JOHN L.

TOBIAS
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Canada'sSubjugationof
thePlains Cree,ß879- 885

ONEOFTHEMOSTPERSISTENT MYTHSthat Canadianhistoriansperpetuate

is that of the honourableand just policyCanadafollowedin dealing
with the [Link] the Canadianexpansionist
literature of the 187os as a means to emphasizethe distinctive
Canadianapproachto and the uniquecharacterof theCanadianwest,1
it hasbeengivencredenceby G.F.G. Stanleyin hisclassicTheBirthof
WesternCanada, • and by all those who use Stanley'swork as the
standardinterpretation of Canada's
relationshipwiththe PlainsIndians
in the period 187o-85. Thus studentsare taughtthat the Canadian
government waspaternalistic andfar-sightedin offeringthe Indiansa
meansto becomecivilizedand assimilatedinto white societyby the
reservesystem,and honest and fair-minded in honouring legal
commitmentsmade in the treaties.• The PlainsIndians, and particu-
larlythe PlainsCree,are saidto be a primitivepeopleadheringto an
inflexiblesystemof traditionandcustom,seekingto protectthemselves
againstthe advanceof civilization,
and takingup armsin rejectionof
the reservesystemand an agriculturalway of life.4 This traditional
Doug Owram, Promise ofEden:TheCanadianExpansionist Movement andtheIdeaofthe
West,•856-•9oo (Toronto •98o), •3•-4
G.F.G. Stanley,TheBirth of Western Canada:A Historyof theRiel Rebellions
(Toronto
•96o)
Ibid., 2o6-• 5
Ibid., vii-viii, • 96, 2• 6-36. It shouldbe notedthat the traditionalinterpretation
of a Cree rebellionin association with the Metis hasbeenchallengedby R. Allen,
'Big Bear,' Saskatchewan
History,xxv (•972); W.B. Fraser,'Big Bear, Indian
Patriot,'AlbertaHistoricalReview,x•v 0966), •-• 3; Rudy Wiebe in his fictional
biography,TheTemptations ofBigBear(Toronto •973) and in hisbiographyof Big
Bear in the Dictionaryof CanadianBiography [r•cB],x•, •88•-9o (Toronto •982),
597-6o •; andNormaSluman,Poundmaker
(Toronto• 967).However,noneof these

CanadianHistoricalReview,Lx•v, 4, • 983
ooo8-3755/83/ • 2oo-o5 • 9 $o•. 25/o¸ Universityof TorontoPress
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interpretationdistortsthe roles of both the Cree and the Canadian

government,for the Cree were both flexibleand activein promoting
their own interests,and willing to accommodatethemselves to a new
wayof life, whilethe Canadiangovernmentwasneitherasfar-sighted
nor asjust as tradition [Link]'sprincipalconcernin its
relationshipwith the PlainsCree wasto establishcontrolover them,
and Canadianauthoritieswere willing to and did wagewar upon the
Cree in order to achieve this control.
Thosewho propagatethe myth would haveusbelievethat Canada
beganto negotiatetreatieswith the Indiansof theWestin • 871 aspart
of an overall plan to developthe agriculturalpotentialof the West,
opentheland for railwayconstruction, andbindtheprairiesto Canada
in a networkof commercialand [Link] is an
element of truth to these statements,the fact remainsthat in •87•
Canadahadno planon howto dealwiththe Indiansandthenegotiation
of treatieswasnot at the initiativeof the Canadiangovernment,but at
the insistence of the OjibwaIndiansof the North-WestAngleand the
Saulteauxof the tiny provinceof [Link] is ignoredby the
traditionalinterpretationis that the treaty processonly startedafter
YellowQuill'sbandof Saulteauxturned backsettlerswhotried to go
westof Portagela Prairie, and after other Saulteauxleadersinsisted
uponenforcementof the SelkirkTreaty or, moreoften,insistedupon
makinga new treaty. Alsoignoredis the fact that the Ojibwaof the
North-West Angle demandedrents, and createdthe fear of violence
againstprospective settlerswhocrossedtheir landor madeuseof their
territory, if Ojibwa rights to their landswere not [Link]
pressureand fear of resultingviolenceis whatmotivatedthe govern-
ment to begin the treaty-makingprocess. 5
Canada'sinitialoffer to the Saulteauxand OjibwaIndiansconsisted
onlyof reserves anda [Link]
the Ojibwain •87 • and againin • 872, while the Saulteauxdemanded,
much to Treaty CommissionerWemyssSimpson'schagrin,farm
animals,horses,wagons,and farm toolsand [Link]
not include these demandsin the written treaty, for he had no
authority to do so, but he wrote them down in the form of a
memorandumthat he entitled 'outsidepromises'and whichhe failed
to sendto [Link], the originalTreaties • and 2 did not include
thoseitemsthe Saulteauxsaidhad to be part of a treatybeforethey
authorsdealswith Canada'sIndian policy,and noneexamineswhatthe Cree
were doing in the period • 876-85.
5 AlexanderMorris, TheTreaties of CanadawiththeIndiansofManitobaandthe
North-West
Territories(Toronto • 88o), 37; PublicArchivesof Manitoba,AdamsG.
ArchibaldPapers(hereaftercitedas•,^MArchibaldPapers,letters)
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wouldagreeto surrendertheir [Link] in •874, after the Indian

leadersof Manitobabecameirate over non-receiptof the goodsthat
Simpsonhad promisedthem,wasan inquirylaunched,and Simpson's
listof 'outsidepromises'discoveredand incorporatedin renegotiated
treatiesin 1875.6 It wasonly in 1873, after the Ojibwaof the
North-West Angle had twice refused treaties that only included
reservesand annuities,that the governmentagreed to include the
domesticanimals, farm tools, and equipment that the Ojibwa de-
[Link] this experienceCanadamade suchgoodsa standard
part of later treaties.7
Justasit waspressurefrom the Indiansof Manitobathat forcedthe
governmentof Canadato initiatethe treaty process,it waspressure
from the Plains Cree in the period 187•'-5 that compelled the
governmentof Canadato continuethe process withthe Indiansof the
Qu'Appelleand Saskatchewan [Link] PlainsCree had inter-
fered with the geologicalsurveyand preventedthe constructionof
telegraphlinesthroughtheir territory to emphasizethat Canadahad
to dealwiththe Creefor Creelands.
8 The Creehadlearnedin 187o
about Canada'sclaim to their lands, and not wanting to experience
what had happenedto the Indians in the United Stateswhen those
peoplewere facedwith an expansionist government,the Cree made
clear that they would not allow settlementor useof their landsuntil
[Link] alsomadeclearthatpart
of anyarrangementfor Creelandshad to involveassistance to theCree
in developinga new agriculturalwayof life?
6 PublicArchivesof Canada,RecordGroup • o Indian Affairs Files,vol. 357•, file
•'4-2, alsovol. 36o3, file 2o36 (hereafercited asP^c,•tc;•o, vol. file). Seealso
Morris, Treaties
of Canada,25-43 and • 26-7, for a printed accountof the
negotiationsandthe textsof the originaland renegotiated treaties,pp 3 •3-2o,
338-42. Two articlesbyJohnTaylor, 'Canada'sNorthwestIndian Policyin the
•87o's:TraditionalPremisesand Necessary Innovations'and 'Two Viewson the
Meaningof TreatiesSix and Seven'in TheSpiritofAlbertaIndianTreaties
(Montreal• 98o), 3-7 and 9-45 respectively, providea goodaccountof the Indian
contribution and attitude towards the treaties.
7 Morris, Treaties
of Canada,44-76; on pp • 2o- 3 Morris demonstrates howhe had to
makeTreaty 3 the modelfor the Qu'AppelleTreaty to get the Saulteauxand
Creeof the Qu'AppelleRiverregionto acceptwhathe originallyofferedthem.
CompareTreaties•-6 to seewhatthe governmentwasforcedto [Link]
seeTaylor's'Traditional Premises'for Indian contributionsto the negotiation
process.
8 Pt,c, •tc •o, vol.3586,file • •37, Lieutenant-Governor
Morristo Secretary of
Statefor the provinces,•3 Sept.•872; P^c,•tc •o, vol.3576, file 378 entirefile; vol.
36o9, file 3229; vol. 36o4, file 2543; vol. 3636, 6694-•
9 v^c,•tg •o, vol. 36•2, file 4o•2, entirefile; v^MArchibaldPapers,WJ. Christieto
GeorgeW. Hill, 26 Apr. • 87•; Archibaldto Secretaryof Statefor the Provinces,
5_Jan. •872; alsolettersin note•; WilliamFrancisButler,.TheGreatLoneLand
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In adoptingthisposition,theCreeweresimplydemonstrating a skill
thattheyhadshownsincetheirinitialcontactwithEuropeans in x67o.
On numerousoccasions duringthefur tradeera,theyhadadaptedto
changedenvironmental and economic circumstances, beginningfirst
ashunters,thenasprovisioners and middlemenin the Hudson'sBay
Companytradingsystem,and finallyadaptingfrom a woodlandto
parkland-prairie buffalohuntingculturetoretaintheirindependence
and their desiredties with the fur trade.•ø Having accommodated
themselves to the PlainsIndian cultureafter x8oo,theyexpandedinto
territoryformerlycontrolledby the Atsina,and asthe buffaloherds
began to declineafter x85o, the Cree expandedinto Blackfoot
territory.• Expansionwas one responseto the threat posedby
decliningbuffaloherds;anotherwasthat somePlainsCree bands
beganto turn to agriculture. •2 Thus, whenthe Cree learnedthat
Canadaclaimedtheir lands, part of the arrangementthey were

