Lucky Man Band has a strong claim to land that is connected to events in 1880 – when Chief Lucky Man told the government he wanted a reserve near the Battlefords.

Records show the band then had 754 members, based on Treaty 6, the band should have been provided with more than 15 sections of land (128 acres per person).

When the reserve was not given to them, many of Lucky Man's band members were forced to live on Little Pine's reserve near Battleford as well as other parts of Western Canada and the United States.

In 1972, research done by Rod King identified the Government's failure to meet its treaty obligations. Negotiations to secure a reserve for the remaining Lucky Man band members began in the 1980s.

Chief Rod King remembers the confusion that would happen every year when he went to Little Pine Reserve on Treaty Day to pick up his treaty money. "They'd always look but could never find my name on the Little Pine band list. Then, after a moment they would say something about me likely being on the other band list and they would haul out a different book of names. And sure enough, that's where I would be listed."

This recurring event eventually set off bells with Chief King that something was unusual. He seemed haunted by this second band list and kept saying how he should research what this was all about.

Chief King took some time off from his work with the FSIN to spend some time at the Glenbow Museum in Calgary to research his history. It was the beginning of a long journey of discovery – what he discovered was the truth. That for over a century the history of Lucky Man and his band had somehow been forgotten and ignored. Ignored were the historical facts that showed in 1879 Chief Lucky Man had (along with Chief Little Pine) signed and adhesion to Treaty 6. But for the following hundred years the terms of the adhesion were forgotten. Instead, the people of Lucky Man Band were a homeless, dispossessed, and dispersed people. By 1919, records indicate Lucky Man Band membership had been reduced to 9.

A map of the area East of Lucky Man
Click on the map to view a wider area

A map of the area West of Lucky Man
Click on the map to view a wider area

The Lucky Man Reserve was formally set apart for the use of Lucky Man Cree Nation when a Treaty Land Entitlement Settlement Agreement was agreed to by Lucky Man Cree Nation and the Government of Canada on November 23rd, 1989.

The lands set aside had previously formed a part of the Meeting Lake Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration Community Pasture.

The 1989 agreement set aside 7680 acres (12 sections) of the Meeting Lake Community Pasture.

Lucky Man Reserve is located in the rural municipality of Meeting Lake, which is found in the north-central part of Saskatchewan, approximately 120 km north-west of the city of Saskatoon and about 90 km north-east of the city of North Battleford.

This sector of Saskatchewan, known as the Thickwood Hills, has physical geography characterized by rolling topography, aspen forest, scattered with pockets of spruce, numerous small lakes or sloughs and drainage channels.

The soils found on Lucky Man are Glenbush-Lorenzo, Lorenzo, Meeting Lake, and Meeting Lake-Lorenzo which are considered to be marginally productive. The agricultural potential of these soils is limited due to low organic matter, degree of stones and unfavourable topography.

There is a connection between unfavourable topography and organic matter content in that those soils on upper slopes normally have lower organic matter as do the soils under a grassland/forest vegetation, typical on the Lucky Man Reserve. The steepness of the topography also results in a number of lakes or sloughs in low-lying areas.

Because of the steepness of the surface features, cultivation is not feasible as there is a great risk of wind and water erosion if the land were to be cleared and broken. Added to this is the amount of stone, a majority of which is severe enough to make cultivation economically unfeasible.

An additional factor which plays a part in land use is the ground cover. Well-developed aspen forests presently account for approximately 55% of Lucky Man. These areas are found in the mid-northern, east and west sides of the reserve. Another portion of Lucky Man classified as improved grazing has most of these areas in some stage of regrowth. The remaining land on Lucky Man consists of prairie grass or unimproved grazing, low-lying areas or hay-sloughs.

Based on the type of soil, the typography and the ground cover found on Lucky Man, the land resource is presently being utilized to its highest and best potential as grazing and outfitting.

The surrounding region is largely agricultural with a few small communities serving that agriculture base. Three communities, Hafford, Mayfair and Blaine Lake are located in close proximity to the Reserve. Hafford and Blaine Lake provide a full range of cummunity services