Menissawok National Park was a national park

National park

A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...

 established in 1922 southeast of the town of Maple Creek, Saskatchewan

Maple Creek, Saskatchewan

-History:After the North-West Mounted Police had been established at Fort Walsh, settlers began to explore the Cypress Hills area, living along the creeks and doing small-scale ranching. The Department of the Interior was operating a First Nations farm on the Maple Creek, a few miles south from...

, in the southwest part of the Canadian province. It closed in 1930, and was delisted in 1947. The 44 km² (17 sq mi) park land had functioned as a pronghorn

Pronghorn

The pronghorn is a species of artiodactyl mammal endemic to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is often known colloquially in North America as the prong buck, pronghorn antelope, or simply antelope, as it closely resembles the true antelopes of the Old World and...

 reserve beginning in 1914.

Menissawok National Park was one of several national parks created in the Prairies

Canadian Prairies

The Canadian Prairies is a region of Canada, specifically in western Canada, which may correspond to several different definitions, natural or political. Notably, the Prairie provinces or simply the Prairies comprise the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, as they are largely covered...

 expressly to protect and regenerate dangerously low populations of bison

Bison

Members of the genus Bison are large, even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Two extant and four extinct species are recognized...

 and pronghorn. Other 'regeneration' parks, also delisted in 1947, included Buffalo National Park

Buffalo National Park

Buffalo National Park was created near the town of Wainwright in east central Alberta on June 5, 1909, closed in 1940, and delisted in 1947 when the land was transferred to the Department of National Defence. The park land now comprises the majority of Canadian Forces Base Wainwright...

, Wawaskesy National Park

Wawaskesy National Park

Wawaskesy National Park was created near the South Saskatchewan River, north of the town of Medicine Hat in southeastern Alberta, Canada, in 1922, closed in 1938, and delisted in 1947....

, and Nemiskam National Park

Nemiskam National Park

Nemiskam National Park was created north of the former community of Nemiskam in south central Alberta, Canada, in 1922. The park was closed and delisted in 1947. The first Park Superintendent was Edgar McHugh...

 (all in Alberta

Alberta

Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

).

Menissawok is a Cree

Cree language

Cree is an Algonquian language spoken by approximately 117,000 people across Canada, from the Northwest Territories and Alberta to Labrador, making it the aboriginal language with the highest number of speakers in Canada. It is also spoken in the U.S. state of Montana...

 First Nations

First Nations

First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...

 word meaning "common or national property" (the nearest Cree term for "national park"). The area was one of three pronghorn reserves in Saskatchewan, along with the Old Wives Lake reserve, 24 km (14.9 mi) southwest of Moose Jaw, and the temporary Big Stick Lake reserve, in the same region as Menissawok.

With the rebound of pronghorn herds in southern Saskatchewan and Alberta, Menissawok and several other small "Dominion Parks" were closed when the National Parks Act

National Parks Act (Canada)

The National Parks Act is a Canadian federal law that regulates protection of natural areas of national significance.-National parks:The act enables Parks Canada to designate and maintain national parks and national parks reserves. Within these, additional wildland areas may be designated...

was updated on May 30, 1930. The land comprising Menissawok National Park was turned over to the province of Saskatchewan.