About Us

Cloverdale is a neighbourhood located in the heart of Edmonton along the south banks of the North Saskatchewan river.

We enjoy the best the city has to offer: outdoor recreation, festivals, parks, playgrounds, transit, gardens, easy access to downtown and beyond, and even a downhill ski hill! It is pretty incredible, so much so, that someone wrote a book about it! Cloverdale is one of Edmonton’s oldest communities. The original community league (then called the Bennet School Community League) was formed in 1915 and established as the Cloverdale Community League in 1920/1921. 

amiskwaciwâskahikan

If you have never visited the area, or even if you are a regular visitor here, “nipiy”, is a beautiful video made by Conor McNally, featuring local band nêhiyawak, that explores the North Saskatchewan River through the voice of Reuben Quinn, an instructor of nêhiyaw language and philosophy.

Cloverdale is located in amiskwaciwâskahikan (Beaver Hills House in nêhiyawêwin, or Cree, language. Note: there are no capital letters in Cree) on Treaty 6 Territory. You can click here to hear how to pronounce amiskwaciwâskahikan.

Cloverdale is located on the land settled by the Papaschase Cree Nation around the first Fort in what is now called Edmonton. Chief Papaschase signed to Treaty 6 and the Nation was assigned a small reserve (I.R. 136) south of the Fort away from the centre. There was an active campaign, led by Frank Oliver, to remove the Papaschase people and sell the land to white settlers. At the insistence of Frank Oliver, through his use of both political and media power, and with the support of the Federal Government, the Papaschase people were scattered and their land was sold off and the Nation’s status was lost.

Papschase Nation has filed lawsuits against the government in an effort to regain Nation status. 

Cloverdale is part of this history as the land was part of a dispute between Chief Papaschase and T.P. Wadsworth (an Inspector of Indian Farms Agencies for the Dept. of Indian Affairs), the Federal government, and politicians such as Frank Oliver. It is important to remember that this land where we live and play, is part of an ongoing dispute and a colonial history that relied on the theft of land and coercion of Indigenous peoples. This was, and arguably continues, to be a common and open practice of colonization. Canada is a colonial country and the active, genocide of Indigenous peoples and theft of their land is well documented.

If you would like more information on the history of Cloverdale, Edmonton, Alberta, and Canada, we would encourage you to check out some of the following websites and resources listed below. There is also an excellent FREE University of Alberta online course offered through the Faculty of Native Studies called Indigenous Canada. You can sign up here to participate.

 

Resources
  • You can watch the current Papscahse Chief, Calvin Brunea, share a bit of the history of the Papascahse Nation for the Mill Woods Oral History Project. 
  • For more information on the Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations you can explore their website: https://www.treatysix.org/
  • “Treaty Walk: A Journey for Common Ground” is a great video that explores what it means to be Treaty people, which we all are if we live on Treaty 6 Territory. You can watch it here: https://www.treatytalk.com/treatywalkajourneyforcommonground 
  • Here is an interactive website, pasikôw, with lots of information, history, and images about the Papaschase Cree Nation.
  • For more videos, recordings, and voices from Indigenous peoples living in amiskwaciwâskahikan, you can explore Voices of Amiswaciy, a digital public space to share, discover, and celebrate local Indigenous content. It is a project supported by Canada 150 grant funding and Edmonton Public Library. 
  • You can read the Papaschase statement of claim filed with the Government of Canada here. “A Brief History of The Papaschase Band” provides some history and highlights of the claim.
  • The Canadian Government embarked upon a five-year long exploration into the impact of colonization to Indigenous peoples across Canada, specifically gathering and documenting the history and long-lasting impacts of the Canadian Residential School system on Indigenous peoples. You can read through it here: http://www.trc.ca/