Description
The first recorded story (cited in the Jesuit Relations) was that the Stoney-Assiniboine separated from the Dakota/Lakota Nation sometime before 1640. It is believed that they migrated westward with the Cree as the fur trade moved west along the Saskatchewan River trade routes. The Nakoda (also known as Stoney, Îyârhe Nakoda, or Stoney Nakoda) are an Indigenous people in Western Canada and the United States. They used to inhabit large parts of what is now Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Montana, but their reserves are now in Alberta and in Saskatchewan. They refer to themselves in their language as Nakoda, meaning 'friend, ally'. The name Stoney was given to them by anglophone explorers, because of their technique of using fire-heated rocks to boil broth in rawhide bowls.
Language
Stoney—also called Nakota, Nakoda, Isga, and formerly Alberta Assiniboine
Culture
These forest and foothill people hunted bison and other big game animals. With the establishment of Edmonton House and Rocky Mountain House, they traded furs, hides and fresh meat, and were invaluable guides to traders, explorers, surveyors and missionaries. They were introduced to Christianity by Methodist missionaries after 1840. The economic base of the Stoney-Nakoda includes trapping, big-game hunting, guiding, ranching, lumbering, handicrafts, labouring and various professions. The Bearspaw, Chiniki, Stoney and Goodstoney Nations at Morley enjoy a high standard of living based on natural gas royalties and operate several commercial enterprises.