JANUARY
Chiniki First Nation Coun. Jordie Mark calls on the Calgary Flames to incorporate an Indigenous land acknowledgement before home games. The team was the only Canadian NHL organization without one at the time.
Six feral or domesticated horses killed in vehicle collisions on the Trans-Canada Highway in Îyârhe Nakoda First Nation in as many months leads to calls from local protective services to improve fencing along the busy stretch of highway.
FEBRUARY
Stoney Education Authority, knowledge keepers and elders celebrate the launch of a Stoney podcast, textbook and dictionary in an effort to preserve the Stoney language for future generations.
Goodstoney First Nation celebrates the inauguration of re-elected Chief Clifford Poucette and Coun. Krista Hunter, and newly elected Couns. Watson Kaquitts, Desi Ear and Thomas Dixon.
The federal government announces funding of $13 million through its Rapid Housing Initiative to support the construction of 44 affordable housing units between Goodstoney and Chiniki First Nations, as well as O’Chiese First Nation. Goodstoney secured 10 homes, while Chiniki secured 15.
A three-day First Nations Drinking Water Settlement signing blitz saw more than 1,000 people submit claims seeking compensation from the federal government for harm caused by drinking water advisories that were in place on Îyârhe Nakoda First Nation from Nov. 27, 2001 to Aug. 2, 2005 and from Oct. 20, 2006 to March 21, 2014.
MARCH
Mînî Hrpa, a Stoney named Indigenous cultural pop-up centre, celebrates its launch in Banff through the work of the Banff Canmore Community Foundation's Moving Mountains initiative.
A revised master plan for 240 acres of land designated for commercial development around the Stoney Nakoda Resort and Casino proposes much-needed housing, commercial opportunities and regional transit for Îyârhe Nakoda First Nation and the Bow Valley area.
APRIL
The 2023 provincial budget pledges $54 million over three years in long-awaited upgrades to a narrow, winding 29km section of Highway 1A through Îyârhe Nakoda First Nation. The roadway has not been significantly updated since it was built in 1946 and has long been a public safety issue for motorists and pedestrians, with no shoulder on either side.
Stoney Health Services shared plans to build a long-term care facility in Mînî Thnî by 2025. Up to $8.9 million in provincial grant funding will be used to support the development of a facility with 21 continuing care spaces.
A car crashed through the halls of Mînî Thnî Community School while students were on spring break. Estimated damages were in excess of $150,000 and RCMP arrested a suspect following the incident. Students were able to return to school a week later following structural repairs.
MAY
A public inquiry was held into the 2017 death of Îyârhe Nakoda man Ralph Lorne Stephens, who was fatally shot by RCMP in 2017 while officers were executing an arrest warrant on him. An Alberta Serious Incident Response Team investigation following the man’s death found RCMP acted lawfully. Information heard in the public inquiry will be compiled into a report to include findings and potential recommendations aimed at preventing similar fatalities.
RCMP and protective services warn of a toxic drug supply circulating Îyârhe Nakoda First Nation that tragically killed three people by overdose in two days, May 3-4.
JUNE
Bearspaw First Nation Chief Darcy Dixon calls out Alberta’s minister of municipal affairs Ric McIver on false statements the minister made in the legislature regarding Îyârhe Nakoda First Nation’s support of a proposed Bow River dam on Nation lands upstream of Mînî Thnî. The chief noted the Nation has not formally supported the project, nor blessed a site as McIver stated in the legislature.
Band members representing Chiniki, Bearspaw and Goodstoney First Nations sue Stoney Nakoda Nations for the release of financial reports mandated by federal law under the First Nations Financial Transparency Act. Muriel Labelle, Wanda Rider and Kenny Hunter initiated legal action over a lack of transparency they believe leaves an opportunity for the mismanagement of band funds.
Nakoda Emergency Services hosted a townhall to address issues with roaming dogs forming packs on the Nation and killing livestock and other animals, as well as posing a threat to people. Protective services officials drafted an animal bylaw aimed at helping control the growing dog population to take to chiefs and council in response.
