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17-505: The Oldman River Dam was completed in 1991. The project had been opposed by some members of the Piikani Nation , led by Milton Born With A Tooth , who argued that the Piikani owned the rights to the water in the river and that the dam would result in the flooding of sacred Piikani land, (their burial ground). In 1990, Born With A Tooth attempted to use an excavator to divert the river away from

34-505: Is a member of the Treaty 7 Management Corporation . The Piikani Nation has a history of firsts. It was the first band in Alberta to demand a vote in provincial elections, the first to allow liquor onto a reserve, the first to assume administration of their reserve, and the first to host Indian Day Celebrations as a means of retaining and maintaining their culture. Education has been controlled by

51-675: Is governed by a council comprising a chief and twelve councillors elected according to custom rather than the provisions of the Indian Act. To this end, in 2002, the Piikani Nation implemented the Piikani Nation Election By-law and Regulations (collectively referred to as the "Election Code"). This code includes a reference in its preamble to Piikanissini , the traditional teachings of the Piikani, and allows for councillors to be dismissed if they are found to be in violation of

68-767: The Blackfoot Confederacy ( Niitsítapi / ᖹᒧᐧᒣᑯ ), the Peigan people occupied territory before the 1870s on both sides of what is now the Canada–United States border . The Blackfoot Confederacy signed several treaties with the US and received the Great Northern Reservation, an initially vast reservation in present-day Montana. However, 220 Peigans were massacred by the US Army in 1870 and American authorities pressured

85-614: The Oldman River , west of the future site of Lethbridge , to the west of the Kainai tribe. With its headquarters in Brocket, Alberta , the Piikani Nation controls two parcels of land, Peigan Timber Limit "B" and the Piikani 147 Indian reserve (on which Brocket is located). As of 2014 the band had a registered population of 3,638 members, of whom 2,358 lived on Piikani Nation reserves. The band

102-745: The Peigan Nation ) ( Blackfoot : Piikani / ᑯᖾᖹ ) is a First Nation (or an Indian band as defined by the Indian Act ), representing the Indigenous people in Canada known as the Northern Piikani ([Aapátohsipikáni / ᖳᑫᒪᓱᑯᖿᖹ] Error: {{Langx}}: Non-latn text/Latn script subtag mismatch ( help ) ) or simply the Peigan ( Piikani or Pe'-e-ku-nee ). Historically speaking the Blackfoot language and members of

119-680: The Blackfoot to give up more and more lands to settlers (69,000 km or 17 million acres were ceded in 1887 ), leading some Peigans to relocate to Canada and sign Treaty 7 with the Canadian government in 1877. The Peigan are now divided between the Blackfeet Nation ( Aamsskáápipikani / ᖳᐢᔈᖿᑯᑯᖿᖹ or "Southern Piikani") based on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana , and

136-734: The Election Bylaws and in keeping with the principles of Piikanissini ." In 2002 the voters of Piikani Nation approved a $ 64.3 million settlement with the governments of Alberta and Canada over Piikani water rights impacted by the Lethbridge Northern Irrigation Headworks on the Oldman River. The monies were deposited in the Piikani Trust governed by the Piikani Trust Agreement. The agreement also allowed

153-640: The Election Code did not include such powers for the elders as written, however, and so it gave the band six months to clarify the code. The principles of Piikanissini were invoked once again when on December 13, 2013, Gayle Strikes With A Gun was removed as chief by the Piikani Nation Removal Appeals Board because she "failed to maintain a standard of conduct expected of a member of the Piikani Nation Council, as set out in

170-643: The Lethbridge Northern Irrigation District canal intake. When the Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrived, Born With A Tooth fired his rifle twice. Ultimately, he was convicted of assault and several other offences and spent four and a half years in prison. The dam was the subject of a number of legal challenges in the 1980s and 1990s. Since 2003, ATCO has operated the Oldman River Hydroelectric Plant at

187-460: The Nation to acquire 10,300 acres (42 km ) of new reserve land. The band later took out loans against the trust to invest in industrial developments, and were then sued by a band member alleging mismanagement. The band then filed suit against a Calgary-based investment broker for defrauding it of $ 23 million from the settlement. In 2012, the band's investment company, Piikani Investment Corporation,

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204-720: The Piikani Nation ( Aapátohsipikáni / ᖳᑫᒪᓱᑯᖿᖹ or "Northern Piikani") in Alberta . The other members of the Confederacy are the Blackfoot-speaking Káínaa / ᖿᖱᖻᖷ or Blood and the Siksiká / ᓱᖽᐧᖿ or Blackfoot , as well as the Tsuut'ina or Sarcee who only became allied later and spoke an unrelated language. At the time the treaties were signed, the Northern Peigan were situated on

221-615: The band since 1986 when a high school was built on the reserve. This is managed by the Peigan Board of Education, a non-profit society registered under the Societies Act of Alberta , comprising six trustees elected at large by the band's membership and one appointed by the band council. Scholarships and bursaries are provided by the Piikani Youth & Education Foundation with monies from the Piikani Trust Agreement (see below). The band

238-804: The dam. The plant is capable of producing 32 megawatts of electrical power; the average annual generation is approximately 114 gigawatt-hours per year. The plant is 25 percent owned by the Piikani Nation. The Oldman River in southwestern Alberta provides 30 per cent of the water flow for the South Saskatchewan River Basin. The reservoir created by the dam and the surrounding area constitutes the Oldman Dam Provincial Recreation Area. 49°33′51″N 113°54′18″W  /  49.5642°N 113.9049°W  / 49.5642; -113.9049 Piikani Nation The Piikani Nation ( / p ɪ ˈ - ɪ - k ə - n i / , formerly

255-644: The fourth-largest Indian reserve in Canada, and lies at an elevation of 1,046 m (3,432 ft). The Canada 2011 Census reported a population of 1,217 inhabitants. It is bordered by the Municipal District of Willow Creek No. 26 on its north and east, and by the Municipal District of Pincher Creek No. 9 on its west and south. The nearest outside communities are Fort Macleod and Pincher Creek . 49°35′N 113°40′W  /  49.583°N 113.667°W  / 49.583; -113.667  ( Peigan 147 ) This Southern Alberta location article

272-582: The tenets of Piikanissini . A court case in 2008 also allowed for the principles of Piikanissini to be invoked to prevent a candidate from running from office, rather than to remove them once in office. The court found that the elders of the community functioned like a senate , and that they were the proper body to advise the Piikani Nation Election Removals Board and the Chief Electoral Officer. The court ruled that

289-461: Was restructured in the bankruptcy courts. The alleged mismanagement became part of a Royal Canadian Mounted Police investigation in 2013. Piikani 147 Piikani 147 , formerly Peigan 147 , is an Indian reserve of the Piikani Nation in Alberta . It is located 61 km (38 mi) west of the City of Lethbridge . It has a land area of 426.992 km (164.863 sq mi), making it

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