(Rutland,v•r •97o), 36o-2,368; v^c, ManuscriptGroup 26A,JohnA. Macdonald

Papers,vol. •o4, entirevolume(hereaftercitedasP^c,Mg 26^,letters),P^M,
ArchibaldPapers, JosephHoweto Archibald,3oJune• 872;•^•, AlexanderMorris
Papers,Lt Governor'sCollection,Morristo Ministerof the Interior 7 July • 873
(hereaftercitedas•^•, Morris Papers,letter);v^c,Rg •o, vol. 3625, file 5366,
Morris to Ministerof the Interior, David Laird, 22 July and 4 August•875; Rg
•o vol. 3624, file 5 • 52, ColonelFrench,Commissioner of the NW•Vto the Minister
of Justice,6 and •9 August•875; Morris,•7o-•, •g •o, vol.36•2, file4o•2, entire
file; AdamsG. ArchibaldPapers,Petitionof JamesSeenumto Archibald,9 Jan.
•87•, and attachedlettersof Kehewin,Little Hunter, and Kiskion;Archibaldto
Secretaryof Statefor the provinces,5 Jan. • 872
Two excellentstudiesof the Cree in the pre-• 87o era are thoseby Arthur J. Ray,
Indiansin theFur Trade.'TheirRoleasHunters,Trappers, andMiddlemen in theLands
Southwest ofHudson Bay•66o-•87o (Toronto•974), andDavidG. Mandelbaum,
ThePlainsCree,xxxvII, Part II of AnthropologicalPapersof the AmericanMuseum
of Natural History(New York • 94o).
Ibid. An excellentstudyof the Creeexpansionisthe unpublished •^ thesisbyJohn
S. Milloy,'The PlainsCree:A PreliminaryTrade andMilitaryChronology,
• 67o-• 87o' (CarletonUniversity• 972); alsoHenryJohnMoberlyand WilliamB.
Cameron,WhenFur WasKing (Toronto • 929), 2o8- • 2, describespart of the last
phaseof [Link] shrinkingrangeof buffaloandhowthe Creereacted
are alsodiscussed in Frank Gilbert Roe, TheNorthAmerican Buffalo:A CriticalStudy
of theSpecies in Its Wild State(Toronto •95•), 282-333.
Henry YouleHind, NarrativeoftheCanadian RedRiverExploring Expedition of
ß857 andof theAssiniboine andSaskatchewan ExploringExpedition of ß858 (Edmonton
• 97 •), vol. I, p. 334; Irene Spry, ThePalli•erExpedition: An Account ofJohn
Palliser'sBritishNorthAmericanExpedition, • 857-• 86o (London • 964), 59-6o;
ViscountMilton and W.B. Cheadle,TheNorthwest Passage
byLand,BeingtheNarrative
ofanExpedition fromtheAtlantictothePacific(Toronto • 97o),66-7; Edwin
ThompsonPerry,FiveIndianTribes oftheUpper Missouri:Sioux, Arickaras, Assiniboine,
Crees,Crow(Norman, oI• •969), 99-•37; J. Hines, TheRedIndiansof thePlains:
ThirtyYears'Missionary Experiencein Saskatchewan (Toronto • 9 • 6), 78-8o, 88- 9 •
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determinedto makeandsucceeded in makingwasto receiveassistance

in adaptingto an agriculturalwayof life. So successful
weretheyin
negotiatingsuch assistance that when the Mackenziegovernment
receiveda copyof Treaty 6 in 1876it acceptedthe treatyonlyafter
expressinga protestconcerningthe too-generous termsgrantedto the
Cree. • 3
While willingto explorethe alternativeof agriculture,three Cree
leadersin the 187ossoughtmeansto guaranteepreservation of the
buffalo-huntingculture as long as [Link] (leader of the
Cree-Assiniboineof theregionsouthof theQu'AppelleRiver),andBig
BearandLittlePine(leadersof twoof thelargestCreebandsfrom the
SaskatchewanRiver district) led what has been called an armed
migrationof the Cree into the CypressHills in the latter [Link]
threemen werenotedwarriors,and Big Bearand Piapotwerenoted
religiousleaders,but their prowesswasnot enoughto preventa Cree
defeatat the Battleof the BellyRiver in 187o,•4 and asa resultthey
exploredthe alternativeof dealingwith the governmentof Canada,
but in a manner to extractguaranteesfor the preservationof Cree
[Link] weredeterminedto getthegovernment to promiseto
limitthebuffalohunt to the Indians- a goalthatCreeleadershadbeen
advocatingsince the 185os. '5 When Big Bear met with Treaty
Commissioner AlexanderMorris at Fort Pitt in September1876,he
extracteda promisefrom Morris that non-Indian hunting of the
buffalowouldberegulated.'6
Big Bear refusedto take treatyin 1876,despitereceivingMorris's
assurances aboutthe regulationof the hunt. Little Pineand Piapotalso
did not taketreatywhenthe treatycommissions firstcameto dealwith

•3 Morris,Treaties
ofCanada,77-•23 and •68-239, discusses
the negotiations
of
Treaties4 and6 withtheCreeandhowhe wasforcedto [Link]
described is the Cree concern about their land. The reaction of the Mackenzie
government isdetailedin •,^c,Ro •o, vol.3636,file 6694-2andin particular,
Ministerof the InteriorReportto PrivyCouncil,3• Jan. •877 andorder-in-council,
•o Feb. •877.
•4 Milloy,'The PlainsCree'25o-62; AlexanderJohnson,TheBattleatBellyRiver:
Stories
of theLastGreatIndianBattle(Lethbridge• 966)
•5 HenryYouleHind, vol. •, pp 334, 36ø-•, carriesreportsof Mistickoos
or Short
Stick's comments on a cot•ncil of Cree leaders that resolved to limit white and
Metishuntingprivileges.
Viscount
[Link],TheNorthwest Passage
byLand,BeingtheNarrative
ofanExpedition
fromtheAtlantic
tothePacific,
66, 67,
contains comments on the Cree determination to limit non-Indian involvement in
the hunt. •'^M,E. AdamsArchibaldPapers,letter#2oo, Macdonaldto Archibald,
14 Feb. 1871;letter#•7 o, Englishhalfbreedsto Archibald,•oJan. •87•, all stress
that Creewere takingactionto limit non-Indianinvolvementin the buffalo
hunt.
•6 Morris, Treaties
of Canada,24•
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the Cree. Oral tradition among the Cree maintainsthat all three
leaderswishedto see how faithful the governmentwould be in
honouringthetreaties,•7butequallyimportantfor allthreeleaderswas
their belief that the treatieswere inadequateand that revisions
were
necessary. PiapotthoughtTreaty4 (theQu'AppelleTreaty)neededto
be expandedto includeincreasedfarm equipmentand tools,and to
stipulatethat the governmenthad to providemills,blacksmithand
carpentryshopsand tools,and instructors in farmingand the trades.
Only after receivingassurances that Ottawa would considerthese
requests
did Piapottaketreatyin •875.•s Big BearandLittlePine
objectedto Treaty 6 (Fort Pitt and Carlton) becauseCommissioner
Morrishadmadeclearthatin takingtreatytheCreewouldbeboundby
[Link] acceptthe treatieswouldmeanbeingsubjectto an
externalauthorityof whichthe Creeshadlittleknowledge andupon
[Link] LittlePinewould
countenancesucha lossof autonomy.
BigBearhadraisedthematterof Creeautonomyat FortPittin • 876
whenhe met Commissioner [Link] thattimeBig Bearsaid:'I will
makea requestthat he [Morris]saveme from what I mostdread,thatis
theropeaboutmyneck... It wasnotgivento usto havetheropeabout
our neck.'•9 Morrisand mostsubsequent historianshaveinterpreted
BigBear'sstatements to bea specific
referenceto hanging,butsuchan
interpretation ignoresthefactthatBigBear,likemostIndianleaders,
oftenuseda metaphorto emphasizea [Link] • 875, he hadmadethe
samepointbyusinga differentmetaphor whenhespoketo messengers
informinghim that a treatycommission wasto meetwith the Cree in
•876. At that time Big Bear said: 'We want none of the Queen's
presents: whenwe seta foxtrapwe scatterpiecesof meatall around,
butwhenthe fox getsinto the trapwe knockhim on thehead;wewant
no bait ...,20A more accurateinterpretationof Big Bear'swordsto
Morrisin • 876isthathefearedbeingcontrolled or 'enslaved,'just
asan
animaliscontrolledwhenit hasa ropearounditsneck.2•In • 877,when
•7 InterviewwithWalterGordon,Directorof theIndianRightsandTreatiesPro-
gram,Federation of SaskatchewanIndians,Mar. • [Link] madea similar
statementin aninterviewquotedin 'IndianAffairs,'Saskatchewan Herald,• Aug.
• [Link] importanceof Big Bear,Piapot,and LittlePinecannotbeunderesti-
mated,forof thoseCreechiefswhotooktreatyonlySweetgrass hadthestandingof
thesemen,andSweetgrass diedwithina fewmonths of takingtreaty.
•8 Morris, Treaties
of Canada,85-7. More detailedinformationon the adhesions
of
PiapotandCheekukisto befoundin •'•,c,l• •o, vol.36•5, file5489;[Link]
to Laird, 7 Oct. •875
•9 Morris,Treaties
ofCanada,
•4o for thequotation.
Seep 355 for theclauses
in
Treaty 6 respectingacceptanceof Canadianlaws.
•o Ibid., •74
• • Fraser,
'BigBear,IndianPatriot'76-7 agrees
thatBigBearwasnotreferringspeci-
ficallyto hangingbut to the effectthetreatywouldhaveon the Cree.
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meetingwith Lieutenant-GovernorDavid Laird, Little Pinealsostated

