Piikani Elders hold prayer ceremony for Crowsnest Lake following fish advisory

By Somya Lohia, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Members of Piikani Nation gathered at Crowsnest Lake on the morning of June 10 to offer prayers for the health of the lake, its fish and all life that depends on its waters. This spiritual gathering followed the release of a fish-consumption advisory for the lake.

According to the advisory, posted on the My Wild Alberta website, 105 fish from Crowsnest Lake were analyzed for mercury and trace metals in 2024.

Preliminary findings indicated consumption of brown trout, lake trout and mountain whitefish “should be limited due to elevated selenium levels.”

Selenium is a contaminant often associated with coal mining activity. Crowsnest Lake receives runoff from the Tent Mountain coal mine, which ceased operations in the 1980s.

Part of the site has since been certified as reclaimed. Despite this, fish in the lake contain selenium tissue concentrations ranging from five to 26 micrograms per gram (dry weight) — levels that exceed environmental guidelines and rival those found downstream of active mountaintop-removal mining operations.

“The public should consider limiting consumption of these fish species from Crowsnest Lake at this time,” said the advisory, last updated on May 28. “Further investigation is ongoing.”

Following this, Piikani Elders led a prayer ceremony at the far west end of the lake. It drew participants from the Piikani community, including knowledge keepers, as well as residents from surrounding towns including Pincher Creek and Crowsnest Pass.

A brochure distributed at the event outlined several concerns prompting the gathering, including industrial activity along the Eastern Slopes of the Rockies, pro-coal sentiment in local politics, and the advisory itself.

The message emphasized the Piikani’s ancestral connection to the region and the spiritual obligation to protect it.

“The Elders’ prayer at Crowsnest Lake calls upon all people to remember the sacred nature of treaties, not merely between people, but with the animals and life forms of this region,” it read.

During the event, Elders prayed for the ongoing health of the mountains, rivers and lakes, and for the recovery of places that have already been harmed.

Bryan Yellow Horn (Blackfoot name: Iikiitsimookiitoopii), one of the organizers, said the purpose of the gathering was deeply spiritual, rooted in Piikani people’s connection to the land and water.

“What we’re doing is Piikani way of life, the Blackfoot way of life,” Yellow Horn told Shootin’ the Breeze. “We’re connected to the land, and so we’re also connected to all the animals and the plants.”

He explained that the ceremony was a way to communicate directly with animals and spiritual beings.

“Under our prayer, it goes about reconnecting with our spiritual part, with all our stakeholders in there — which are the animals, and nobody speaks with them. But as First Nation people, we speak with the animals too,” he said.

Volunteer Ken Williams said the event was also a response to recent political rhetoric that undermined the presence and voices of Indigenous land defenders.

“Some of it was a concern that the community has become divided over the issues of mines. Some of it was a response to comments from the Mayor of the Crowsnest Pass,” Williams said.

“Of course this would trigger a response from Piikani Nation members, particularly Elders, who wish to remind colonizers that they have been home here since time immemorial.”

While the ceremony was private and spiritual in nature, Williams said it sent a broader message about the community’s enduring relationship with the land — and its distress when that land is harmed.

“The entire region has been home to the Piikani for tens of thousands of years,” he said. “They feel distress when the land is injured by polluters or by excessive resource development.”

Through the ceremony, an apology was sent to the lake and river, for harming it and its inhabitants.

“The message of prayer was sent to the spiritual realm, apologizing for the damage, but also asking help for all of us, to learn to live better and more harmoniously with all our relations,” he added.

Yellow Horn stated that Crowsnest Lake, which feeds into the Oldman River — known in the Blackfoot language as Napi’s River — lies within the Piikani Nation’s traditional territory.

Emphasizing the importance of Crowsnest Lake, he pointed to its role in supporting spiritual, physical and ecological life for generations.

He questioned how the community could preserve the integrity of its values and protect water sources while allowing pollution to continue.

“The fish aren’t good anymore and you can’t eat them,” he said.

He also shared concerns over the long-term health effects of environmental pollution on Piikani people and others living in the watershed.

“There’s quite a few people that have developed cancers in the past. With our people, diabetes might be a symbol of what’s happening,” he said. “We never had them in the past.”

Yellow Horn appealed to the authorities to stop coal mining and other mineral extraction activity in the region for the sake of public health.

“One of the things the government would do is to stop the development of coal and any other minerals in our area,” he said.

“There are documents and studies already made that [said] it’s going to affect everyone’s health, not just us First Nations, but everybody else that’s in the area.”

Williams echoed the concern, noting that for many Piikani members, the advisory was spiritually devastating and distressing.

“Culturally and spiritually, the Piikani realize we are treaty people, with the first treaty being between the first humans and the natural world that came forward to provide their ‘little brother’ (us) with food, medicines, coverings, and so on,” he said.

“Polluting a lake and river, harming fish and wildlife, is seen by many to be a breaking of that original sacred treaty.”

Looking ahead, Williams said similar awareness-building gatherings are likely, including one farther north along the mountains.

Evolve Power Ltd. (formerly Montem Resources Ltd.), which oversees the Tent Mountain coal mining site, responded to a request for comment from Shootin’ the Breeze.

“Montem/Evolve is in compliance with all applicable provincial and federal regulatory requirements including those prescribed in its Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act Approval,” said Peter Doyle, managing director and CEO of Evolve Power.

In an emailed statement, Doyle added that “the Crowsnest River Valley contains multiple towns and is a major transportation corridor with significant agricultural and industrial activity, including quarrying by others, all of which may contribute to selenium levels being above naturally occurring levels.”