Mountains Magazine
Peak pleasures year round
Mountain People:
Stoney Nakoda
On the eastern edge of Canada's Rocky Mountains, the Stoney Nakoda have a mountain history dating back 350 years. Here we learn more about their origins, language, culture and more.
Since making their home in the foothills of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains from the 1640s, the Stoney Nakoda (“Nakoda” means “ally”) people hunted, fishing and trapping. They traded and eventually became guides to explorers and railwaymen. Their knowledge of passes was invaluable to those who wished to conquer the mountains through fur hunting or by the iron road. They’re also known as the Îyârhe Nakoda.
Originally known as “Iyethkabi” the Europeans used the name “Stoney” after observing how this mountain people placed stones heated in fires into bowls in order to boil their food. Conned by a Christian missionary into accepting an 1877 treaty this First Nations people were left them with one tract of reserve land, when they should have been given three reserves for three separate groups.
Today the Stoney Nakoda own several reserves, the largest of which is the original 1879 reserve – called Mînî Thnî – which is 56km west of Calgary and has a population of 3,494 living on 445km2 of land. At the last count the Stoney Nakoda population totalled over 3,700. Their language is related to Sioux-Assiniboine and, to greet someone, you would say “Âba wathtech” (AHM-bah wah-THTAYCH).
Berry soup is a traditional dish of the Nakoda and uses whichever berries are available (saskatoon and blueberry being the most common). The Stoney Nakoda place great value in sharing stories, if you want to hear some in the original language – with summaries in English at the end – the Stoney Podcast has some free episodes.
Trading with Europeans resulted in the introduction of beads to the Stony Nakoda, who turned them into beautiful beadwork. The Canmore Museum is a great place to find out more about the history of the area. Canmore is called Chuwapchipchiyan Kudi Bi in the Stoney Nakoda language, this town on the edge of Banff National Park is also home to artsPlace where you can take part in workshops such as Stoney Nakoda beading.
Overlooking Canada’s vast prairies with the Rockies at its back, Mount Kidd was originally named Sleeping Warrior after the Stoney Nakoda warriors who slept on the flanks of this 2,958m mountain. You can take a 45-minute tour to the mountain in a helicopter for CAD$500pp. Far more prominent is 3,618m Mount Assiniboine, which a European explorer named after visiting on a cloudy day, the cloud on the peak reminding him of the smoke emanating from Assiniboine teepees.
Today the Stoney Nakoda make a living through trapping, ranching, guiding and various other professions. They also fight for the right to earn royalties from fossil fuel extraction from under their lands, as well as for various environmental protections above ground.
