The Beaver First Nation is located near High Level, in northern Alberta, in the
Treaty
8 region. Traditionally, people of the Beaver Nation
are from the Dene 'Tha language group.
The Beaver are linguistic cousins to the Dene 'Tha (Slavey), Chipewyan and
Tsuu T'ina (Sarcee), all languages of Athapaskan origin. The Beaver are also known as
Tsattine, meaning "dwellers among
the beavers." Although little is known about the traditional dress of the Beaver nation, by the mid 19th century
they had largely adopted the European dress of the sojourners and homesteaders that had arrived in the
Peace River region.
The Beavers originally inhabited a vast territory between the present-day
Alberta-Saskatchewan border and the Peace River. They existed in relatively small family groups for most of
the year.
Pushed by the Cree towards the west, the Beaver Nation began to hunt game (moose being a dietary staple)
throughout the Peace River country. They extended their
hunting grounds as far west as the Rocky Mountains. At the time of
contact, there were approximately four bands, consisting of around 1,000 people, but by the late
1800s their numbers had decreased to less than half that due to
recurrent epidemics of smallpox,
measles and influenza.
The Beaver people, their numbers decimated by disease and starvation, were the last band to sign
Treaty 8 in May 1900. The Dunne-za, perhaps more than any other tribe in the area, suffered from the
encroachment of white settlement. At first the Dunne-za were reluctant to take treaty, and stayed
away during the initial Treaty 8 negotiations in 1899. They finally signed in 1900, but because they
were widely scattered, the Beaver required several adhesions to get many family groups signed
onto the treaty. Following the signing of Treaty 8, the Beaver did not move immediately to
their assigned reserves but continued their nomadic lifestyle. One of their
small reserves near the town of Peace River was exchanged for land closer to their hunting
territory.
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