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Research and Articles About Stoney People

This is a list of articles that I've found that have information about "Stoney" and "Nakoda" people (including folks at Morley, Eden Valley, Big Horn, Alexis & Paul Band). There may be articles that I have missed, so please let me know if you want to suggest one to add. Links are included if the source is available for free online. Many of these are only available from academic journals and universities, but I would be happy to find you .pdf copies if you contact me. These are sources available to the public that represent Îethka stories language values or beliefs

History of the Cochrane Area

Edward Donald Brown, 1951

Summary: This is a thesis that helped Brown get his Master of Arts Degree. It has a chapter called "The Indians and the Advent of the White Man" that is mostly about Stoney people.

Link to read the work.

 

Among the Nomadic Stoneys

George W. Pocaterra, 1963

Summary: George ran a ranch on the Highwood River, and befriended some Stoney people. He traveled back and forth between Stoney territory (and also lived along the Ghost River) and his home in Italy. This article is published in the Alberta Historical Review

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An inquiry into the political structures of the Alexis Band of Wood Stoney Indians, 1880-1964

Raoul R. Andersen, 1968

Summary: This is about the Alexis Band of the Stoney Indians and their political, social, and economic structure of society before 1877, the period of Government Trusteeship (1877-1957), and the more recent period of Band Council Leadership.

No link available. Published at the University of Missouri-Columbia

 

Warriors of the Rock: Basic Social Structure of the Mountain Bands of Stoney Indians at Morley, Alberta

Scott William Monroe, 1969

Summary: This research is about the differences between the three bands, and suggests that Wesley band is the most isolated and that it is politically different than the Chiniki and Bearspaw bands. 

Link to read the work.

 

The Administration of Federal Indian Aid in the North-West Territories, 1879-1885

Noel Evan Dyck, 1970

Summary: This research discusses generally how the farming that was introduced during the treaty process suffered due to poor government decision making. It also suggests some historic territory boundaries for the Stoney people,

Link to read the work.

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Alberta Stoney (Assiniboin) Origins and Adaptations; A case for Reappraisal

Raoul R. Andersen, 1970

Summary: Anderson was looking for the stories about where the Stoney originally came from. He looked at language, and some traditions to propose some suggestions and ideas.

Link to the read the work.

 

The Kootenay Plains (Alberta) Land Question and Canadian Indian Policy 1799-1949

J. W. Larner Jr., 1972

Summary: This research summarizes the written accounts of Îethka migration before 1800, and describes what it was like for the people of Kiska Waptan around the time of the treaty signing, and during the era of trading posts. The author writes a lot about how the Canadian and Provincial government saw the land in terms of its resource value.

No link available, there is access online through Proquest (with a subscription). There are copies at the University of Calgary. 

 

A Case History and Analysis of Stoney Indian-Government Interaction with regard to the Big Horn Dam: The Effects of Citizen Participation – A Lesson on Government Perfidy and Indian Frustration

W. E. A. Getty, 1975

Summary: This article is about the dam that was built at Kiska Waptan, and how the people there advocated for their right to be consulted and repaid for the damage it caused for their community. The author found that the Provincial government mistreated the Îethka people of Kiska Waptan and suggests that governments need to do better in dealing with land use and resource issues.

You can request a copy here.

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Perception as an Agent of Sociocultural Change for the Stoney Indians of Alberta

W. E. A. Getty, 1975

Summary: This research tries to explain what Îethka people felt about the church and the government in the early 1970s especially related to the Treaty process and the work of missionaries. The author finds that Îethka people don't have trust with the government and the church, and this led to mistrust of all white people, and that this impacts the decisions they make as a nation.  

You can request a copy here.

 

The Women of Calgary and District 1985-1914

Catherine Rose Philip, 1975

Summary: There is very little information about this research available online. It is tagged "Stoney" in library databases through, and the reserach was done at the University of Calgary.

No link available, a copy on microfiche is available at the University of Calgary. You have to go in person.

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The Kootenay Plains Land Question and Canadian Indian Policy, 1799-1949

J. W. Larner Jr., 1976

Summary: Larner advocates for compensation for the Stoney from land that they used in the Kootenay Plains area, but he also gives a bit of background about who he says the Stoney people are.