that he would not take treaty becausehe sawthe treatiesasa meansby
whichthe governmentcould'enslave'his people.•
The importanceof thesethree leaderscannotbe underestimated,
for theyhadwith themin the CypressHills morethanfifty per centof
the total Indian populationof the Treaty 4 and 6 [Link] concen-
trating in such numbers in the last buffalo ranges in Canadian
territory,theCreewerefree from allexternalinterference,whetherby
other Indian nationsor by the agentsof the Canadiangovernment-
the North-WestMounted Police.•3 Recognizingthat thesemen were
bargainingfrom a positionof strength,Laird recommended in 1878
that the governmentact quicklyto establishreservesand honourthe
[Link] wasawarethat the CypressHills leadershad the supportof
manyof the Cree in treaty, and that manyof the Cree leaderswere
complainingthat the governmentwas not providing the farming
assistance [Link] the numberof thesecomplaintsincreased,so
did Cree supportfor Big Bear and Little Pine.24
The Cree were concernednot only about the lack of assistance to
farm, but when Canadianofficialswere slowto take actionto regulate
the buffalohunt, Big Bear, Piapot,and Little Pinemet with Blackfoot
leadersandwith SittingBull of theTeton Siouxin an attemptto reach
agreement amongthe Indian nationson the needto regulatebuffalo
hunting.•5 Thesecouncilswerealsothe forum whereIndian leaders
discussedthe need to revisethe [Link] learningaboutthe Indian
council,the non-Indian populaceof the West grew anxious,fearing
establishmentof an Indian confederacywhich would wage war if
Indiandemands
wererejected.
•6However,
anIndianconfederacy
did
notresultfrom thesemeetings,nor wasagreementreachedon howthe

22 PAC,RG10, vol. 3656, file 9093, Agent Dickiesonto [Link], •4 Sept. •877
•3 PAC,RG2o,vol. 3648, file 838o;vol. 3655,file 9ooo,Laird to Ministerof the Interior,
9 May •878
•4 PAC,RG•o, vol. 3655, file 9ooo,Laird to Ministerof the Interior, 9 May •878; vol.
3636,file 9o9•, Laird to Superintendent-General, •9 Nov. •877; PAC,RG2o,vol.
367o, file •o,771, Laird to Ministerof the Interior, • Nov. •878. PAC,RG•o, vol.
367•, file • o,853,Dickiesonto Meredith,• Apr. • 878;vol.3656,file 9o9•, Inspector
JamesWalker to Laird, 5 Sept. [Link] Indian Affairs and Northern
Development,Ottawa,file •/•-• •-3, Laird to Ministerof the Interior, 3ø Dec.
•878; Dickiesonto Laird, 9 Oct. •878; Walker to Laird, 4 and •6 Feb. •879
(hereafter cited as D2AND,file, letter)
•5 PAC,RG•O,vol.3655,file •oo•, Lairdto Ministerof the Interior,9 May 2878;
vol.367•, file •9,853, Dickiesonto Vankoughnet,•6 July 2878;PAC,MG•6•, E.D.
Clark to Fred White, •6 July •879
•6 'Newsfrom the Plains,'Saskatchewan Herald, •8 Nov. 2878;'From the Plains,'Sas-
katchewan Herald,5 May • 879. 'ContradictoryNewsfrom the West,'FortBenton
Record,3 • Jan. • 879
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buffalo were to be preserved,becausethe Cree, Sioux,and Blackfoot

could not overcome their old animosities towards one another. 27
When in x879 the buffalo disappearedfrom the Canadianprairies
and Big Bear and Little Pine took their bandssouthto the buffalo
rangeson the Milk and Missouri rivers, mostof the other Cree and
Assiniboine bands also went with them. The Cree who remained in
Canadafacedstarvation whileawaitingthesurveyof theirreservesand
the farming equipmentthat had been [Link] many
of the Cree were dying,the governmentdecidedthat thosewho had
taken treaty should be given rations. As well, the government
appointedEdgar Dewdneyto the newly-createdpositionof Commis-
sioner of Indian Affairs for the North-West Territory; a farming
policy for the westernreserveswas introduced;a surveyof Cree
reserveswasbegun; and twelve farming instructorswere appointed
to teach the Indians of the North-West. 28
The new Indian Commissionerquicklysoughtto userationsas a
means of getting control over the Cree. In the fall of x879 he
announcedthat rationswere to be providedonly to Indianswho had
[Link] get the Cree into treaty moreeasilyand to reducethe
influenceof recalcitrantleaders,Dewdneyannouncedthat he would
adoptan old Hudson'sBayCompanypracticeof recognizing anyadult
male Cree as chief of a new band if he could induce lOO or more
personsto recognizehim as leader. He expectedthat the starving
CypressHills Cree woulddeserttheir old leadersto get [Link] a
meansof demonstratingCanada'scontrol over the Cree, Dewdney
orderedthat only the sick,aged,and orphansshouldreceiverations
without providingsomeserviceto one of the governmentagenciesin
the West. •9

•7 e^c,Rc •o, vol. 367•, file •o,853, M.G. Dickiesonto Vankoughnet,26July •878;
Opening up theWest:BeingtheOfficialReports toParliament of theNorth-West Mounted
Policefrom•874-•88• (Toronto •973), Reportfor •878, p. •
•8 e^c, Rc •o, vol. 37o4, file •7,858, entire file; vol. 3648, file •6•-•, entire file.
Ibid.,vol. 3699, file •6,58o, order-in-council, 9 Oct. •879; vol.3766,file •,54•;
E.T. Gait to Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs,•7 July •88o; vol.373o, file
•6,•79 , entire file; vol. 3757, file • •,397, entire file
•9 Houseof Commons,Ottawa,Sessional Papers, XVII(1885), ReportNo. 3, •57
(hereafercitedascse,vol.,year,report);EdwardAhenakew,Voices ofthePlains
Cree,Ruth Buck,ed. (Toronto •973), •6. Dewdneyin adoptingthistacticsimply
copiedwhatthefur-tradingcompanies haddonein [Link] Creetolerated
suchpractices because theyimprovedthe opportunities to havebetteraccess to
[Link] J. Ray and Donald Freeman,'GiveUsGoodMea-
sure':AnEconomic Analysis ofRelations between theIndiansandtheHudson's BayCompany
before•763 (Toronto•978), [Link],Indiansin theFur Trade,passim, deals
with the samepracticein the post-•763 [Link],ThePlainsCree,
•o5- •o discusses thenatureof Creepoliticalorganization andleadership that
explainstheir acceptance of suchpractices.
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Dewdney's policies seemed to work, for when the Cree and

Assiniboine whohadgoneto hunt in Montanareturnedstarving,their
[Link] Pine'speopleconvincedtheir chief to take
treatyin •879, butwhenBig Bearrefusedto do thesame,almosthalf of
hisfollowingjoined LuckyMan or Thunderchildto form newbandsin
order to receive rations. so
Taking treaty to avoid starvationdid not mean that the Cree had
cometo acceptthe treatiesaswritten; rather theyalteredtheir tacticsin
[Link] smallreserveswere more susceptible
to the controlof the Canadiangovernmentand itsofficials,Big Bear,
Piapot,and Little Pine soughtto effect a concentrationof the Cree
peoplein an Indian territory similarto the reservationsystemin the
United [Link] sucha territory the Cree wouldbe able to preserve
their autonomy,or at leastlimit the abilityof othersto controlthem;
they would be better able to take concertedaction on matters of
importanceto them.•
Soon after taking treaty Little Pine applied for a reservein the
Cypress Hills, twenty-sevenmiles north-east of the North-West
MountedPolicepostof Fort [Link] reservenext to
Little Pine's,whileten other bands,includingmostof the Assiniboine
nation, selectedreserve sitescontiguousto either Little Pine'sor
Piapot'sand to one another? If all thesereservesiteswere granted,
and if Big Bear wereto take treatyand settlein the CypressHills, the
result would be concentration of much of the Cree nation and the

3ø Morris, Treaties of Canada,366-7 . DIAND,Treaty AnnuityPaySheetsfor •879.

