[45] The site of present-day Edmonton was home to several First Nations peoples, including the Cree, Nakota Sioux, Blackfoot, Tsuut'ina, Ojibwe, and Denesuline.

[48] His expeditions across the Prairies of Rupert's Land were mainly to seek contact with the Indigenous population for establishing the fur trade, as the competition was fierce between the HBC and the North West Company (NWC).

[69] Due to McCauley's good relationship with the federal Liberals, Edmonton maintained economic and political prominence over Strathcona, a rival town on the south side of the North Saskatchewan River.

Many thousands of workers participated in the Edmonton general strike of 1919 and a strong block of Labour representatives were on council after the next election: East, Kinney, Sam McCoppen, Rice Sheppard and Joe Clarke.

[81] The aspen woods and forests in and around Edmonton have long since been reduced by farming and residential and commercial developments including oil and natural gas exploration.

[85] Much of the precipitation that Edmonton receives in the summer comes from late-day thunderstorms,[96][97] which are frequent and occasionally severe enough to produce large hail, damaging winds, funnel clouds, and tornadoes.

[99][100][101][102] A massive cluster of thunderstorms swept through Edmonton on July 11, 2004, with large hail and over 100 mm (3.9 in) of rain reported within an hour in many places.

[186] From these beginnings, Muslims now form the city's largest religious minority, with 83,015 members (2021)[184] representing over 62 ethnic backgrounds[187] at over 20 Edmonton-area mosques (2019).

Locally based operations such as Principal Trust and Canadian Commercial Bank[204] would fail, and some regional offices were moved to other cities.

[216] Old Strathcona also houses the city's largest indoor farmer's market with over 130 vendors selling local and regional produce, meat, crafts, and clothing year-round.

On the south side of the river, the university district and Whyte Avenue contain theatres, concert halls, and various live music venues.

[220] Described as one of the most acoustically perfect concert halls in Canada, it is home to the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and hosts a wide variety of shows every year.

[237] Edmonton is also hosts the Grand North American Old Time Fiddle Championship each summer in July, which showcases some of the best fiddlers in Canada, the United States, and Scotland.

[238] The city also has a vibrant popular music scene, across genres including hip-hop, reggae, R&B, rock, pop, metal, punk, country and electronic.

Notable past and present local musicians include Robert Goulet,[239] Tommy Banks, Eleanor Collins, Stu Davis, Tim Feehan, Cadence Weapon, Kreesha Turner, the Smalls, SNFU, Social Code, Stereos, Ten Second Epic, Tupelo Honey, Mac DeMarco, Shout Out Out Out Out, Psyche, Purity Ring, The Wet Secrets, Nuela Charles, Celeigh Cardinal, and Ruth B.

[249] Several golf courses, both public and private, are also located in the river valley; the long summer daylight hours of this northern city provide for extended play from early morning well into the evening.

[257] The Alberta Aviation Museum, located in a hangar at the City Centre Airport, was built for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.

[citation needed] The Prince of Wales Armouries Heritage Centre[258] is home to the Loyal Edmonton Regiment Military Museum.

In addition to a collection of artifacts tracing the history of the telephone, the museum has its own theatre featuring a brief film led by the robot Xeldon.

Fort Edmonton Park, Canada's largest living history museum, is located in the river valley southwest of the city centre.

[266] Edmonton is home to four artist-run centres all located in the downtown core Harcourt House, Latitude 53, Ociciwan Contemporary Art Collective and Society of Northern Alberta Print-Artists (SNAP).

[citation needed] Local university-level sports teams include the U of A Golden Bears, the U of A Pandas, the NAIT Ooks, and the MacEwan Griffins.

[274] The Edmonton International Raceway, which hosts NASCAR Pinty's Series races, is located about 50 km (31 mi) to the south near Wetaskiwin.

Council has the responsibility of approving the city's budget, and develops laws and policies intended to promote the health and safety of Edmonton residents based on the powers granted by the Municipal Government Act.

The council passes all legislation related to the city's police, firefighting, parks, and libraries, as well as its utilities – electricity, water supply, solid waste handling, and drainage.

[303] The brigade had existed in Calgary since the 1950s, and Lord Strathcona's Horse had traditionally been a Calgary garrison unit dating back to before World War I. Edmonton also has a large army reserve element from 41 Canadian Brigade Group (41 CBG), including The Loyal Edmonton Regiment (4th Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry); 41 Combat Engineer Regiment; HQ Battery, 20th Field Artillery Regiment; and B Squadron of The South Alberta Light Horse, one of Alberta's oldest army reserve units.

It is also tied into the Canadian Pacific Kansas City network, which provides service from Calgary to the south and extends northeast of Edmonton to serve Alberta's Industrial Heartland.

The southeast leg of the Valley Line, which starts in Mill Woods and ends in the downtown core, opened on November 4, 2023, after experiencing significant delays.

That year, more than 150 Canadians visited Nashville to attend Alberta-born Brett Kissel's Grand Ole Opry debut and to meet with Sister Cities representatives.

[391] In November 2015, Doug Hoyer and Jeremy Witten represented Edmonton at World of Friendship, Nashville's annual sister cities celebration.