Community Profile
Peguis First Nation is the largest First Nations community in Manitoba, Canada, with a population of approximately 7,338 people. It is located approximately 145 kilometres north of Winnipeg. The citizens of Peguis are of Saulteaux (Anishinaabe) and Cree descent. The First Nation is named after Peguis, the chief who led the people to the lands where they settled.

Chief Peguis and his Band settled in an area north of present-day Selkirk in the late 1700s. Their history is documented in journals of the Hudson’s Bay Company, the Lord Selkirk settlers and the Church Missionary Society. Peguis and other chiefs signed the Selkirk Treaty in 1817. The treaty allocated land along the Red and Assiniboine Rivers to Lord Selkirk and his settlers for an annual rent of tobacco. On August 3, 1871, Peguis’ son Mis-Koo-Kinew (or Henry Prince) signed Treaty 1 on behalf of the “St. Peter’s Band”, the name of the Peguis First Nation at the time. Treaty 1 specified that Peguis would be given 160 acres (0.65 km2) of land for each family of five people.

In 2008, Peguis First Nation announced the finalization of a land claims settlement with the Canadian federal government. The claim is for land which was surrendered near Selkirk, Manitoba in 1907.

Directory

• Band Office – 204.645.2359
• Health Centre & Jordan’s Principle – 204.645.2169
• Peguis Central School – 204.645.2164