Manitowi Sakahikanihk

Manitou Lake lies in the parkland of western Saskatchewan near the Alberta border, a shallow saline lake among grassland, wetlands and groves of aspen. Cree people called it Manitou Sakahikanihk, meaning 'at spirit lake', and held its waters to be healing and sacred. Its mineral springs and salty shores drew bison, elk and visiting bands from across the parkland. In 1770 the Hudson's Bay Company traveller Pink recorded the name, and later fur traders used the lake as a landmark on the route between the Saskatchewan River and the plains.