Maskwacis

Maskwacis, known as Hobbema prior to 2014, is an unincorporated community in central Alberta, Canada, a portion of which is designated a hamlet within Ponoka County. A portion of the community is also recognized as a designated place by Statistics Canada under its previous name of Hobbema. Maskwacis is located near the intersection of Highway 2A and Highway 611, approximately south of the City of Edmonton.The area was originally known as Maskwacis and Father Constantine Scollen always referred to it as "Bear Hills" when he attempted to re-establish a Catholic mission there, in late 1884 and 1885, around the time that he and Chief Bobtail succeeded in persuading the young men not to join the "Riel Rebellion" of that year. It was named Hobbema after Meindert Hobbema during the construction of the Calgary and Edmonton Railway in 1891. The community, including the hamlet portion within Ponoka County, was renamed Maskwacis (meaning "bear hills" in Cree) on January 1, 2014.The community has an employment centre, health board and college.GeographyThe community straddles the boundaries between the Ermineskin Cree Nation reserve, the Samson Cree Nation reserve and Ponoka County. The northern portion of the community is located within the Ermineskin reserve on the west side of Highway 2A. The southern portion of the community is located within the Samson reserve on the east side of Highway 2A and north side of Highway 611. The remaining portion of the community is located within Ponoka County on the west side of Highway 2A across from the Samson reserve portion of the community and south of the Ermineskin portion of the community.