Backgrounder

The Blood Tribe is a member of the Blackfoot Confederacy, which also includes the Siksika, the Piikani [Peigan], and the Blackfeet Nation. The traditional territory of the Blackfoot Confederacy is the area between the North Saskatchewan River and the Yellowstone River from the Cypress Hills to the mountains in the west, and the home base of the Blood Tribe is the area between the Kootenay (Waterton) and St Mary Rivers extending to the mountains at the international boundary.

Today, the Blood Tribe’s reserve in southern Alberta (Indian Reserve 148) is the largest Indian reserve in Canada. The reserve's northern boundary is located at the confluence of the St Mary and Belly Rivers at Kipp, and extends southward to an east-west line located 14 miles north of the international boundary.

The Blood Tribe is governed by a clan system that exists to this day. Traditionally, the Blood Tribe was known as “the Tribe of Many Chiefs.”  Sixteen clans and four sacred societies exist today, and include the Lone Fighters, Many Children, Blackened Lodge Door Flaps, Fish Eaters, All Short People, All Tall People, Little Robes, and Crooked Wheels. Each clan had its own particular areas within the home base. Every year, in the summer, all of the clans would gather for the Sundance and, in the winter, all of the clans would share wintering grounds.

The Blood Tribe’s traditional customs have always included consensus in decision making and innaihtsiini, a peacemaking approach to treaty. Essentially, a course of action is not chosen until consensus is reached. According to Blood Tribe custom, when consensus is reached, how the decision is made is not questioned and everyone is responsible for the decision. Innaihtsiini involves two disparate parties coming together and reaching an agreement to maintain peace.

By the time Treaty 7 was concluded on September 22, 1877, the Blood Tribe’s way of life was in transition; the buffalo were becoming extinct, and settlement had brought whiskey traders and new diseases to the area. One of the terms of Treaty 7 included a joint reserve set aside for the Blood Tribe, the Blackfoot and the Sarcee along the Bow River. Following the conclusion of Treaty 7, Red Crow, Chief of the Blood Tribe, broke camp and returned to the Blood Tribe’s home base.

The Blood Tribe never moved to the joint reserve at Bow River. Instead, in 1880, an Order in Council authorized a surrender of the Blood Tribe’s portion of the joint reserve, with a view to setting aside a reserve near Fort Kipp. In September 1880, a surrender of the Bow River reserve was taken from the Blood Tribe; however, there is no evidence that it was taken in accordance with the 1876 Indian Act provisions. A month later, Red Crow, Indian Agent N.T. MacLeod, and others selected the area for the Blood Tribe reserve. Indian Agent MacLeod reported that he did not agree with Red Crow’s selection for a reserve, and he selected other lands, which now form the current reserve.

The Blood Tribe's reserve was surveyed twice. In 1882, a 650-square-mile reserve, large enough for 3,250 people and located between the Belly and St Mary Rivers with the southern boundary located nine miles north of the international border, was surveyed by John Nelson, Dominion Land Surveyor. Nelson's second survey, in 1883, moved the southern boundary of the reserve farther north, resulting in a 547.5-square-mile reserve surveyed for approximately 2,737 people.

In 1887, a group of Mormons arrived from Utah and settled near Lee’s Creek at what eventually became the town of Cardston. The Mormons were camped within the boundary of the reserve as surveyed in 1882, but outside the boundary as surveyed in1883. Much confusion surrounded the reserve’s southern boundary, with the result that Indian Agent William Pocklington requested a map showing its exact location. After Pocklington met with Red Crow, the Department of Indian Affairs considered the confusion over the location of the southern boundary resolved, and, in 1888, the Mormons obtained Crown grants to the lands they had camped upon. An 1889 Order in Council confirmed the Blood Tribe reserve as surveyed in 1882 and amended in 1883.

As part of the inquiry, the Commission panel held two community sessions at which it listened to the testimony of the Blood Tribe Elders, community leaders and citizens. It also considered the parties’ written and oral submissions.

The ICC panel concluded that, although a reserve in the Blood Tribe's home base was not formally set aside by Treaty 7, the Crown was nevertheless obligated to set aside a reserve for the Blood Tribe. Historical events show that the Crown and the Blood Tribe agreed that the reserve would at least be located within the Blood Tribe’s home base and, presumably, subject to the other terms of Treaty 7, including the treaty land entitlement formula. From the panel’s perspective, the Blood Tribe held what could be described as a cognizable interest in its lands in the home base.

With respect to the surrender of the Blood Tribe’s interest in the Bow River reserve, the panel found that a surrender was required. The panel further found that the statutory requirements of a meeting and a vote on the surrender did not take place, and, as a result, the Indian Act was breached. However, the effect of a breach of these statutory requirements is technical in nature and did not invalidate the surrender.

As for when the Blood Tribe's reserve was established, the panel concluded that John
Nelson’s 1882 survey established the reserve. Because the reserve was established in 1882, a surrender was necessary in 1883 to move the southern boundary. The panel concluded that the Crown failed to fulfill its fiduciary obligations with respect to the movement of the southern boundary.

With respect to the treaty land entitlement (TLE) portion of this inquiry, the panel noted that the parties had agreed to limit their arguments to the date of first survey (DOFS) only and not address the remaining TLE issues. As the panel concluded that the Blood Tribe’s reserve was established in 1882, the panel also concluded that the DOFS is 1882.

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