First Nations celebrate Albertans’ decision to remain a part of Canada

The Blackfoot Confederacy, a coalition of tribes in Montana and Alberta, celebrated Albertans’ decision this week to remain a province within Canada. The “no” vote represents a long-sought victory for First Nations in Alberta, who brought a legal challenge and launched a public information campaign to thwart the secession. Alberta’s independence movement dates back to the Great Depression, though it gained popularity and legitimacy after a handful of events in recent years, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the election of Prime Minister Mark Carney. 

Early in 2026, a coalition of First Nations — including the Blackfoot Confederacy — argued in court that the referendum unconstitutionally violated treaties between Ottawa and local tribes. The First Nations plaintiffs won that case in May. But after that, the province’s chief executive, Premier Danielle Smith, added a new independence-related question to the already-scheduled Oct. 19 referendum — one that would have mandated a subsequent, binding vote on separation. 

“I, as premier, will not have a legal mistake by a single judge silence the voices of hundreds of thousands of Albertans,” Smith said in a May broadcast.

Troy Knowlton, chief of the Peigan Nation in the Blackfoot Confederacy, said at an anti-secession rally this week that Smith’s statement “ignored” the rights of First Nations people and existing treaties.

“Where we used to fight with weapons for territory, today we fight in the courts and, unfortunately, the ballot box, as we’re seeing today,” Knowlton said. 

Tribes in the Blackfoot Confederacy hosted informational sessions, distributed yard signs and posted social media content that encouraged members to vote against secession. Sheldon Sunshine, chief of the Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation, made a video urging members to vote against separatism “for unity, for treaties and for our future.”

Indigenous voters in Canada turned out overwhelmingly against separation this week. More than 96% of those voters opposed separation across each of the 10 largest polling stations on Indigenous land, according to the confederacy. 

Overall, Albertans voted three-to-one to stay a province in Canada. Secession leader Mitch Sylvestre told POLITICO that he now hopes to push Alberta’s United Conservative Party toward a secession-oriented agenda. Smith, the premier and a member of the UCP, said separatists should leave the party. 

For now, the 180-mile border between Montana and Alberta remains the boundary between the U.S. and Canada. The state and province continue to share resources and exchange tourists. 

In 2020, 94% of crude oil processed in one of Montana’s four refineries came from Alberta. Another potential link, the proposed Bridger Pipeline, which would connect Alberta’s oil to Wyoming’s refineries, would span north-south across Montana. Montana shares other resources with Canada, too, including the St. Mary and Milk rivers, and the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. 

The Blackfeet Nation, a tribe of 17,000 members with a 1.5 million acre reservation in northwest Montana, is the only tribe in the confederacy on the U.S. side of the border.