July 15, 2026· Alberta Fact Check
Fact Check: Can Alberta Separate Without First Nations Consent?
Manitoba AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak says separatists are "not taking the land with them." But she doesn't speak for Alberta's Treaty 6, 7, and 8 nations — and new polling shows First Nations support for independence outpacing the general public.
Alberta Fact Check examines a claim from Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, who said separatists are “not taking the land with them” and argued that Alberta’s independence movement lacks legitimacy without Indigenous consent. As the piece notes, Woodhouse Nepinak is a Manitoba-based chief leading a national advocacy organization — she does not speak directly for Alberta’s Treaty 6, 7, and 8 nations, whose own views on separation shouldn’t be assumed to match hers.
The treaties themselves complicate her claim further: Treaties 6, 7, and 8 include language in which participating First Nations agreed to “cede, release, surrender and yield up” their rights to Crown lands — language that forms the legal basis for provincial sovereignty, though disputes remain over whether it meant permanent surrender or an ongoing land-sharing agreement. On the polling front, a 2026 Mainstreet Research survey found 46% of First Nations respondents support Alberta independence, compared to 36% of the general population, undercutting the idea of uniform Indigenous opposition. And while the Supreme Court's 1998 Quebec reference requires negotiation with Indigenous groups during constitutional change, it did not establish a veto over provincial referendums.