More than •,oooPlainsCreetooktreatyfor the firsttimein • 879 under Little Pine,
Thunderchild,and LuckyMan. Othersfrom Little Pine'sand Big Bear'sbands
had alreadytakentreatya yearearlieraspart of Thunder Companion'sband,while
othersjoined Poundmaker,and the three Cree bandssettledin the PeaceHills.
A portionof the Assiniboine alsotooktreatyunderMosquitoin • 878,whilemanyof
the northernSaulteauxwho had followedYellowSkytooktreatyin •878 under
the leadershipof Moosomin.
3• •'Ac,RG•O,vol. 3745, file •,95o6-4,vol. •,. Rayto Reed,•'3 Apr. •883; vol. 3668,
file 9644, Reed to Commissioner,•'3 Dec. • 883. Although thesematerialsrefer to
eventsin the Battleford district,aswill be demonstrated,the tacticsin • 883- 4
weresimilar,if not exactlythe sameasthoseusedin the CypressHills between•879
and •88•,.That theywerenot betterrecordedfor the earlierperiodisdue to the
fact that the governmenthad fewermenworkingwith the Indians,and did not have
aseffectivesupervisionin •879-8•, period as it did at [Link] of
the policeand Indian Affairs materialrelatingto thisregionin the •879-8•, period
havebeenlostor destroyed.
3• •'Ac,RG•O,vol. 373o, file 36,•,79,entirefile; vol.3668,file •o,44o,AgentAllen to L.
Vankoughnet,• • Nov. •878. cs•',vol. xvI (•883), Paperno. 5, P •97. Settlers and
Rebels: BeingtheReports toParliamentof theActivitiesof theRoyalNorth-WestMounted
PoliceForce from z88:-z885 (Toronto •973), Reportfor •88•,, pp 4-6 (hereafter
cited as SettlersandRebels)
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creationof an Indian territorythatwouldcomprisemostof whatisnow

south-western Saskatchewan.
Unaware of the intention of the Cree and Assiniboine leaders,
Canadianofficialsin the springof 188oagreedto the establishmentof
a reservefor all the CanadianAssiniboineand reservesin the Cypress
Hills for each of the Cree bands that wished them. In 188o, the
Assiniboinereservewassurveyed,but the other Indian leaderswere
told that their reserveswould not be surveyeduntil the following
year? In the interim, mostof the Cree went to the buffalo rangesin
Montana.
The Cree effort to exploitthe remainingAmericanbuffaloranges
causedthem much trouble. The Crow, the Peigan,and other Indian
nationswith reservationsin Montanawereupsetbycompetitionfor the
scarcefoodresource,and thesepeoplethreatenedto breakthetreaties
theyhad madewith the Americangovernmentand to wagewar on the
Cree if the American authoritiesdid not protectthe Indian hunting
[Link] threats were renewed when the Cree began to steal
horses from the Crow and Peigan. To add to their difficulties,
Americanranchersaccusedthe Cree of [Link]
officials,not wishingtroublewith their Indiansand wishingto placate
the ranchers,informed the Cree that they would have to return to
[Link] bands,awarethat if theydid not leavevoluntarily
the American governmentwould use troopsto force them to move
north, returned to the CypressHills.34
They returnedto find that Canadianofficialswerenowawareof the
dangersto their authorityposedby a concentrationof the Cree.A riot
at Fort Walshin 188o,whichthe policewerepowerlessto preventor
control,assaults on farming instructorswhorefusedto providerations
to starvingIndians,and rumoursthat the Creewereplanninga grand
Indian councilto discusstreaty revisionsin 1881 all causedthe Indian
Commissioner much concern? To avoid further difficulties over
rations,in late 188o Dewdney orderd that all Indians requesting

33 PAC,RG10,vol. 373o, file 26,2•9, Reportof surveyorPatrickto Superintendent-

General,•6 Dec. •88o; vol. 37•6, file 22,546,AssistantCommissioner
E.T. Gait to
Superintendent-General,
27July188o;
vol.3757,files3•,393and31,333;
•ol.
3757,file 20,[Link],MG26A,vol. 210, Dewdneyto Macdonald,3 Oct. 188o
34 RC•o, vol. 3652, file 8589, parts • and 2, entire file; vol. 3691, file •3,893, entire
file. The BentonWeekly Recordthroughoutthe springand summerof •88o carried
reportsof Creeand Assiniboine horse-stealing raids,and reportsof whatthe
Cree were doingin [Link] 7 May •88o, the papercarriedan articleentiled
'StarvingIndians,'whichwasa strongdenunciation of Canada'sIndian policyand
the effect it had on the Cree.
35 PAC,MG26A,vol. 2•O, Dewdneyto Macdonald,29 Oct. •88o; Saskatchewan
Her-
a/d, •4 Feb. 188•
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rationsbe given them, regardlessof whether the supplicantwasin

treaty.
•6 Therewaslittlethatthe government
coulddo at thistime
aboutthe proposedIndian councilor the concentrationof Cree in the
CypressHills.
In the springof • 88•, Cree bandsfrom all regionsof the Canadian
prairiesleft their reservesto go southto meetwith Little Pineand Big
Bear. Even the new bandsDewdneyhad createdwere going to the
councilin American territory. What wasalsodisconcertingto Cana-
dian officialswere the reportsthat Big Bear and Little Pine,who had
goneto Montanato preparefor thecouncil,hadreachedan accommo-
dationwith the Blackfootand had participatedin a joint raid on the
Crow. To all appearancesthe Blackfoot,the Indian confederacythe
Canadian government most feared, would be part of the Indian
council. •7
The Indian council was not held because the raid on the Crow led
Americanofficialsto intervenemilitarily to forcethe Cree to return to
[Link] Montana stockmenactingasmilitia units,the American
army preventedmostCree and Assiniboinebandsfrom enteringthe
United [Link] well, the Americanforcesseizedhorses,guns,and
carts,and escortedthe Cree to Canada.•8 The Cree-Blackfootalliance
did not materialize,for soonafter the raid on the Crow, youngCree
warriors stole horsesfrom the Blackfootand thereby destroyedthe
accordthat Little Pine and Big Bear were attemptingto create.•9
The actionsof the American military in •88• were extremely
beneficialto [Link] only did the Americanspreventthe holding
of the Indian council,but by confiscatingthe gunsand horsesof the
Cree, the Americanshad dispossessed the Cree of the abilityto resist
whatevermeasuresthe Canadianauthoritieswishedto take against
them. The Canadian authorities also benefited from Governor-
GeneralLorne'stour of the Westin • 88•, for manyof the Cree bands
36 PAC,MG26A,vol. 2•O, Dewdneyto Macdonald,26 Oct. •88o and 23 Apr. •88o;
Saskatchewan
Herald, •4, 28 Feb. •88•
37 PAC,MG26A,vol. 2•O,Dewdneyto MacPherson, 4July •88•; vol. 247, Gaitto
MacPherson,• 4 July • 88 •; 'Edmonton,'Saskatchewan Herald, • 2 Nov. • 88•
38 Ibid., also•'AC,MG26A,vol. 2•O,Dewdneyto Macdonald,•9June •88•; vol. 247,
Gaitto Vankoughnet,•6July 188•. PAc,Rc •o, vol.3739,file 28,748-x,Dewdneyto
Macdonald,3 Apr. • 882; Fred White to Ministerof the Interior, 9 June • 882;
Freylinghausen to Sackville-West,
9 June • 882. SaskatchewanHerald,• Aug. • 88•;
'StarvingIndians,'BentonWeeekly Record,•4 July x88•; 25 Aug., • Sept.,and •3
Oct. •88•
39 v^c,Rc •o. vol. 3739, file 28,478-•, C.G. Dennyto Commissioner,
24 Oct. •88•;
vol.3768,file 33,642;vol.36o3,file 2o,•4•, McIlreeto Dewdney,2• June •882.
GlenbowInstitute,Calgary,EdgarDewdneyPapers,v, file57, Irvineto Dewdney,
24June •882 (hereaftercitedasDewdneyPapers,vol.,file, letter).Saskatchewan
Herald,24June •882; Edmonton Bulletin,•7June •882
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that had gone to the CypressHills in the springwent north in late

summerto meet Lorne to impressupon him the inadequacyof the
treatiesand the need to revisethem.4øThus, Lorne'stour prevented
the concentrationof mostof the Cree nation in the CypressHills.
The threat posed to Canadian authority in the North-West by
concentrationof the Cree was clearly recognizedby Dewdneyand
other Canadianofficialsin late •88•. They sawhow the Cree had
forced officialsto placatethem and to ignore their ordersin •88o
and •88•. This convincedboth Dewdneyand Ottawathat the Cree
requestfor contiguousreservesin the CypressHills could not be
[Link] to grantthe Creerequests wouldbe
to createan Indian territory, for mostof the Cree who had reserves
further north would cometo the CypressHills and requestreserves
contiguousto thoseof the CypressHills [Link] wouldresultin so
largea concentrationof Cree that the only wayCanadacouldenforce
its lawson them wouldbe via a [Link] preventthis,
Dewdneyrecommendeda sizeableexpansionof the Mounted Police
force and the closureof Fort Walsh and all governmentfacilitiesin
the CypressHills. This actionwouldremoveall sourcesof sustenance
from the Cree in the CypressHills. Dewdneyhoped that starvation
would drive them from the Fort Walsh area and thus end the concen-
tration of their force. 4•
Dewdneydecidedto take thesestepsfully awarethat whathe was
doingwasa violationnotonlyof the promisesmadetotheCypress Hills
Indiansin • 88oand • 88•, butalsothatbyrefusingto grantreserves on
the sitesthe Indianshad selected,he wasviolatingthe promisesmade
to the Cree by the Treaty Commissions in •874 and •876, and in the
written [Link],Dewdneybelievedthat to accedeto the
Cree requestswould be to grant the Cree de facto autonomyfrom
Canadian control, which would result in the perpetuation and
heighteningof the •88o-• crisis. Rather than see that situation
continue,Dewdneywantedto exploit the opportunitypresentedto
him by the hungercrisisand disarmamentof the Creeto bringthem
under the government'scontrol, even if it meant violating the
treaties. 42
In the spring of •882 the Cree and Assiniboinewere told that no
further rationswould be issuedto them while they remainedin the
4ø }'AC,RG•O, vol. 3768, file 33,642, entire file
4• }'AC,MG26A,vol. 2•o, Dewdneyto Macdonald,•9June 1881;vol. 247, Gaitto
Vankoughnet,• 6 July [Link] Herald,• Aug. • 88•. 'StarvingIndians,'
BentonWeekly Record,•4July •881. SeealsoBentonWeekly Record, 25 Aug., •
Sept.,and • 3 Oct. • 881,
42 Morris, Treatiesof Canada,2o5, 218,352-3
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CypressHills. Only if the Indians moved north to Qu'Appelle,

