The Beardy’s and Okemasis’ Cree Nation
Willow Cree People
We, the Beardy’s and Okemasis’ Cree Nation have the inherent right to govern ourselves according to our customs, traditions and natural laws of the Nehiyawak. We declare these are our truths; We are a Nation of many Nations. Chief Beardy (Kamiyistowesit) and Chief Cutnose signed an adhesion to Treaty 6 on August 28, 1876 near Fort Carlton thereby entering into Treaty with the Crown, exercising all the powers of our Sovereignty and Nationhood. Under this special relationship, the Crown has special obligations to all of the People of the Beardy’s and Okemasis’ Cree Nation current and future members for as long as the sun shines, the grass grows and the rivers flow.
“We are a people of heart and a Nation of history.”
We are a people of heart and a Nation of history. We have occupied these lands from time immemorial and our history includes entire history of Canada and many touchstones in the formation of this country. Fort Carlton, the place where Treaty Six was negotiated and major Western fur trade hub just 15 minutes east of our community which brought new people and goods to our people. The 1885 Battle of Duck Lake part of the Métis resistance was fought West of our community on the old Carlton Trail. In reaction to this resistance the Crown depose Chief Beardy and Chief Okemasis and strip them of their Treaty medals, and abolished their councils; these positions would not be filled again until 1936. Our Nation’s children survived St. Michael’s Residential School which official closed in 1996. These history is marked in our three national historic sites; the Treaty 6 Cairn, the St. Michael’s Residential School site, and the Battle of Duck Lake Monument.
These truths make us stronger, guiding us on a healing journey supported by the rights passed down from our ancestors, Treaty 6, and natural laws of the nehiyak. The Nation values the health of its members and seeks to provide a community which fosters holistic, mental, spiritual, emotional and physical well-being.
