Nakoda (Stoney)
The Nakoda (also known as Stoney or Îyârhe Nakoda) are an indigenous people in Western Canada and, originally, the United States.
They used to inhabit large parts of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Montana, but their reserves are now located in Alberta and in Saskatchewan where they are scarcely differentiated from the Assiniboine. Through their language they are related to the Dakota and Lakota nations of the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains, part of the large Sioux Nation.
They refer to themselves in their own language as "Nakoda", meaning friend, ally. The name "Stoney" was given them by white explorers, because of their technique of using fire-heated rocks to boil broth in rawhide bowls. They are very closely related to the Assiniboine who are also known as Stone Sioux (from Ojibwe asinii-bwaan).
Alberta's Nakoda First Nation comprises three bands: Bearspaw, Chiniki and Wesley.
The Stoney were "excluded" from Banff National Park between 1890 and 1920. In 2010 they were officially "welcomed back".