Battleford,and Fort Pitt were they to be givenassistance,
and at those
locationsonly treaty Indians were to be aided. The Mounted Police
were ordered to stop issuingrationsat Fort Walsh and the Indian
Departmentfarm that had been locatednear Fort Walshwasclosed.
Facedwiththe prospectof starvation,withoutweaponsor transportto
getto the Montanabuffaloranges,and knowingthat if theywereto try
to go souththe Mounted Policewouldinform the Americanmilitary
authorities,many Cree and all the Assiniboinedecidedto go north.43
EvenBigBeardiscovered thathispeoplewantedhim to taketreatyand
movenorth. In •882, after taking treaty, he, alongwith Piapotand
Little Pine,promisedto leavethe CypressHills.44
Only Piapotkept his promiseand evenhe did not remain long at
Fort Qu'Appelle. By late summer of •882, Piapot was back in the
CypressHills complainingabout how he had been mistreatedat
Qu'Appelle,and makingthe Cree awareof how theycouldlosetheir
autonomyif the governmentcould deal with them as individual
bands.45On hearingthisreport, the other Creeleadersrefusedto leave
the Fort Walsh region and insistedupon receiving the reserves
promised them in •88o and •88•. North-West Mounted Police
Commissioner Irvine feareda repetitionof the incidentsof • 88oif he
refusedto feed the Cree and believedthat the hungry Cree would
harassthe constructioncrewsof the CanadianPacificRailwayfor food,
which would lead to a confrontation between whites and Indians which
thepolicewouldbeunableto handleandwhichin turnmightleadtoan
Indian war. Therefore Irvine decided to feed the Cree. 4"
Dewdneyand Ottawa were upsetby Irvine'[Link]
specificinstructions to closeFort Walshin the springof •883. When
Irvine closedthe fort, the Cree [Link] it wasquiteevident
that they could not go to the United States,and as they would not

43 PAC,RG10,vol. 36o4,file 2589, entirefile. SeealsoSettlers andRebels,•882 Report.

SeealsoDewdneyPapers,v, file 57, White to Irvine, 29 Aug. •882. ac •o, vol.
36o4,file 2589. 'The RepatriatedIndians,'Saskatchewan Herald,5 Aug. 1882.'From
the South,'Saskatchewan Herald,21 May 1882; 'Backon the Grub Pile,'Saskat-
chewan Herald, 24 June • 882
44 DewdneyPapers,v, file 57, Irvine to Dewdney,24June x882and 25 Sept. •882.
SettlersandRebels, 1882 Report,pp. 4, 5. csP,xvI (•883), Paperno. 5, P [Link] xo,
vol. 36o4,file 2589. 'RepatriatedIndians,'Saskatchewan Herald,5 Aug. •882.
45 Ibid.; DewdneyPapers,IV, file 45, White to Dewdney,12 Oct. [Link]
Herald,14 Oct. • 882. 'Big Bear and Others,'and the 'I.D.,' Edmonton
Bulletin,21 Oct.
1882
46 DewdneyPapers,IV, file 45, White to Dewdney,•7 Oct. •882. }'Ac,M• 26A,vol. 289,
Vankoughnetto Macdonald,2 Nov. •882
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receivereservesin the CypressHills, the Cree movednorth. Piapot

movedto Indian Head and selecteda reservesitenext to the huge
reservesetasidefor the [Link] Pineand LuckyMan moved
to Battleford and selected reserve sites next to Poundmaker's reserve.
Big Bearwentto Fort Pitt.
The move to the north wasnot a signof the Cree acceptanceof the
treatiesas written, nor of their acceptanceof the authorityof the
[Link] Bear, Little Pine, and Piapotwere aware
that the other Cree chiefs were dissatisfiedwith the treaties, and were
alsoaware that if they could effect concentrationof the Cree in the
north they wouldbe able to preservetheir autonomy,just asthey had
donein the CypressHills in the • 879-8 • [Link], the move
to the north wassimplya tacticalmove,for no soonerwerethesechiefs
in the north than theyonceagainsoughtto effecta concentration
of
their people.
By movingto Indian Head, Piapothad effecteda concentration of
morethan 2,[Link] numberthreatenedto growlargerif the
councilhe plannedto hold with all the Treaty 4 bandsto discuss
treaty
revisions [Link] Dewdney,fearingthe results
of sucha meetingin •883, wasable to thwart Piapotby threatening
to cut off rationsto any Indians attendingPiapot'scounciland by
threateningto arrestPiapot and deposeany chiefswho did meet with
him. Although Dewdney,in •883, preventedPiapotholdinga large
councilby suchactions,Piapotwasable to get the Treaty 4 chiefsto
agreeto meetin the latespringof • 884 for a thirstdanceandcouncilon
Pasquah's Reserve,near Fort Qu'Appelle.47
While Piapotwasorganizingan Indian councilin the Treaty 4 area,
Big Bearand Little Pineweredoingthe samefor the Treaty 6 region.
Little Pineand LuckyMan attemptedto effecta concentration of more
than 2,oooCree on contiguousreservesin the Battleforddistrict,by
requestingreservesnext to Poundmaker,whosereservewasnext to
three other Cree reserves,which in turn were only a short distance
from three [Link] 5oo Cree would havebeen
locatedin the Battlefordareaif Big Bear'srequestfor a reservenextto
Little Pine'ssitehad been [Link] with difficultywasDewdney
abletogetBigBeartomoveto FortPitt.48However,
hewasunableto
preventBig Bear and Little Pinefrom sendingmessengers
to the Cree

47 PAC,MG26A,XI, DewdneytoJ.A. Macdonald,2 Sept. [Link],RG10,vol. 3682, file

12,667,Dewdneyto Superintendent-General, 28 Apr. 1884
48 PaC,• lo, vol. 3668, file lo,644, Reedto Commissioner, 23 Dec. [Link]
Jefferson,FiftyYearsontheSaskatchewan (Battleford1929), lo 3
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leaders of the Edmonton, Carlton, and Duck Lake districts to enlist

their supportfor the movementto concentratethe Cree.49
Dewdneywasconvincedthat the activitiesof Big Bear, Piapot,and
Little Pinewere a preludeto a majorprojectthe Cree plannedfor the
followingyear, x884. He wasalsoawarethat hisabilityto dealwiththe
impendingproblemwasseverelylimitedby decisions takenin Ottawa.
The Deputy Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs, Lawrence
Vankoughnet, wasconcerned aboutthecostof administeringDewdney's
policies,and he orderedreductionsin the levelof assistance
provided
to the Cree and in the numberof employeesworkingwith the Cree.5ø
In makingthesedecisions, OttawaeffectivelydeprivedDewdneyof his
majorsourcesof intelligenceaboutthe Cree and their [Link] also
deprivedDewdneyof a majorinstrumentin placatingthe Cree- the
distributionof rationsto thosebandswhichco-operated.
Vankoughnet'seconomymeasuresled to further alienationof
the Cree. In some areas,notablyin the Fort Pitt, Edmonton,and
Crooked Lakes regions, farming instructorswere assaultedand
governmentstorehouses broken into when Indians were denied
[Link] incidenton the SakemayReservein the CrookedLakes
areawasquiteserious,for whenthe policewerecalleduponto arrest
thoseguiltyof the assault,theyweresurroundedand threatenedwith
death if they carried out their orders. Only after AssistantIndian
Commissioner Hayter Reed had agreedto restoreassistance to the
Sakemayband to the 1883 level and had promisednot to imprison
the accusedwere the policeallowedto leavewith their prisoners. 5•
The violence that followed the reductions in rations convinced
Dewdneythat starvingthe Cree into submission
wasnot the meansto
control them. He wanted to use coercion, but this required an
expansionof the number of police in the West. Therefore, he
49 P^c,Rg lO, vol. 3668, file lO,644, Reedto Commissioner, 23 Dec. •883. Edmonton
Bulletin,9 Feb. •884; Saskatchewan Herald, 24 Nov. 1883
5ø P^c,Mg 26^,vol. 289, Vankoughnetto Macdonald,4, 1oDec. 1883;vol. 104,
DeputySuperintendent-General to T. Quinn, 21 Sept.1883;Dewdneyto
Superintendent-General, 27 Sept. 1883;DeputySuperintendent-General to Reed,
1oApr. 1884;vol. 212, Dewdneyto Macdonald,2 Jan. 1883[sic!Giventhe
contentsof the letter,it is obviousDewdneyforgotthata newyearhadbegunthe
previousday],vol. 91, Dewdneyto Macdonald,24July 1884,anotherletterbut
withouta date,whichwasprobablywrittenin the firstweekof Aug. •884; vol. lO7,
entire file. v^c, Rg 1o,vol. 3664, file 9843, entire file
51 v^c,gg lO, vol. 36•6, file 10,[Link],Mounted PoliceLifein Canada: A
Recordof Thirty-One Yearsin Service,• 883- •9•4 (Toronto 1973), •4o-53 . Isabell
Andrews,'Indian ProtestagainstStarvation:The YellowCalf Incidentof 1884,'
Saskatchewan History,xxv• (1975), 4-52. Edmonton Bulletin,7 Jan., 3 Feb.,7, 28
July, and 4 Aug. 1883
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recommended that more men be recruited for the Mounted Police. In

