The Lost Reserve by Kenton Storey

The Lost Reserve by Kenton Storey

An unprecedented look inside a 150 year-long legal battle for independence, land, and justice

In 1874, Chief Chacachas entered a sacred covenant with the Government of Canada by signing Treaty 4 at Fort Qu’Appelle, securing reserve lands for his people at the Crooked Lakes in Southeast Saskatchewan. Only seven years later, the Department of Indian Affairs forcibly displaced Chacachas members onto a joint reserve, amalgamating them into the Ochapowace Band and erasing their identity as an independent band.

The Lost Reserve chronicles the Chacachas Treaty Nation’s unwavering decades-long struggle to reclaim their stolen lands. From early efforts to seek redress in the 1930s, to organizing in the 1970s, to a more-than-twenty-year-long court case culminating in a 2020 judgment affirming the continued existence of the Chacachas Treaty Nation, the book reveals the emotional and financial toll of seeking justice in a system designed to stall reconciliation. While the 2020 court ruling restored their legal identity, the battle isn’t over—the Chacachas remain in an administrative limbo without reserve lands. Drawing from archival records, legal documents, oral histories from Chacachas Elders, and personal testimonies, the book also includes rare commentary from the judge who presided over the case, revealing the inner workings of the kind of legal battle that is often fought in silence for fear of retribution.

Written in partnership between the Chacachas Treaty Nation and an expert historian, and featuring a foreword from Chief Charlie Bear, The Lost Reserve is both a history and a reclamation—a Nation telling their own story of resilience and resistance. It is a story all too familiar for Indigenous communities everywhere, for whom the legacy of settler colonialism is far from over.

"A compelling, expansive history of the Chacachas Cree Nation, The Lost Reserve shares the story of an Indigenous people forced into a multidecade pursuit of recognition through litigation" —Foreword Reviews

"The Lost Reserve is a meticulous record of Canada’s colonialism through practice and policy and a community’s frustrating century-and-a-half struggle for treaty, fairness, and a home." —Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair, author of Wînipêk: Visions of Canada from an Indigenous Centre

“The Lost Reserve, which chronicles the history and struggles of the Chacachas First Nation, is one chapter in the re-writing and correction of Canadian history. It is a must-read.” —Justice Doug Kovatch, judge of the Provincial Court of Saskatchewan and former legal counsel to the Chacachas Treaty Nation

"The Lost Reserve is a powerful story of First Nation strength and resilience in response to the racism and inequities at the heart of Canada’s colonization project. It should be read by all Canadians searching for inspiration and a path towards meaningful reconciliation." —Bruce McIvor, author of Indigenous Rights in One Minute: What You Need to Know to Talk Reconciliation

“It’s difficult to sum up in a few words the feelings and thoughts that this book evokes. The nêhiyaw word âhkamêyimok, meaning to persevere or try hard, comes to mind. From start to finish, The Lost Reserve is a story and roadmap of how getting to the truth of our Treaty histories is hard, but it can be done through strong and resilient Elders, leaders, citizens, and allies carrying our oral histories forward.” —Kathy Walker, Treaty Commissioner, Saskatchewan

"The perseverance of the Chacachas Treaty Nation stands as a profound affirmation of Indigenous strength, governance, and continuity. This book honours the generations who safeguarded their identity through every attempt at displacement and erasure, and it documents with clarity the truth our Elders have always carried: the Chacachas people have never ceased to exist as a Nation." —Chief Bobby Cameron, Chief of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations

"The Lost Reserve provides a powerful window into how Canada dispossessed the Chacachas First Nation of their land and how much it has taken to even begin a tentative and fragile kind of redress." —Adele Perry, author of Aqueduct: Colonialism, Resources, and the Histories We Remember

"Through a rich combination of Indigenous knowledge and historical research, The Lost Reserve makes an important contribution to Indigenous history and historiography on the prairies and aids the fight for justice for the Chacachas Treaty Nation." —Sean Carleton, co-author of When the Pine Needles Fall: Indigenous Acts of Resistance

The Chacachas Treaty Nation traces its relationship with the Government of Canada to the signing of Treaty 4 by Chief Chacachas at Fort Qu’Appelle in 1874. Their traditional territory spans the Qu’Appelle river valley, and their offices are north of Whitewood, Saskatchewan.

Kenton Storey is a Winnipeg-based independent settler scholar at Storey Historical Research. Since 2015, he has worked in the field of Indigenous history, researching and writing about land claims, treaty rights, and the Department of Indian Affairs.