The Starblanket band adhered to Treaty 4 in 1874 under Chief Wah-pi-moos-toosis (White Calf), a leader of the Calling River Cree whose territory extended from the File Hills to Wood Mountain and the Cypress Hills. A reserve was surveyed in 1876 near Crooked Lake, but the band did not settle there, moving instead to the File Hills, where they received a reserve in 1880. In 1983 the successful completion of a land claim filed by the band was fulfilled in part through the transfer of the Lebret student residence; it was followed in 1994 by the transfer of Crown-owned lots in the town of Fort Qu’Appelle to reserve land. The new centre constructed on this urban reserve land has provided economic growth to both the town and the First Nation. The main 5,611.9-ha reserve is located 18 km northeast of Fort Qu’Appelle, with an additional 1,715.3 ha of reserve land purchased through the claim agreement. Of the 535 band members, 233 live on reserve.
Christian Thompson