Tidbits to Know

Tidbits to Know Places to See

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• Many Aboriginal groups go by two names—what they call themselves and the name given them by the early Europeans. Below are a few examples

  Huron French for ‘bristly’. Huron referred to the to the distinctive headdress of the ‘Wendat’ or ‘Wyandot’ which means ‘Island People’.

  Iroquois Algonkian for ‘rattlesnakes’. Their own name ‘Haudenosaunee’ means ‘People of the long house’.

  Ojibwa (Ojibway, Ojibwe, and Chippewa) Means ‘puckered up’, and refers to the stitching on moccasins. Originally known as ‘Anishinabe’, meaning ‘real people’.

  Sioux Short for the Ojibwa term ‘nadouessiox’, meaning ‘adders’. The oldest primary designations are Lakato or Dakota which are variant terms for ‘allies’.

• The Ermineskin Band lives on the Ermineskin and Pigeon Lake reserves, which cover 30,191 acres of land. The reserves are home to 1,434 Aboriginal People. Another 689 people belong to the band, but live off of the reserve. The Ermineskin speak Algonquian Cree.
  
  
• Smoked buffalo tongue is considered a delicacy.
  
  
• Cree people often refer to themselves as ‘Nehiyowuk’, which means ‘exact people’.
  
  
• Liver was eaten warm and raw after a kill, and was considered a special treat.
  
  
• Aboriginal People used all parts of the buffalo and created many ingenious items. Buffalo hooves were boiled to make an all purpose glue, horns were used for cups and spoons, the bladder was used to store drinking water and the stomach to simulate a pot and kettle. The hide was used for robes in the winter and scraped in the summer to make tipis and clothing.
  
  
• By the 1700s horses arrived on the plains and the buffalo hunt was transformed. Hunters could travel farther on horses to find grazing buffalo. Aboriginal People could also access trading posts where they could exchange surplus buffalo hides for European goods.
  
  
• The Samson Band consists of two reserves at Samson and Pigeon Lake covering 38,569 acres. Approximately 3,680 people live on the reserves, while another 736 live off of the reserve. They traditionally speak Algonkian Cree.
  
  
• The Montana Band is the smallest of those at Hobbema; a reserve that covers 11,730 acres. The Montana band is home to 384 people, with another 189 living off the reserve.
  
  
• The Louis Bull reserve at Hobbema consists of 13,122 acres of land with 822 members living on the reserve and another 241 living off of the reserve. Seven members live on crown land.

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