Big River First Nation

About

Big River First Nation is a Cree First Nation from Pelican Lake Ojibway's. The tribe is within Carlton Reserve, with nearly 30,000 acres of reserve land, and is a signatory to Treaty 6.  Big River's on-reserve population is 1,553, according to 2016's census. The band has 407 dwellings, with 366 lived in. Big River's two reserves, Big River 118 and Big River 118A, are west of Debden. The main reserve is near the headwaters of the Big River, its Cree name being mistahi-sîpîhk, "at the big river," or sometimes okimâw-sîpîhk, "at the chief river." 

The band took Treaty 6 under Chief Flying Dust at Fort Carlton in 1878. However, they broke away and only occupied the reserve about a decade later, led by Chief Kenemotayo (okinomotayew, "long goatee [like a moose]"), who had been one of Flying Dust's headmen.

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