them because they could not safely enter it. The Blackfoot Confederacy maintained undisputed control over this land until the 1880s.

Niitsitapi do not have a word for “Metis.” Settler record keepers often used their own words like “half breed,” but our ancestors followed kinship law. If a child was born into our families, they were Niitsitapi. They were our own.

Our Elders tell stories about early encounters when settler hunting parties and Northwest Mounted Police entered without permission. Blackfoot warriors counted coup on them and took their Hudsons Bay capotes as a warning. It reminded newcomers that Blackfoot Territory requires respect and consent.

The Truth: Modern courts have confirmed what Blackfoot knowledge keepers have always said. The 2011 Hirsekorn decision found that there are no historic rights bearing Metis communities in southern Alberta. Because of this, there are no constitutionally protected Metis harvesting rights inside Blackfoot Territory.

Metis harvesting rights recognized by Alberta apply only in areas in northern Alberta where historic Metis communities were proven to exist. No such communities existed in the Blackfoot Treaty 7 area of the Siksika, Kainai, Piikani, or Aamskaapipikani.

No modern organization can claim historic rights here when the history shows clearly that this territory was Blackfoot controlled, Blackfoot governed, and Blackfoot defended. This is Blackfoot Territory.

Solidarity and Respect: We are strengthened by many allies and by Metis organizations in southern Alberta who continue to speak the truth.

The Lethbridge and Area Metis Association recently stated that the MNA does not represent them. They reaffirmed their respect for Treaty 7 Territory and recognized the Blackfoot Confederacy as the traditional land keepers of this region. They also acknowledged that Metis families historically moved across the prairies but that these lands remain the homelands of the Blackfoot Confederacy.

We thank our Elders, our knowledge keepers, our researchers, our community, and our allies who continue to walk with us in truth and respect. Together we stand in unity and affirm what has never changed. This is and will always be Niitsitapi Blackfoot Territory.