Chief Sweetgrass (Weekaskookwasayin) signed Treaty 6 on September 9, 1876, with the Fort Pitt Indians but was killed about six months later. He was succeeded by his son, Apseenes (Young Sweet Grass). He was unable to hold the band together, which began to splinter. In 1882, Young Sweet Grass & seventeen followers joined Wah-wee-kah-oo-tah-mah-hote (Strikes him on the back), who had signed Treaty 6 at Fort Carlton on August 28, 1876. Wah-wee-kah-oo-tah-mah-hote was chief from 1876 to 1883: but he was deposed in 1884 and Young Sweet Grass became chief.
A reserve was surveyed west of Battleford in 1884 for the melded band members, who sold hay & wood and maintained gardens & livestock.
Currently the band controls 20,573.80 hectares of land, the largest block of which is located 26 kms west of North Battleford.
There are 2051 registered band members (as of Dec. 31/2019), 749 people live on reserve which includes non-first nation people as well as people from other first nations.
HISTORICAL CHIEFS:
1876: Sweetgrass
1876 - 1883: Wah-wee-kah-oo-tah-mah-hote (Strike him on the back)
1884 - 1886: Apseenes (Young Sweetgrass)
1920 - 1924: Harry Atcheynum (Son of Strike him on the back)
1925 - 1964: Sam Swimmer (Son of Yellow Mud) Last hereditary Chief
1956 - 1957: Andrew Swimmer
1957 - 1958: Ben Atcheynum
1958 - 1959: James Favel
1959 - 1960: Solomon Albert
1961 - 1962: John Weenie
1963 - 1964: Adam Paskemin
1965 - 1966: Ben Atcheynum
1967 - 1970: Joseph Weenie
1971 - 1972: Ben Atcheynum
1972 - 1973: Stephen Pooyak
1973 - 1974: Ben Weenie
1974 - 1979: Stephen Pooyak
1979 - 1982: Gordon Albert
1983 - 1984: Roderick Atcheynum
1985 - 1988: Don Pooyak
1989 - 1999: Edward Wayne Standinghorn
2000 - 2003: Tommy Whitecalf
2003 - 2005: Rod Atcheynum Jr.
2005 - 2011: Edward Wayne Standinghorn
2011 - 2017: Lori Whitecalf
2017 - 2019: Laurence Paskemin
2019 - Present: Lori Whitecalf
For a summary for our History in brief, find it on the Battleford's Agency Tribal Chief's Website at www.batc.ca/sweetgrass/