Note

2/20 🧵This land is within the traditional territories of many First Nations, including Plains Cree and other groups who lived, hunted, and traded here for millennia before Europeans arrived.

3/20 🧵Paleo-Indigenous peoples reached Alberta over 10,000 years ago.

They hunted large game, adapted to shifting climates, and laid cultural foundations for later First Nations communities.

4/20 🧵Cree, Dene, and other nations thrived by using the land’s resources.

Over time, colonial policies ignored their rights. Canada’s government broke promises and treaties, causing loss of land and culture.

5/20 🧵The Métis, with mixed Indigenous and European heritage, emerged as a distinct people in the fur trade era.

Skilled traders, hunters, and guides, they shaped this region’s early economy and society.

6/20 🧵In 1896, Father Lacombe founded St-Paul-des-Métis as a farming colony for Métis families.

They were promised tools and support. Struggles and fires led to its failure, and the colony ended by 1908.

7/20 🧵The government then opened the area to mostly French-Catholic settlers from Québec.

St. Paul was incorporated as a village in 1912. By 1936, it removed “des-Métis” from its name, erasing Métis identity in the official title.

8/20 🧵With the railway’s arrival in 1920, St. Paul gained easier access to markets.

Volunteers helped lay tracks, connecting the town to the rest of Canada. The line closed in 1999, but its legacy endures.

9/20 🧵Agriculture, especially dairy and mixed farming, powered St. Paul’s growth.

Oil, gas, and forestry later diversified the economy. Today, service industries and tourism also drive local prosperity.