The name Stoney was given to them by Anglophone explorers, because of their technique of using fire-heated rocks to boil broth in rawhide bowls.
[citation needed] They are very closely related to the Assiniboine, who are also known as Stone Sioux (from Ojibwe: asinii-bwaan).
The Nakoda First Nation in Alberta comprises three bands: Bearspaw, Chiniki, and Goodstoney.
[citation needed] The Nakoda was divided geographically and culturally into two tribal groups or divisions with different dialects, which in turn were further divided into several bands:[8][9] Wood Stoney (Chan Tonga Nakoda – 'Big Woods People', often called Swampy Ground Assiniboine, northern tribal group) Mountain Stoney (Ye Xa Yabine Nakoda or Hebina – 'Rock Mountain People', often called Strong Wood Assiniboine, Thickwood Assiniboine, southern tribal group) Members of the Nakoda nations of Paul and Alexis signed an adhesion to Treaty 6 in 1877.
[10] In exchange for the use of traditional lands, the Crown agreed to honour their right to self-government and an ancestral way of life.