Pekisko is an unincorporated community in southern Alberta

Southern Alberta

Southern Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of the year 2004, the region's population was approximately 272,017. The primary cities are Lethbridge and Medicine Hat...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It is located in the municipal district of Foothills

Foothills No. 31, Alberta

The Municipal District of Foothills No. 31 is a municipal district in southern Alberta, Canada adjacent to the south side of Calgary in Census Division No. 6...

, west of the junction of Cowboy Trail and Highway 540, 35 kilometres (21.7 mi) south of High River

High River, Alberta

High River is a town in southwestern Alberta, Canada with a population of 10,716. It is south of the city of Calgary, at the junction of Alberta Highways 2 and 23...

 and 19 km (11.8 mi) south of Longview

Longview, Alberta

Longview is a village in southern Alberta, Canada. It is located in the Canadian Rockies foothills, on Cowboy Trail, 32 km west of High River and 64 km south of Calgary...

.

It lies in the Canadian Rockies

Canadian Rockies

The Canadian Rockies comprise the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains range. They are the eastern part of the Canadian Cordillera, extending from the Interior Plains of Alberta to the Rocky Mountain Trench of British Columbia. The southern end borders Idaho and Montana of the USA...

 foothills, north of the Highwood River

Highwood River

The Highwood River is a river located in southwestern Alberta, Canada. It is part of the Bow River watershed. The river is known for its flyfishing. A variety of trout species live in the river, including native bull trout.-Course:...

, at an elevation of 1215 m (3,986.2 ft), and is the center of the Pekisko Rangeland

Rangeland

Rangelands are vast natural landscapes in the form of grasslands, shrublands, woodlands, wetlands, and deserts. Types of rangelands include tallgrass and shortgrass prairies, desert grasslands and shrublands, woodlands, savannas, chaparrals, steppes, and tundras...

, an area of livestock

Livestock

Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...

 grazing

Grazing

Grazing generally describes a type of feeding, in which a herbivore feeds on plants , and also on other multicellular autotrophs...

 and agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

. Oil and gas is an increasing part of the economy.

The name Pekisko originates from the Blackfoot

Blackfoot

The Blackfoot Confederacy or Niitsítapi is the collective name of three First Nations in Alberta and one Native American tribe in Montana....

 Cree language

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...

 "i ta pisko", meaning rolling foothills.

The Pekisko Formation (Mississippian

Mississippian (geologic period)

The Mississippian is a subperiod in the geologic timescale or a subsystem of the geologic record. It is the earliest/lowermost of two subperiods of the Carboniferous period lasting from roughly 359 to 318 Ma...

 limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

) of the Rundle Group was named after this community. A hybrid of Pisum sativum (pea)

Pea

A pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the pod fruit Pisum sativum. Each pod contains several peas. Peapods are botanically a fruit, since they contain seeds developed from the ovary of a flower. However, peas are considered to be a vegetable in cooking...

 was also named Pekisko after this area.

External links

• Pekisko Group (Rangeland Conservation)