JULY
A 19-year-old bull rider from Ermineskin Cree Nation was killed after being bucked from a bull while competing at the Morley Rodeo at the Chiniki Rodeo Grounds.
Îyârhe Nakoda First Nation celebrates opening a new horse track near the Chief Goodstoney Rodeo Centre with the inaugural Mînî Thnî Indian Relay Race.
A lawsuit filed by Bearspaw First Nation against the federal government claims the Nation lost $5 million which could have been invested during a trust money transfer that took nearly four months to complete. Bearspaw’s claim seeks total damages of $5.1 million for stalling the Nation from investing money into its legacy trust sooner.
A water main extension project is announced for Mînî Thnî and Big Horn that will tie in over 70 homes in 2024, eliminating private wells previously under boil water advisories. In Eden Valley, plans are revealed to rebuild the community’s water treatment plant, which burned down in a fire in 2022, and to connect all homes to pipe water by 2027.
AUGUST
A letter from Bearspaw First Nation Chief Darcy Dixon to Indigenous Services Canada seeking support to tackle the opioid crisis in Îyârhe Nakoda First Nation sheds light on the number of deaths linked to overdoses. The chief’s letter reports there were 58 deaths in the Nation in 2021, 72 deaths in 2020, 43 in 2019 and 35 in 2018.
Swift Mînî Thnî Transit adds Nakoda Emergency Services security guards to its service after a bus driver is assaulted by a man trying to board the bus.
SEPTEMBER
A court application for a forensic audit of Stoney Nakoda Nation by three band members of Îyârhe Nakoda First Nation finds there is not enough evidence in financial documents issued to the Court of King’s Bench by SNN to appoint an independent auditor, nor was the litigants application sufficient for the request.
OCTOBER
A 911 mapping project in Mînî Thnî ensuring all residents and businesses can call 911 on the Nation from a landline goes live. Prior to the change, those phoning from a landline had to call a local 10-digit number in an emergency. The project used geographic information technology to collect mapping data for the area and involved naming over 200 roads and assigning alarm numbers to residences and commercial buildings to assist in emergency response.
Îyârhe Nakoda First Nations elders call a meeting with chiefs and council over concerns of transparency in spending band money following a court decision that denied a financial audit of Stoney Nakoda Nation. The meeting is attended by about 50 people and one councillor with Stoney Tribal Council.
The Stoney Nakoda Adult Treatment Centre in Mînî Thnî officially opens its doors Oct. 5 in response to a growing need for culturally centred recovery programs in Îyârhe Nakoda First Nation.
NOVEMBER
An Alberta Serious Incident Response investigation into whether Cochrane RCMP officers were criminally negligent in the death of a Mînî Thnî infant in 2021 found no fault on the part of responding officers. Six-month-old Tanayah Kootenay-Hunter was killed by her father Tyriq Kootenay, who received a 9-and-a-half-year sentence for manslaughter in September.
Îyârhe Nakoda First Nation and Simpcw First Nation in B.C. renew a time-honoured oral agreement between the Nations to share and steward the land of what is now known as Jasper National Park. In partnership with Parks Canada, the Nations celebrated the occasion with a provisioned hunt in the national park.
A plan for a tri-services building in Mînî Thnî proposes housing fire, EMS and a combined RCMP and Indigenous policing model to better serve the needs of Îyârhe Nakoda First Nation. The proposed site is located off Mînî Thnî road between the townsite and Trans-Canada Highway.
Stoney Health Services celebrates the expansion of its health centre, doubling the facility’s footprint in size and increasing services to include new dental and optometry clinics, additional counselling space and enhanced primary care space and services, to name a few.
DECEMBER
Îyârhe Nakoda First Nation’s Margaret Holloway is named 2024 Calgary Stampede First Nations Princess. Îyârhe Nakoda elder and Mînî Thnî Community School teacher Duane Mark is also featured on the event’s official 2024 poster.
Chiniki First Nation Chief Aaron Young is re-elected in the band’s Dec. 8 election. Also elected was new Coun. Darius Chiniquay and re-elected Couns. Boyd Wesley, Verna Powderface and Charles Mark.
