PAUL FIRST NATION HISTORY

Anthropologists believe that the Stoney Nakoda of the Paul First Nation in Alberta are descendants of the Assiniboine's in their “... most northwesterly penetration into the foothills of the Canadian Rockies ...”, Probably sometime in the early or mid 1700s.

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Man's Shirt (Assiniboine/Stony)

Place: Jack Pine; Alexis Reserve, Wabamun Reserve (Paul First Nation); Alberta; Canada, This item is currently in the possession of the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), Smithsonian, Washington DC. Collected in 1926 by Donald A. Cadzow (1894-1960, MAI staff member) during fieldwork sponsored by MAI.

PAUL BAND ORIGINS

In 1886, a small group of Alexis Nakota band members followed Headman Ironhead to a location on Wabamun Lake to live independently and build a new community. Currently this reserve is referred to as Paul or Paul’s Band.

In 1894, 72 Sharphead Nakota/Nakoda Band members were moved to this reserve and were forthwith administered out of the Edmonton Agency.

*SURVEY OF THE RESERVE 1891

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*CHIEFS AND COUNCILLORS HISTORICAL TIMELINE

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*HISTORICAL REPORTS AND RESEARCH

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*SHARPHEAD NAKOTA BAND

Wabamun Lake, Alberta, Canada

LOCATION

Wabamun Lake, a traditional fishing and hunting area, had been selected by Chief Ironhead as a desirable area for his band. Wabamun is a Cree word meaning mirror or looking glass. The lake was once referred to as White Whale Lake. The Stoney people called it Wihnemne (glass looking glass). Reserve lands Wabamun 133A and 133B, surveyed in November 1891 by John C. Nelson, were established through an Order in Council on June 16, 1892 (ICC 2007a).