addition,Dewdneywantedto ensurethatjail sentences weregivento
arrestedIndianssothat theywouldcauseno further [Link]
seenthe effectsof incarcerationon Indians, Dewdneywasconvinced
that this was the means to bring the Cree leadersunder control.
However, what was needed in his opinion were trial judges who
'understood' Indian nature at first hand and who would take effective
actionto keepthe [Link],Dewdneywanted
all Indian Departmentofficialsin the Westto be appointedstipendiary
magistrates in orderthatall Indian troublemakers couldbebroughtto
'justice'[Link] hisletterto PrimeMinisterJohn
A. Macdonald:'The onlyeffectivecoursewith the greatproportion[of
Indian bands]to adopt is one of sheercompulsion...,52
Dewdney used the policy of 'sheer compulsion'for only a few
monthsin •88 4. He found that hisefforts to usethe Mounted Policeto
breakup the Indian councilsand to arrestIndian leadersonlyled to
confrontationsbetweenthe Cree and the [Link] theseconfronta-
tionsthe policewere shownto be ineffectualbecausetheywereplaced
in situationsin which, if the Cree had been desirousof initiating
hostilities,
largenumbersof MountedPolicewouldhavebeenmassacred.
The first incident which called the policy of compulsioninto
questionwas the attempt to prevent Piapot from holding his thirst
danceand councilin May [Link] Commissioner HayterReed,
fearingthatthecouncilwouldresultin a concentration of alltheTreaty
4 bands,ordered PoliceCommissioner Irvine to preventPiapotfrom
attendingthe [Link] wasto arrestthe chief at the first signof
any violationof even the mostminor law. To be certainthat Piapot
broke a law, Reed promisedto have an individual from Pasquah's
reserveobjectto thecouncilbeingheldon thatreservein orderthatthe
accusation of trespass
couldbe usedto breakup the meeting,whichall
the bandsfrom Treaty 4 wereattending.53
With a force of fifty-six men and a seven-poundergun, Irvine
caughtup with Piapot shortlybefore the chief reachedPasquah's
[Link] and the police entered the Indian camp at 2 ^.M.,
hopingto arrestPiapotandremovehim from thecampbeforehisband
wasawareof what [Link],when they enteredthe camp,
the policefound themselves surroundedby [Link]

5• DewdneyPapers,v, file 58, Dewdneyto Superintendent-General,•9 Feb. • 884;

PAC,MC •6A, vol. • • •, Dewdneyto Macdonald,6 Oct. •883; vol. •, Reedto
Dewdney,15 Feb. 1884;Dewdneyto Macdonald,16 [Link] 9 Apr. 1884
53 PAC,RC10,vol. 368•, file 1•,667, Dewdneyto Superintendent-General, •8 Apr.
1884;vol. 3686, file 13,168, entire file; vol. 3745, file •9,5o6-4(•), Reedto Colonel
Irvine, 18 May 1884
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that any attempt to arrest the chief would result in a battle, Irvine
decidedto [Link]
council agreed that Piapot should receive a new reserve next to
Pasquah,in return for which Piapotwould return to Indian Head
temporarily.•4
The agreementreachedbetweenPiapotand Irvine and Reedwasa
victoryfor [Link] gettinga reserveat Qu'Appelleagain,Piapothad
approximately2,oooCreeconcentrated on the Qu'AppelleRiver,and
he wasable to hold his counciland thirst dance,for after goingto
Indian Head, he immediatelyturned aroundand wentto Pasquah's.
Reed and Irvine were aware of Piapot'sruse, but did nothing to
preventhis holdingthe council,for they were awarethat the Cree at
Qu'Appelle were prepared to protectPiapot from what the Indians
regardedas an attack on their leader. Realizingthe effect that an
Indian warwouldhaveon possible settlement,andthatthe policewere
inadequatefor sucha clash,the Canadian officialswishedto avoid
givingcausefor violentreactionby the Cree.• Piapotactedashe did
becausehe realized that if any blood were shed the Cree would
experiencea fate similar to that of the Nez Perc6s,Blackfoot,and
DakotaSiouxin thosepeoples'conflictswith the United States.
Dewdneyandthe policewereto havea similarexperiencewhenthey
attemptedto preventBig Bear from holdinga thirstdanceandcouncil
atPoundmaker's reserveinJune• [Link]'s
council, to which the old chief had invited the Blackfoot and all the
Indiansfrom Treaty 6, wouldresultin a largerconcentration of Cree
than Little Pine had already effected at Battleford. Dewdneyalso
believedthat he had to undo what Little Pinehad accomplished, and
refusedto grantLittle Pineand LuckyMan the reservesitestheyhad
requestednext to [Link] Bearwasagaintold that he would
not be granteda reservein the [Link]
that the Cree chiefswould ignore his order to selectreservesitesat
some distance from Battleford, and that this could be used as a reason
for arrestingthem. To legitimizesuchactionson his part, Dewdney
askedthe governmentto passan order-in-councilto makeit a criminal
offence for a band to refuse to move to a reserve site the Commissioner
suggested.
•6In ordertoavoidviolence
whenheattempted
toprevent
54 Ibid.,vol.3745,file •,9,5o6-4(2),
Reedto Irvine, 18May 1884;Irvineto Comptroller
FredWhite,•'7 May 1884;Whiteto Vankoughnet,19 May 1884
55 Ibid., AgentMacdonaldto Commissioner, •'9 May 1884;vol. 3655,file 9o•,6,
Dewdneyto Superintendent-General, 13June 1884
56 •'ac,Rc lO,vol.3745,file •,9,5o6-4(•),Reedto Superintendent-General, 19Apr.
[Link] vol.3576,file 3o9B.•'ac,Mc •,6a,file 37, Dewdneyto
Macdonald,3 May [Link]'s requestand actionswerecontraryto whatthe
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Big Bear'scounciland ordered the arrestsof Lucky Man and Little

Pine,Dewdneyinstructedthe Indian agentsat Battlefordand Fort Pitt
to purchaseall thehorses,guns,and cartridgesthe Creepossessed. He
increasedthe sizeof the policegarrisonat Battlefordand orderedthe
policeto preventBig Bear from reachingBattleford?
All Dewdney'sefforts had little effect, for Big Bear and his band
eludedthe police,reachedBattleford,[Link]
Cree refused to sell their arms, and even the effort to break up the
gatheringby refusingto providerationshad no resultother than to
provokeanotherassaulton a farm instructoron • 7 June • 884. When
the policesoughtto arrest the farm instructor'sassailant,they were
intimidated into leaving without a prisoner. When a larger police
detachmentwentto the reserveon • 8 June,the policewerestillunable
to makean arrestfor fear of [Link] on 2o
June, when the thirst dance had concluded,were the policeable to
arrestthe accusedand only then by forciblyremovinghim from the
Cree [Link] wasdone with the greatestdifficultyfor the police
werejostledand provokedin an effort to get them to fire on the Cree.
That no violenceoccurred,SuperintendentCrozier,in chargeof the
policedetachment,attributedto the disciplineof his men and to the
actionsof Little Pine and Big Bear, who did all that was humanly
possible
todiscourage
anyattackonthepolice?
The eventsat Battleford frightened all parties involvedin the
[Link] Bear wasvery muchdisturbedby them,for he did
not want war, ashe had made abundantlyclearto Dewdneyin March
•884, and again to the Indian agentat Battleford,J.A. Rae, in June.
However, he did want the treaties revised and establishment of an
Indian territory.•9 Agent Rae wasthoroughlyfrightenedand wanted
Creehadbeentoldabouthowreservesitescouldbe chosen,aswerethe govern-
ment'sactionsin denyingthe Creereserves in the CypressHills and forcingthem
to movenorth. SeeMorris, Treaties of Canada,passim.•'Ac,Rc •o, vol. 3576, file
3o9B,Vankoughnetto Dewdney,•o May •884; Mc 26A,vol. lo4, Dewdneyto
Superintendent-General, 14June [Link],TheCreeRebellion of z884:
Sidelights ofIndianConditions Subsequent toz876 (Battleford• 926), 'FinedayInter-
view,' • 3- • 5. Saskatchewan Herald, • 9 Apr. and • 7 May • 884
57 •'ac, R• •o, vol. 3576, file 3o9B, Reedto Superintendent-General, •9 Apr. •884.
Reedto Vankoughnet,•9 Apr. •884; Rayto Commissioner, 93 Apr. •884; Reedto
Superintendent-General, 2o May [Link],•, file 36, Dewdneyto
Macdonald,• 2 June 1884
58 •'ac,• •o, vol. 3576, file 3o9s, Rayto Commissioner, •9, 2• June 1884;Crozier
to Dewdney,22 June •884. Jefferson,•o8- 9. Innes, TheCreeRebellion of z884,
•3-•7, 28
59 •'ac,ac lo, vol. 3576,file 3o9•, Rayto Commissioner,
28June •884; seealsoRaeto
Dewdney,9 June 1884. Innes, 'McKay Interview,'44. •'ac, a• •o, vol. 3576, file
3o9A, Dewdneyto Ray, 5 July • 884
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Dewdneyand Ottawa to adopt a more coercivepolicydesignedto

