These Mountains are Our Sacred Places: The Story of the Stoney People

First published in 1977 to coincide with the hundredth anniversary of the signing of historical Treaty Seven by the First Nations of southern Alberta and the Canadian government, These Mountains Are Our Sacred Places has become a classic of Western Canadian literature.

These Mountains Are Our Sacred Places is a result of extensive research. After consulting archival records and the Stoney oral tradition, Chief John Snow describes with clarity, depth and understanding the Native perspective on life since the birth of Treaty Seven in 1877.

With compassion and detail, Snow describes the stable state of First Nations prior to contact with Europeans and the destruction wrought by the whisky traders. He records the period of treaty signing and the failure on the government’s part to hold to treaty agreements. And most importantly, Snow explains his people’s feeling of dispossession that continues to threaten the very survival or Stoney beliefs, values and lifestyle.