Amber Valley is one of the largest and most resilient early black communities in Alberta. In 1911, a group of settlers, some of whom had been brought from Oklahoma under the leadership of clergyman and Mason Parson H. Sneed, met their friends and family in a small hamlet (not the play but a small villiage) north of Edmonton near a bend in the Athabasca River. The community had already developed a certain unity because of they were all members of the Masonic organization, which had spread information about Canada to blacks throughout the United States. The large percentage of people of black ancestry and strong community structures meant that Amber Valley continued to be a major settlement for black people in Alberta until the 1930s.
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