First Nations

A woman seated on a tall stool speaks indoors while holding a book.

Daughter shares Rose Potts’s residential school story at Vista Village

Rose Potts was four years old when a crew from the supply boat that brought food to communities along the Mackenzie River took her and one of her brothers away to residential school. “I have cried for my mother ever since,” Rose said. Now 103 and a resident of Vista Village in Pincher Creek, Rose […]

Read Article

A woman raises a white cloth beside a memorial display with a red dress.

A Piikani mother puts one foot in front of the other for her daughter

Beside a campfire under a full moon, in a supporter’s yard near Surrey, B.C., Stephanie English opened the small bundle of her daughter’s belongings for the first time. Police gave her the bundle 10 years ago. It holds items found with Joey-Tiiah English, a 25-year-old mother of three from Piikani Nation who was reported missing […]

Read Article

Two people stand in tall grass holding a red MMIWM Spirited+ banner near a Welcome to British Columbia sign.

‘We walk for those who cannot walk beside us’

Stephanie English of Piikani Nation brought the following statement to Shootin’ the Breeze before setting out Sept. 20 on this year’s Calling My/Our Spirit Back Unity Walk. Inspired by the deaths of two of Stephanie’s daughters, it carries a message of remembrance and healing while honouring families of missing and murdered Indigenous and two-spirit people, […]

Read Article

Treaty rights, ID hurdles top concerns for First Nations voters

For some Piikani and Kainai members, the Oct. 19 referendum raises a question that isn’t on the ballot: what a provincial vote can mean for treaties signed with Canada. For others, the harder question is whether they can prove who they are at the polls. Both concerns came up Aug. 29, when about 30 members […]

Read Article

Wooden gavel resting on legal books beside brass scales of justice

Separation petition clears signature threshold, court fight continues

A citizen initiative petition proposing a referendum on Alberta becoming an independent country has been declared successful after Elections Alberta verified enough signatures to satisfy the requirements of the Citizen Initiative Act. The agency announced Friday that statistical verification estimated 222,597 valid signatures from an initial submission of 286,593 signatures, surpassing the required minimum of […]

Read Article

‘Historic victory’ for Piikani as court quashes separatist petition

Piikani Nation is calling a recent Alberta Court of King’s Bench decision a “historic victory” for treaty rights. A May 13 ruling by Justice Shaina Leonard struck down the approval of a citizen-led petition that would have triggered a referendum on Alberta separating from Canada. Chief Troy Knowlton says the decision affirms that Treaty 7 […]

Read Article

A combine with bright work lights crosses a field at dusk beneath dark clouds and an orange horizon, with mountains silhouetted in the distance.

This Week’s Breeze

Subscriptions

From breaking news to milestone birthdays, Shootin’ the Breeze spotlights what’s happening in Pincher Creek and throughout the region.

Our mission?
To inform, inspire and connect.

At Shootin’ the Breeze, we cover the moments that shape our communities — the triumphs, the challenges and the everyday things that deserve to be seen.