Piapot Cree First Nation

Chief Piapot (Payepot) signed an adhesion to Treaty 4 on September 9, 1875, originally seeking a reserve in the Cypress Hills region. After much persuasion he settled on a reserve bordering the Carry the Kettle Reserve in August 1883. Following a disastrous winter in which many of his people died, he abandoned that reserve and was permitted to select a new one 29 km north and 11 km east of Regina in September 1884. Officials deposed Piapot following an unlawfully held Sun Dance; but on the day that the Order-in-Council was passed he died, after asserting his autonomy and demonstrating he would not be controlled. The band's main economic base is agriculture, and the community's infrastructure includes a band office, recreation centre, fire hall, arena, elementary and high schools, day care, medical clinic, outdoor rink, and a gas bar that includes a restaurant, laundromat, pool hall/arcade and convenience store. Currently the band has 1,935 registered members, 550 of whom live on the reserve. The band controls 21,617.9 ha of land, with additional shares in the 37 hectares comprising the Treaty 4 Reserve Grounds adjacent to Fort Qu'Appelle.

Christian Thompson