subjugatethe Cree. SuperintendentCrozierarguedfor a lesscoercive
policy,for unlesssomeaccommodation were reachedwith the Cree,
Crozierbelieved
thatoutof desperation
theywouldresorttoviolence.
6ø
On hearingof the eventsof May and June 1884, Ottawadecided
that Dewdney,whowasnowLieutenant-Governor in additionto being
Indian Commissioner,was to have complete control over Indian
affairs in the North-West Territories. As well, the Prime Minister
informedDewdneythat more policewerebeingrecruitedfor duty in
the West and that the Indian Act was being amended to permit
Dewdney to arrest any Indian who was on another band's reserve
withoutthe permission
of the localIndian Departmentofficial.
6•
Dewdneywasthusbeing giventhe instrumentsto make his policyof
compulsioneffective.
Dewdney did not, however, immediatelymake use of his new
[Link] still intendedto preventconcentration of the Cree, and
rejectedthe requestsBig Bear, Poundmaker,LuckyMan, and others
madefor a reserveat BuffaloLake,and laterrejectedBig Bear's,Little
Pine's, and Lucky Man's renewed requestsfor reservesnext to
Poundmaker's?
However,ratherthanfollowing
a purelycoercive
policy,Dewdneyadopteda policyof rewardsand [Link]
providedmore rations,farming equipment,oxen, ammunition,and
twine, and arrangedfor selectedCree chiefsto visitWinnipegand
other large centresof Canadian [Link] the Cree were not
satisfiedwith hisnewapproach,he [Link]
implementthisnew policy,Dewdneyincreasedthe numberof Indian
Departmentemployees workingon the Creereserves,for hewantedto
monitor closelythe behaviour of the Indians, and, if necessary,to
arrest troublesome leaders.63
While Dewdneywasimplementinghisnew policy,the Cree leaders
continuedtheir effortsto concentrate the Creein an exclusively
Indian
territory. Little Pine went south to seek Blackfootsupport for the

6o PAc,RG•o, vol.3576,file 3o9B,Rayto Dewdney,23June •884; Crozierto Dewdney,

23 June •884
6• DewdneyPapers,iii, file 37, Macdonaldto Dewdney,•8July •884, • • Aug.
•884, and 2 Sept. •884; IV, file 45, Macdonaldto White, •5 Sept.•884. PAC,RG•o,
vol. 3576, file 3o9•, Vankoughnetto Dewdney,27July • 884
62 PaC,gg •o, vol. 3576, file 3o9B, Rayto Commissioner, 3oJune •884; file 3o9•, Ray
to Commissioner, 24, 29July •884. PaC,Mg 26A,vol. 2•2, Dewdneyto
Macdonald,•4July • 884;J.A. MacRaeto Commissioner, 7 Aug. • 884;vol. •o7, Ray
to Commissioner, 29July • 884
63 P•,C,gg •o, vol. 3745, file 29,5o6-4(2),Dewdneyto Superintendent-General, 7 Aug.
•884; vol. 3576, file 3o9•, Ray to Dewdney,•9July •884. PaC,Mg 26•, vol. •o4,
Dewdneyto Department,• 9 July • 884
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movement.
64BigBear,LuckyMan,andPoundmaker
wentto Duck
Lake for a council with the Cree leaders of the Lower Saskatchewan
district. The Duck Lake council, attended by twelve bands, was
initiatedby Beardyand the chiefsof the [Link],who
actedasspokesmanfor the Carlton chiefs,had beenrelativelyinactive
in the Cree movementsin the 1881- 3 period. He, however,had been
the most vehementcritic of the government'sfailure to deliver the
farm materialspromisedby the treaty commissioners. In the 1877-81
period,Beardywasa man of little influencein the Carlton area, but
when Mistawasis and Ahtahkakoop,the principalCree chiefsof the
CarltonDistrictcameto sharehisviews,Beardy'sstandingamongthe
CarltonCreerosedramatically.
65
The Duck Lake Council, called by Cree leaders who Dewdney
thoughtwereloyaland docile,and of whichthe Commissioner had no
foreknowledge, wasa causeof [Link] vexingwasthe
detailedlist of violationsof the treaty for whichthe Cree demanded
redressfrom the government. The Cree charged that the treaty
commissioners lied to them whentheysaidthatthe Cree wouldbe able
to makea living from agriculturewith the equipmentprovidedfor in
the [Link],rather than provideall the farming goods,what
the governmentdid, accordingto the Cree, wasto withholdmanyof
the cattleand oxen; send inferior qualitywagons,farm tools,and
equipment; and provide insufficientrations and clothes,and no
[Link] petition closedwith the statementexpressingthe
Cree sentiment that they had been deceived by 'sweet promises'
designedto cheat them of their heritage, and that unlesstheir
grievances
were remediedby the summerof 1885, they wouldtake
whatever
measures
necessary,
shortof war,togetredress.
66
Dewdneyoriginally assumed,as did somenewspapersacrossthe
West,that the Duck Lake Councilwaspart of a plot by Louis Riel to
foment an Indian and Metis rebellion. Dewdney'sassumptionwas
based on the fact that the Duck Lake Council was held a short time after
Riel had returned to Canada. It was also known that Riel had attended
it, and that he had advocated such an alliance and a resort to violence
when he had met with the Cree in Montana in 1880.67 Further
64 •'^c, Rc •o, vol. 3576, file 3o9B, Ray to Commissioner,3oJune •884; file 3o9^,
Rayto Commissioner,24, 29July • 884. •'^c,Mc 26^,vol. 2• 2, Dewdneyto
Macdonald,•4July •884; J.A. MacRaeto Commissioner, 7 Aug. 1884;vol. 107,Ray
to Commissioner,•'9July •884
65 •'^c,M• 26^, vol. •o7, Rayto Commissioner, 29 July and 2 Aug. 1884;J.A. MacRae
to Commissioner, •'9July •884
66 •'^c, R• •o, vol. 3697, file •5,423, J.A. MacRaeto Dewdney,25 Aug. •884
67 Ibid., Reedto Superintendent-General, 23Jan. •885; Reedto Dewdney,22, 25
Aug. • 884. •'^c,M• 26^,vol. • o7,J.A. MacRaeto Commissioner, 29July • 884;J.M.
 CANADA'S SUBJUGATION OF THE PLAINS CREE 539
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investigation,however,made quite clearthat Riel had little influence

on the Cree.'To allaythe growingconcernaboutthe possibility of an
Indian war, Dewdneyhad Hayter Reedissuea statementthat nothing
untowardwashappeningand that there waslessdangerof an Indian
warin • 884 thantherehadbeenin • 88•. PrivatelyDewdneyadmitted
to Ottawaand hissubordinates in the Westthat the situationwasvery
serious?After bothhe and Dewdneyhad met withCreeleaders
throughouttheWestandaftercarefullyassessingthesituation,Hayter
Reedstatedthat the governmenthad nothingto fear from the Cree
until the summerof • 885. What Reedand Dewdneyexpectedat that
timewasa unitedCreedemandto renegotiate
treaties.
69
What Reed and Dewdney had learned on their tours of the
Battleford,Edmonton,Carlton,and Qu'Appelledistrictsin the fall of
•884 wasthat Big Bear, Piapot,and Little Pinewereon the vergeof
unitingthe Cree to call for new treatiesin whichan Indian territory
and greaterautonomyfor the Creewouldbe majorprovisions. In fact,
throughoutthe summerand fall of •884 Little Pineattempted,with
limitedsuccess,
to interestthe leadersof the Blackfootin joiningthe
Cree movement for treaty revision. Little Pine had invited the
Blackfoot to a joint council with the Cree leaders on Little Pine's
reservescheduledfor the springof • 885.70If the Blackfootjoined the
Cree,Ottawa'sabilityto governtheIndiansandcontroltheWestwould
be seriouslyjeopardized.
At the moment that the Cree movementseemedon the verge of
success,Big Bear was losing control of his band. As he told the
assembled chiefsat DuckLake in the summerof •884, hisyoungmen
werelisteningto the warrior chief,Little Poplar,who wasadvocating
killinggovernment
officialsandIndianagentsasa meansof restoring
Cree [Link] Bear feared that if Little Poplar'scourseof
actionwereadoptedthe Creewouldfightan Indian war thattheywere
certain to lose. 7•

Rayto Commissioner, 9 Aug. •884; MacRaeto Commissioner, 5 Aug. •884; vol.

