Ktunaxa homelands
Cranbrook is on ʔamakʔis Ktunaxa, where the Ktunaxa people have lived for more than 10,000 years.
The city grew on ʔakisqakⱡiʔit, a place the Ktunaxa used as a seasonal home, with fresh creeks and grazing land for horses. Settlers called it Joseph’s Prairie, after Chief Joseph, who lived and farmed there.
The creation story
The Ktunaxa creation story tells how Naⱡmuqȼin, the giant leader of the animals, and a war party chased the sea monster Yawuʔnik̓ along the Kootenay River, Columbia Lake, Kootenay Lake and the Arrow Lakes until it was defeated. The chase shaped the land and waters: the monster’s ribs became the hoodoos, and Naⱡmuqȼin’s body became the Rocky Mountains. The story ends with the people becoming keepers of the land. Read it in the Ktunaxa Nation’s own words.
How ʔakisqakⱡiʔit became Cranbrook
The Kootenay Land District opened to settlement in 1868, and ownership of ʔakisqakⱡiʔit became a source of conflict. A settler named Galbraith had agreed that the Ktunaxa could keep using the land, but when he sold it to James Baker, Baker refused to honour that agreement. Chief Isadore, Chief Joseph’s successor, was barred from farming land left to him, and Ktunaxa knowledge holds that the family’s homes were burned three times to force them out.
In 1884 two miners were found dead at Deadman’s Creek. Two Ktunaxa men, Kapⱡa and Little Isadore, were later arrested and held at Fort Steele, and Sam Steele of the North West Mounted Police was brought in from Alberta. After many days of meetings an agreement was reached: Chief Isadore resolved the matter of the two men and accepted other reserve land in exchange for ʔakisqakⱡiʔit.
Explore the waterways
To the Ktunaxa, the lakes, rivers, sloughs and waterfalls formed during the creation story are places of food, travel and ceremony. Visitors are invited to experience them with respect:
- Source of the Columbia: an easy 3 km walk through wetlands to where the Columbia River begins, and Columbia Lake, held in great reverence as the site of creation.
- Kootenay River: a two-hour paddle from Bummer Flats to past the Fort Steele bridge.
- Marysville Falls: a short walk to a 30-metre waterfall. Waterfalls are seen as pure and healing for the spirit.
Share your visit with #KtunaxaHomelands. See the Ktunaxa homelands map.
Ktunaxa organizations
Page updated .
Based on this page on cranbrook.ca, rewritten in plain language. Fees, dates and rules can change, so confirm with the City before you rely on them.