Welcome to the official website of As'in'i'wa'chi Ni'yaw Nation, also known as Kelly Lake Cree Nation (KLCN).
Translated Rocky Mountain Cree, many of whom live in the Kelly Lake area, the group is one of few in the Peace River region that was not included in the treaty process. As a result, unlike neighbouring Aboriginal communities who joined Treaty 8 - and subsequently found their lives and lands administrated by the federal government through the Indian Act - KLCN people remained outside the Treaty and retained their self-sufficiency.
KLCN is a community of more than 800 members who claim as their own an extensive territory in present day northeastern British Columbia and west-central Alberta.
As’in’i’wa’chi Ni’yaw members do not subscribe to the reserve system nor the chief and council structure that has been imposed. KLCN is governed by a traditional representation system with family Headmen and a Hereditary Chief appointed by the elders and ratified by the people.
The Kelly Lake Cree people are descendants of the Cree and Beaver peoples who have lived in this territory since time immemorial and of the Iroquois trappers and voyageurs who came to the territory with the North West Company in the 18th century.
The traditional territory of the KLCN people encompasses, but is not limited to, the tributaries where the Fraser River meets the Athabasca River to the north where the Smoky meets the Peace River, east to where the Peace meets the Mackenzie River (Williston Lake).
The people of Kelly Lake are not opposed to development in our territory. As the traditional stewards of these lands, we, the Kelly Lake Cree Nation, expect to engage with our neighbours, and with industry and governments in respectful, collaborative and symmetrical relationships.