Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation

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The name of this reserve originated from the first chief, who was also named Ahtahkakoop (Starblanket). Chief Ahtahkakoop signed Treaty Six in 1887 with a population of 185.

 

 

 

Tribal Name: Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation

Address: PO BOX 220, SHELL LAKE, SK, S0J 2G0
Phone:  (306)468-2326
Fax: (306) 468-2344
Email:
Official Website: https://www.ahtahkakoop.ca/

Band No. 406
Traditional Name:
Alternate Names:

Province: Saskatchewan
Geographic Region:  Plains

Aboriginal Status: Status Band
Tribal Affiliation: Cree

Governance:
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Reserve No.
Name: Ahtahkakoop Reserve #104
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Treaties: Treaty No. 6, signed in 1887

Population: 2,770 in September 2005 with 1,200 living on the reserve.
Language: Cree

Tribal Culture:

Tribal History:

When settlers decimated the great buffalo herds that sustained the Plains Crees, these semi-nomadic people were forced to survive by farming often-inhospitable land. In 1877 they signed Treaty 6, giving up their vast hunting territory in exchange for a 67-square-mile reserve and $5 a year “per head.”

Signing on behalf of the Crees was the legendary Chief Ahtahkakoop, whose name the community adopted as its own.

The promised future of pastoral bliss never came. Crops failed; starvation and tuberculosis ravaged the community; Indian Affairs agents physically abused hungry Crees who asked for food.

Through the hardship, one of the constants was the Ahenakew clan and its dominance over the community. An Ahenakew has been chief for 85 of the past 90 years.

People of Note:

•Chief John Ahtahkakoop (StarBlanket)1816–1896

•Cree Chief Kaneonuskatew (One Who Walks on Four Claws) 19th-century

•Cree Chief Muscowequan (Hard Quill)19th-century

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