Horse Lake First Nation

The Horse Lake First Nation is a First Nations band government west of Hythe in northwestern Alberta, Canada. It is a party to Treaty 8, and is a member of the Western Cree Tribal Council.^[1] Despite being a member of the Western Cree regional council, the Horse Lake First Nation is linguistically and culturally a part of the Danezaa or "Beavers".^[2]

As of 2014, the total population of the band was 1,053 people, of whom 466 (44%) lived on reserve or on Crown land and the rest lived off reserve. The band has two reserves, Clear Hills 152C and Horse Lakes 152B with a total land base of 3,099.1 hectares (31 km²).^[2]

Since 2002, students who are members of the Horse Lake band have been educated in the Alberta provincial education system, specifically the Peace Wapiti School Division (PWSD), rather than separate reserve schools, with the cost being borne by the federal Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. However in 2012, this arrangement was put in doubt when the budget for non-Aboriginal "at risk" students received was more than doubled by the provincial government from $2.2 million to $5.1 million per year. Under the terms of the contract between the Western Cree and PWSD, the band must pay the difference between what the provincial government pays for band members, and what the federal government pays for non-Aboriginals. This implies an additional $3,000 per student.^[3]

References

The Numbered Treaties: Treaty Eight
Numbered Treaties	Treaty 1 Treaty 2 Treaty 3 Treaty 4 Treaty 5 Treaty 6 Treaty 7 Treaty 8 Treaty 9 Treaty 10 Treaty 11
Saskatchewan	Black Lake Denesuline First Nation Clearwater River Dene Nation Fond Du Lac Denesuline First Nation
Alberta	Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Beaver First Nation Bigstone Cree Nation Chipewyan Prairie First Nation Dene Tha' First Nation Driftpile First Nation Duncan's First Nation Fort McKay First Nation Fort McMurray First Nation Horse Lake First Nation Kapawe'no First Nation Little Red River Cree Nation Loon River First Nation Lubicon Lake Indian Nation Mikisew Cree First Nation Sawridge Band Smith's Landing First Nation Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation Sucker Creek Cree First Nation Swan River First Nation Tallcree First Nation Whitefish Lake First Nation Woodland Cree First Nation
British Columbia	Blueberry River First Nation Doig River First Nation Fort Nelson First Nation Halfway River First Nation McLeod Lake First Nation Prophet River First Nation Saulteau First Nation West Moberly First Nations
Northwest Territories	Deninu K'ue First Nation K'atlodeeche First Nation Lutsel K'e First Nation Salt River First Nation Yellowknives Dene First Nation