[8] The Mathias Colomb Cree Nation was originally part of the Pelican Narrows band,[9][Notes 1] Saskatchewan.

"[10] A fire destroyed the Prayer River community in the late 1960s and the band was forced to relocate to the Pukatawagan reserve.

Violence, substance abuse and poverty prevailed in Pukatawagan for decades while the community argued with mainstream officials about who was responsible and who would pay for cleaning up the mess and rebuilding.

[13] In his report, based on his visit to Pukatawagan and other First Nations and Inuit communities in Canada in October 2013, James Anaya, the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, reported that "The well-being gap between aboriginal and non-aboriginal people in Canada has not narrowed over the last several years, treaty and aboriginals claims remain persistently unresolved, and overall there appear to be high levels of distrust among aboriginal peoples toward government at both the federal and provincial levels.

"[14][15][Notes 3] James Anaya, the UN's special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples[15] was deeply concerned by the suicide rate in aboriginal communities.

"[16] Pukatawagan Airport is located 2.5 nautical miles (4.6 km; 2.9 mi) east of the town and the community-owned Missinippi Airways provides scheduled, charter and medivacs.

[17] The temporary winter road (Kississing Lake to Pukatawagan) is open for about three months[6] of the year based on weather.

[18] Like other small, remote northern communities, Mathias Colomb Cree Nation has no all-weather road access, although studies of its economic viability have been undertaken.

The absence of an all-weather road imposes added freight and transportation costs on individuals, communities, government, and industry.

[18] The report examined the cost of the construction of an all-weather road from Provincial Trunk Highway 10 (PTH 10) to Pukatawagan and the benefits, if any, to all stakeholders: Pukatawagan First Nations, Sherridon, and Lynn Lake, Hudson Bay Railroad (HBRR), (OmniTRAX), freight haulers, air transporters and Tolko Industries Ltd.[18] On 20 August 1997 the OmniTRAX-owned Hudson Bay Railway (HBRY) began operation, using former Canadian National Railway (CN) lines that HBRY had purchased, covering more than 1,300 km (810 mi) of lines.

[4][Notes 6] Missinippi Airways, with the official name of Beaver Air Services Limited Partnership, is 100% aboriginal-owned and operates regular flights between The Pas and Pukatawagan.