No link available, some universities have copies that you can borrow.

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Stoney Ethnobotany: An Indication of Cultural Change Amongst Stoney Women of Morley, Alberta

Joan M. Scott-Brown, 1977

Summary: This researcher talked to three generations of Îethka women about how they interact with the plant world, now that it's not "necessary for survival" anymore. The research speaks to cultural change, as well as traditional plant knowledge.

Link to read the work.  

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Man’s Mission of Subjugation: The Publications of John Mclean, John McDougall, and Egerton R. Young, Nineteenth-Century Methodist Missionaries in Western Canada

Sarah Alexander Carter, 1980

Summary: This research explored the writings of three Methodist missionaries. The author found that all three believed that Indigenous people were inferior compared to white people, and that it was right for the government to assume control of Indigenous people so they could be "civilized." The author shows that this perspective was important for the government because it gave them justification for policies, but that it wasn't accurate.

Link to read the work.

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The Curriculum of the Morley Indian Residential School 1923-1958

James D. Tandy, 1980

Summary: This research is an evaluation of the material that was taught to the students who attended the residential school at Morley in the 1920s through the 1950s. The author was specifically looking for what they call "progressive" education. The author used the Department of Indian Affairs archives to find this material, and they provide some discussion about how it was to gather information about the residential school. (See this page for more information about the Morley Residential Schools.)

You can request a copy here.

 

Indian Reserves in Canada: Development Problems of the Stoney and Pegian Reserves in Alberta

Claudia Notzke, 1985

Summary: I believe that this work is based on a thesis that Notzke wrote in 1982, and that's why I put it here in articles. The thesis was called The Development of Canadian Indian Reserves as Illustrated by the Example of the Stoney and Peigan Reserves. I haven't read either, but I will keep looking for copies of the book and thesis to add more information to this site.

This text is difficult to find. You can buy a copy here.

 

A Case Study in the Preparation of Teaching Materials for Indian Children

Susan E. Gibson, 1983

Summary: There is very little information about this research available online. It is tagged "Stoney" in library databases through, and the reserach was done at the University of Calgary.

No link available, a copy on microfiche is available at the University of Calgary. You have to go in person.

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The Fate of the Sharphead Stoneys

Brian Titley, 1991

Summary: This article is about the Stoney people who lived around Pigeon Lake and signed Treay 6. It discusses how this group of Stoney were unable to adjust to settled reserve life.

Link to the article (and other reports about the Sharphead people)

 

Making Banff a Wild West: Norman Luxton, Indians, and Banff Tourism 1902-1945

Laurie Meijer Drees, 1991

Summary: This research is about how Norman Luxton was able to make Banff seem like the "wild west" even after the west wasn't "wild" anymore. The author discusses how Stoney people were part of this project, and explores a bit about how they felt about being part of Banff Indian Days.

You can request a copy here.

 

Memories of Morley

John Niddrie, 1992

Summary: it's hard to find much information about this article from Alberta History (Volume 40). John Niddrie was a teacher at the McDougall school and orphanage, so he died long before this article was written.

No link available.

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A model of community centered education; the evolution of post-secondary education programming on the Stoney Indian Reserve

Victor A. Botari, 1996

Summary: This research is about the history of post-secondary (after high school) education at Morley. The author suggests that as the nation took control of their education programs, they were more successful and useful for the community and the students.

Link to read the work.

 

Teaching on the Reserve: A Non-Native Perspective

David J. Fox, 2000

Summary: This research is written by a teacher who worked at "Stoney" "Peigan" and "Blood" schools. He describes what it is like to work at reserve schools, and he provides some discussion about what he thinks makes a school more or less successful for a community.

Link to read the work.

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Let the Line be Drawn Now: Wilderness, Conservation and the exclusion of Aboriginal people from Banff National Park

Theodore Binnema, Melanie Niemi, 2006

Summary: This article suggests that the Stoney people were excluded from Banff so that others could benefit from economic opportunities. It gives some history about how Stoney were excluded, and suggests that this happened elsewhere too.

Link to read the work.

There are a lot of articles about the "Stoney" Language. They are part of a subject called "linguistics" and they use a lot of technical language. This website has a database of a lot of research about the language. You can learn about how linguists think the Îethka language is related to other languages from this website as well.

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