While PAS has had many-a-run-in with Mr. Del Rey & do not condone his illicit business practices with Del Rey Digging, he has brought up an important point:
Much of Purgatory & the surrounding region is the ancestral lands of the Nakota (Assiniboine) people.
(Thread)

The name 'Assiniboine' was adopted by the French Canadian colonialists in the region and comes from the Ojibwe word for the Nakota, 'Asiniibwaan', meaning 'Stone Sioux'. Nakota Oyadebi is their name in the Nakota language, a language within the Western Siouan family.

Parts of Montana, North Dakota, Alberta, & Saskatchewan are the ancestral lands of the Nakota/Assiniboine people. Alberta is also the ancestral lands of the Tsu T'ina (Sarcee), Kainai (Blood/Blackfoot), Piikani (Peigan/Blackfoot), Ktenaxa (Kootenay), & the Siksika (Blackfeet)

The traditional Nakota Oyadebi lifeways exhibited most of the classic Plains tribes traits: experienced bison hunters who lived seasonal camps or villages while following the herds, but also hunting other big & small game while practicing horticulture according to the seasons.

The Nakota/Assiniboine people developed a powerful influence in the region with neighboring tribes, hunting vast numbers of bison and dominated the territory ranging north from the North Saskatchewan River to the Missouri River in the south.

The Natoka/Assiniboine became a major trade partner with European traders in the region. However, contact with the Europeans resulted in a devastating number of deaths caused by infectious diseases. The tribe was estimated at 10,000 people in 18thC to approx 2,600 people by 1890.

The Assiniboine were a key part of the alliance of the northern Plains nations known as the Iron Confederacy. the Confederacy were allies in the fur trade & acted as intermediaries in the Great Plains trading network & as military shelter against the Blackfoot, Ojibwe & Metis.

The Confederacy posed a threat to other Plains nations like the Shosone & Crow further south & Blackfoot allies: Arapaho & Cheyenne. The decline of the fur trade & overhunting of bison herds eventually decimated the Confederacy's primary food source which led to it's breakdown.

With the near extinction of the bison in the 1880s, their primary food source, the Nakota reluctantly agreed to living on reserve lands. In Canada, separate bands of the Nakota signed a number treaties (1874 & 1876) which were devastating to the Nakota people.

The govt restricted their religious ceremonies & infringed on political activity. In the following decades frequent abuse & cultural disassociation in residential schools, limited education and training, and systematic discrimination along w/ poor housing & health was endemic

The Indian Act passed in 1951 which removed restrictions on religious ceremonies and political activity which resulted in increased civil rights and sovereignty activism including the reinstating of band land and reserve status that had been stolen by the govt in 1901.

Today the Assiniboine First Nations exercise various degrees of self-government through elected band councils but under restrictions of the Indian Act, the Canadian Constitution of 1982, court decisions, & the dept of Aboriginal Affairs.

Today there are only approx 150 Assiniboine speakers. Early 21st century population estimates indicate approximately 7,000 individuals of Nakota/Assiniboin descent. Through community-led initiatives, healthcare, education and language resources have seen numerous successes.

However, numerous systemic challenges are still faced by Nakota/Assiniboine people and other First Nations and Tribal Nations in Canada and the US. Sovereignty is continually undermined & colonizer governments repeatedly suppress Indigenous voices, rights, & self-determination.

So while we enjoy the beautiful landscape of Purgatory & the Ghost River Triangle, bear in mind that they are the rightful and ancestral lands of the Nakota Tsu T'ina, Kainai, Piikani, Ktenaxa, & the Siksika
#WynonnaEarp #EarpSoon #EarpNow #IndigenousLivesMatter