Ottawa apology for colony scheme a step toward mending divide in Peepeekisis Cree Nation

Decades after the File Hills Colony Scheme separated the Peepeekisis Cree Nation into "originals" and "placements," members of the community say a federal government apology could be a step toward mending divisions.

This week, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller apologized to the nation on behalf of the Canadian government for implementing the colony that was considered a social experiment and was, in many ways, a form of assimilation.

The colony gradually took land from the nation, without consent, offering it to Indigenous "graduates" cherry-picked by leaders from Saskatchewan and Manitoba residential and industrial schools. Those residents are often referred to as "placements." 

By 1906, only 29 per cent of the original 26,600 acres of land remained for the nation's original inhabitants. Peepeekisis Cree Nation is located about 100 kilometres northeast of Regina.

It intentionally divided the two communities.

"For the longest time it was always seen as two reserves on one," said Cheyanne Desnomie, a Peepeekisis member and a researcher at the University of Regina.

"You had people who were brought in, and under the direction of the Indian agent they were told not to communicate with original members that were there because it was thought that if they did they might regress and ... undo anything that was 'learned' or 'gained' in the residential school period."

Desnomie said the community has an "identity crisis" because while it's called a "Cree Nation," many people were brought into the community from outside and might have other backgrounds, like Lakota or Métis.

Desnomie said this apology could be a step in healing the divide that was created in the community.

Gregory Brass was born in the colony and spent many of his formative years there. He's not sure whether to consider himself as a placement since his grandfather was sent there as a Cree and Saulteaux interpreter, only later taking farmland.

"Often it's been kind of inferred that the placements did this to the originals. Well, that wasn't the case; it was the federal government with their experiment that imposed this on the total population," he said.

He felt the government apology was vague, but at least it puts the conversation back on the table.

Brass isn't the only one unsure about his roots.

"Unfortunately, I'm not 100 per cent positive on where my family originates from," Sara Poitras, an elementary school teacher with family roots in Peepeekisis, said earlier this week when Miller offered his apology.