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Bowstrings Banff

The farther back one draws history’s string, the truer one's future aim.

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Our Shared History

Our Shared History focuses on a little-known Treaty between the Ktunaxa, Stoney Nakoda and Shuswap. It governed land use in the mountains on both sides of Canada’s Continental Divide.

Signed in 1895, the First-Nations-to-First-Nations agreement allowed Stoneys to harvest plants and berries on the western slopes of the Rockies, outside of their traditional territories, and Ktunaxa and Shuswap to harvest on the eastern slopes, outside of their traditional territories.

The Treaty reaffirms long-held oral stories about the Bow Valley being a route, a meeting place, a shared and sacred space.

Our Shared History initiative will document the stories known within families of Ktunaxa, Stoney Nakoda and the Shuswap, whose ancestors participated in the treaty signing. We will also research the journals of John McDougall, the missionary who translated the 1895 Agreement. His journals, likely written at his mission in Morleyville (shown below), provide another perspective on this important event.

Interested? Watch this page for more information, or follow us on Facebook to learn about future events. Reach out to us if you want to get involved.  Our email is [javascript protected email address].

McDougall panorama

Photo Credits

Sweetgrass (top) and Morleyville Church Panorama. Photos by Peter J. Poole.

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Banff has long been a place where early peoples came in peace to the foot of Sacred Buffalo Guardian Mountain by the Holy Springs. In the spirit of respect, reciprocity, and truth, we honour and acknowledge the deep and enduring memory of this valley held by Ktunaxa, Secwepemc, Métis, Dene & Tsuut’ina, Mountain Cree, Siksika & other Blackfoot, and Stoney Nakoda peoples. We acknowledge both the Treaty of 1877, Treaty Seven, and the Treaty of 1895 between the salmon and buffalo peoples. We are grateful to live here and live together with all our relations.

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