As soon as the territory now known as Alberta became habitable, it became home to numerous indigenous societies. Their descendants created nations named Nehiyaw (Cree), Dené, Tsuu T’ina (Sarcee), Siksika (Blackfoot), Nakoda and Chipewyan, etc. Many of them witnessed the arrival of the French. They created and developed not only commercial and diplomatic ties, but also, in many cases, family relationships. The 19th century was an important period of massive European settlement in Alberta and the Prairies leading to the signing of several numbered treaties between the indigenous nations and the Canadian government. Alberta is on the lands of treaties 4, 6, 7, 8, and 10. These treaties allowed the new Government of Canada to easily obtain new lands destined for colonization. Colonization was strongly supported by a policy of cultural assimilation, acculturation and economic coercion of the local indigenous nations. This high level of violence was utterly devastating. However, with the recent recognition of indigenous rights as well as the acknowledgement and redress of past wrongs, these nations are now reasserting themselves and reestablishing ancestral cultural practices.
