Mountain Voices: The Valley of the Wîkchemnâ Peaks

The Valley of the Wîkchemnâ Peaks

Written by William (Bill) Snow

This story comes to us from the book Mountain Voices. Paired with photos from the Mountain Legacy Project, Mountain Voices is a collection of unique short essays from alpinists, activists, artists, and mountain researchers as they share their unique and fascinating perspectives. The ACC is pleased to feature this new monthly series, highlighting a few of the incredible stories from Mountain Voices over the coming year.

To learn more about the book Mountain Voices, or to order a hard copy, visit their website.

When I am in the Valley of the Ten Peaks, I am always reminded of the real power of nature, and the eternal beauty that only nature can create. I am also reminded of how small and fragile we are as human beings, and how utterly dependent we are on nature for our survival. In olden days, the stillness of the peaks would only be broken by the sound of distant rockslides and avalanches. 

In 1894, the early mountaineers Walter Wilcox and Samuel Allen were part of a visiting group from Yale University. This was one of the earliest recorded settler groups to travel to the Valley of the Ten Peaks, and with them was Enoch Wildman, their Stoney Nakoda guide. Samuel Allen took careful notes about the Stoney Nakoda place names in the valley. 

In The Rockies of Canada, Walter Wilcox writes about the Mountain Stonies: “The Stonies get their courage among the perils of the Rockies, where on hunting trips they have to ford rapid and dangerous rivers, or climb the precipices of the highest peaks and face the cold and storms of dizzy cliffs where the mountain goat and bighorn live. They have physical courage to attack the grizzly single-handed, or engage twice their number in battle. These admirable qualities, with their honesty, sobriety, and much that is best in civilization, give a new hope for all Indian tribes through their example.” 

Three of the Ten Peaks have retained their Stoney Nakoda name: Tonsa, Neptuak, and Wenkchemna. The others have been renamed for mostly non-Indigenous mountaineers and landforms such as Fay, Little, Bowlen, Perren, Allen, Tuzo, and Deltaform. 

The mandate of Parks Canada was to preserve these natural and ecological wonders for the enjoyment of future generations. 

However, in 1885, the Pass and Permit System served to remove the Stoney Nakoda from the newly formed Banff National Park, and later, from other parks. Once implemented and enforced, these policies prohibited access, as well as the cultural and spiritual practices—practices that the Stoney Nakoda people enjoyed since time immemorial. 

Thankfully, these colonial policies were amended out of the Indian Act in 1951 and 1960. And in 2010, the Stoney Nakoda signed a memorandum of understanding with Parks to allow Stoney Nakoda free access to the Park for medicinal gathering. 

Today, tourism activities and recreation facilities dot the landscape, to serve a mass of global visitors. In the valley, the stillness is regularly broken by groups of hikers, or by jet engines overhead. 

Today, as in 1894, there is a cultural gap as wide as the Valley of the Ten Peaks itself in the understanding of places in national parks. To close this gap, we must understand our past to understand our future. 

Accordingly, this should include the restoration of the Stoney Nakoda names in the Valley of the Ten Peaks: Wazi, Nûm, Yamnî, Ktûtha, Thaptâ, Sakpe, Sagowî, Sarhnora, Nâpchuwîk, and Wîkchemnâ. 

If we are to combat new challenges like climate change, we must do so in new ways, in both our actions and our thinking. We need a diversity of knowledge. This means including traditional knowledge alongside western science in our understanding of nature through research and science. 

How will this be done? With patience and kindness. In words of my late father, the Reverend Dr. Chief John Snow, “Your thoughts must be as firm as these mountains, if you are to walk the straight path. Your patience and kindness must be as solid as these mountains, if you are to acquire understanding and wisdom.”