Tsuu T'ina Nation 145, Alberta
Encyclopedia
Tsuu T'ina Nation 145 is the name of an Indian reserve
Indian reserve
In Canada, an Indian reserve is specified by the Indian Act as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." The Act also specifies that land reserved for the use and benefit of a band which is not...
in southern 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...
, 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 the home of the Tsuu T'ina Nation
Tsuu T'ina Nation
The Tsuu T'ina Nation is a First Nation in Canada. Their territory is located on the Indian reserve Tsuu T'ina Nation 145, whose east side is adjacent to the southwest city limits of Calgary, Alberta...
. The reserve was created by Treaty 7
Treaty 7
Treaty 7 was an agreement between Queen Victoria and several mainly Blackfoot First Nations tribes in what is today the southern portion of Alberta. It was concluded on September 22, 1877. The agreement was signed at the Blackfoot Crossing of the Bow River, at the present-day Siksika Nation...
. Reserve lands are between Southwest Calgary, Alberta in the east and Bragg Creek, Alberta
Bragg Creek, Alberta
Bragg Creek is a hamlet in southern Alberta under the jurisdiction of Rocky View County in Division No. 6. It is also recognized as a designated place by Statistics Canada....
(Range Road 52) in the west. The north boundary is just south of Alberta Highway 8 and bounded by Calgary's 146 Ave SW in the south.
The land is a former Canadian Army training camp, active from 1910-1996, when the land was turned over to the Tsuu T'ina Nation.
Demographics
- Population in 2001: 1,982
- Population in 1996: 1,509
- 1996 to 2001 population change (%): 31.3
- Total private dwellings: 632
- Population density per square kilometer: 7.0
- Land area 283.14 km² (109.3 sq mi)
Ring Road
The city of CalgaryCalgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
has long desired the acquisition of lands on the reserve to build a portion of a proposed ring road. The Glenmore Reservoir
Glenmore Reservoir
The Glenmore Reservoir is a large artificial reservoir on the Elbow River in the southwest quadrant of Calgary, Alberta. The Glenmore Dam is the concrete structure that holds back the reservoir. The reservoir is a primary source of drinking water to the city...
, which is one of Calgary's sources of drinking water, is a major cause of traffic problems. The ring road would connect from approximately the Sarcee Trail/Glenmore Trail intersection all the way to Alberta Highway 22X, alleviating traffic congestion in the south. The proposed route of this ring road would cut across the corner of the reserve bordering the reservoir.
The Nation has built a casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
on their land and the government may grant permission to do so in return for an agreement to sell the land to the government. A source of opposition to the proposed road comes from the environmental community which doesn't want to see major infrastructure built through land considered valuable to a fragile ecosystem. There have been discussions on and off regarding commencement of this project since the early 1990s. During the national day of action on June 29, 2007, the chief of the Tsuu T'ina threatened to blockade the new ring road if demands for more lands and money from the tax-payers were not met. The Calgary city council announced on July 1, 2007 that the threat of blockades will most likely result in the construction of the ring road being put on hold indefinitely.
The land swap necessary to build the ring road through the reserve was rejected in a referendum by the Nation in 2009, and the City of Calgary announced that alternative plans will put the ring road on municipal and provincial lands only.