Paul Band Origins

The Stoney: Ethnographic Affiliations

“The Paul Band First Nation membership is composed largely of Stoney (Assiniboine/Assiniboin) and secondarily of Woodland Cree. Of the Stoney population, a distinction is made between Woodland Stoneys (Henry the Younger’s “Swampy Ground Assiniboines”) and Plains Stoneys (Henry the Younger’s “Strong Woods Assiniboines”) and the amalgamation of the two in the Paul Band as a consequence of historic population transfers (See documents relating to Sharpheads and Buck Lake). … It is clear from the oral history of elders in Paul Band and from historic records such as the Hudson’s Bay Company censuses the accounts of Alexander Henry the Younger and missionaries, such as Rev. Robert Rundle and the Catholic Oblates, that the cultural affiliation of the Paul Band was primarily Stoney; a cultural identity separate from that of its Woodland Cree membership (Algonquian Cree), and retaining a distinct dialect of the ancestral Siouan language.” - Franca E. Boag / Altamira Consulting Ltd (2002)