2x9, MacRaeto Commissioner, 7 Aug. •884. P^c,RG•O,vol. 3756,file 3o9^,J.M.
Rayto Commissioner, 94, 95July x884.'BigBearRisesto Speak,'Saskatchewan
Herald,5 Aug. [Link] Herald,95 July and 9 Aug. •884
68 Ibid., P^c,RGXO,vol.3576,file 3o9^, Commissioner to Ray,7 Aug. •884. Rayto
Commissioner, 99July x884;seealsoin v^c,Mg 96^,vol. •o7. DewdneyPapers,w,
file69,Crozierto Comptroller,•wMv,97July • 884.v^c,•g 96^,vol.9x9, Dewdney
to Macdonald,8 Aug. x884
69 v^c,•g 96^,vol. •o7, Reedto Dewdney,93, 94, 95 Aug.,4 Sept.•884; Dewdney
to Macdonald,5 Sept. x884
7ø P^c,gG xo,vol. 3576, file 3o9^, Beggto Commissioner, 9o Feb. •885; 'Indian
Affairs,' Saskatchewan
Herald,3 • Oct. x884
7• DewdneyPapers,w, file 66, Reedto Dewdney,4 Sept.x884
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Dewdney was aware of Little Poplar'sgrowing influenceon the

young men of Big Bear's and the Battleford Assiniboinebands;
however,he wishedto wait until afterJanuary 1885beforetakingany
action, because after that date the new amendments to the Indian Act
would be in effect. These amendments could be used to arrest and
imprisonLittle Pine, Little Poplar,Big Bear, and Piapot,and thereby,
Dewdneyhoped,destroythe movementsthesechiefsled? In anticipa-
tion of confrontationsin •885, Dewdneyordered that the gunsand
ammunitionnormally allottedto the Cree sothey couldhunt for food
be [Link] addition, Indian councilswere prohibited,including
the one scheduledfor Duck Lake in the summerof • 885, to whichall
the Cree in Treaty 6 had been [Link] madeto
placethe Mounted Policeat Battleford under Dewdney'scommand,
and seriousconsiderationwasgivento placingan artillery unit there
also. 75
To get improvedintelligence,Dewdneyhired more men to workas
Indian agentswith the Cree. These men were given broad discre-
tionarypowersand were to keep the Commissionerinformed on Cree
activities.
Aswell,English-speakingmixed-bloods,
manyof whomhad
workedfor the Hudson'sBayCompanyand had the confidenceof the
Cree, were hired as farm instructors. There would now be a farm
instructoron eachCree reserve,with explicitinstructionsto keep the
Indian Agent informed of what washappeningon [Link]
who had personalityconflictswith any of the Cree leaderswereeither
transferredor fired. Only Thomas Quinn, Indian Agent at Fort Pitt
and his farming instructor,John Delaney,were not removedbefore
March • 885, althoughboth were slatedfor [Link]
Dewdney found that his most important staffing move was the
employmentof Peter Ballendine,a former Hudson'sBay Company
tradermuchtrustedby the [Link]'sjobwas
to ingratiate
himselfwithBigBearandreportonthatchief'scomings
and [Link] the confidenceof Big Bear and reported
uponhowwrongDewdney'searliereffortsto breakup Big Bear'sband
had been. Becauseso many of Big Bear's original followerseither
joined Lucky Man, Thunderchild,or Little Pine'sbands,Big Bear by

72 Statutesof Canada,43 Vict. I, cap. 27, 'An Act to Amend the Indian Act, •88o,'
•2 Apr. [Link],MG26^, vol. 107, Dewdneyto Macdonald,24 Aug. •884
73 P^c,Mc 26^,vol. 2• 2, Reedto Dewdney,7 Sept.•884; vol. •o7, Dewdneyto
Macdonald,24 Aug. • 884
74 P^c,Rc •o, vol. 3576, file 3o9^, Reedto Dewdney,•2 Sept. •884; vol. 3745,file
29,5o6-4(2),Reedto Dewdney,•4 Sept. 1884;vol. 37o4,file 17,799,entirefile; vol.
3664, file 9834 and 9843; vol. 376•, file 3o,836,entirefile; DewdneyPapers,iv,
file 45, Reedto Dewdney,• 2 Sept. • 884; vol. IV, file 47, Crozierto Comptroller,
NWMP,4 Nov. •884; v, file 57, Crozierto Dewdney,3oJan. 1885
 CANADA'S SUBJUGATION OF THE PLAINS CREE 541
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•884 wasleft with onlythe mostrecalcitrantopponentsof the treaty.

These individualswere only lukewarm in support of their chief's
non-violenteffortsto getthe [Link] favouredinsteadthe
courseof actionadvocatedby Little Poplar. Ballendinebelievedthat
the governmentcouldexpecttroublefrom the Big Bear and Little
[Link],Ballendineemphasized that there waslittle
dangerof a Cree-Metisalliance,for the Cree wererefusingto meet
with the Metis, and were rejecting all entreariesfrom the Metis
suggesting the two [Link] Cree,
under the leadershipof Big Bear, Beardy, and Little Pine, were
planningtheir owncouncilfor the summerof 1885.75
Ballendinealsodevelopeda new sourceof informationin Pound-
maker,who wasalsoactingasa policeinformer. It wasfrom Pound-
maker that Dewdney and the police learned that Little Pine was
attemptingto involvetheBlackfootin thesummerof 1884,andwanted
to do soin January1885,but waspreventedfrom doingsobecause of
temporaryblindness - a possible
signof malnutritionfromthehunger
that mostCree experiencedin the extremelyharshwinterof 1884--5.
Little Pinehad soughtto get Poundmakerto encourageCrowfootto
join the Cree movementbut Poundmakerrefusedto aid Little Pine,
and when Little Pine recovered from his blindness, he went south to
meet with Crowfoot. 76
While Little Pinemetwith Crowfoot,Big Bearwasbeingchallenged
for the leadershipof hisbandby hissonImases,alsocalledCurly,and
by one of his headmen,WanderingSpirit. These two men were
spokesmen for the youngermenof Big Bear'sBand,andwantedto
work with Little Poplar. In the winter of 1885, Little Poplar was
journeyingconstantlybetweenPitt and Battlefordenlistingsupport
for his plan of [Link] Ballendinecould not get precise
informationon Little Poplar'splans,he did report thatby March 1885
Big Bear had assertedhimselfand that the influenceof Imasesand
WanderingSpirithad seemedto [Link]

75 v^c,RG•O,vol.3582,file749,Ballendine to Reed,8 Nov.and26 Dec.•884

76 P^c,RG•O,vol.3582,file949, P' Ballendine to Reed,2oNov.,26 Dec.,2 Jan.,
•885;J.M. Rayto Commissioner, 27 Dec.•884; Crozierto Commissioner, •4wMP,
14
Jan.•885;vol.3576,file3o9,•,MagnusBeggto Dewdney, 2oFeb.1885.v,•c,
Mg26^,extractof Rayto Dewdney, [Link],Ballendine, andCrozier
whentheyreportedonLittlePinementioned thattheirprincipalsource of
informationwasPoundmaker, althoughBallendinedid getsomeof hisinformation
directlyfrom Little Pinehimself.
77 v,•c,ag •o, vol.3582,file949,Ballendine to Reed,•o Oct.and26Dec.•884,and2
[Link]•6 Mar. 1885;Ballendine toDewdney, •9 Mar. 1885.v,•c,•g 26,%vol.
•o7, extractof Rayto Dewdney,24Jan. •885. v,•c,Manuscript Group27IC4,
EdgarDewdney Papers,II, FrancisDickens to OfficerCommanding, Battleford,
27 Oct. •884 (hereaftercitedasP,•c,•ag27IC4, vol.,letter)
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On the basisof theseand similarreports,Dewdneyand the police

wereconvincedthat, althougha numberof councilswere expectedin
2885, no violencewasto be anticipatedfrom the Cree. Nevertheless,
Dewdneywishedto preventthe Cree from holdingtheir [Link]
strategywasto make the Cree satisfiedwith the [Link] therefore
admitted in February 2885 that the governmenthad violated the
treatiesand ordered deliveryto the Cree of all goodsthe treatieshad
[Link] addition,he ordereda dramaticincreasein their rations.
If thisfailed to placatethem he plannedto arresttheir leaders,usethe
policeto keepthe Cree on their reserves,and to deposeanychiefwho
attempted
to attendanIndiancouncil.
7s
Dewdneyhad the full supportof Ottawa for his policyof arresting
[Link] only reservationsthe Prime Ministerexpressedwere
that Dewdneyhave sufficientforcesto make the arrestsand that he
provideenough evidenceto justify the chargesof incitementto an
insurrection. Macdonald also volunteered to communicate with the
stipendiarymagistratesto assuretheir co-operationin imposinglong
prisontermsfor anyCreeleaderconvicted of incitement.79Macdonald
waswilling to provide this assistancebecauseDewdney had earlier
complainedthat he could not use preventivedetention of Indian
leadersbecausethe magistrates 'onlylookat the evidenceandthecrime
committedwhen giving out sentences,'rather than taking into con-
siderationthe nature of the man and the harm that he might do if he
werereleased
at an inopportune
time.søAll thesepreparations
were
completewhen word reachedDewdneyof the Metis clashwith the
Mounted Police at Duck Lake in March •885.
The Riel Rebellionof • 885 providedDewdneywith a new instru-
ment to make his [Link] troopssentinto the
North-West to suppressthe Rebellioncould be used to destroythe
Cree movementfor an Indian territory. The Cree themselves would
providethe excuseDewdneyneededvirtually to declarewar on the
bandsand leaderswho had led the Cree movementfor treatyrevision.
During March • 885, the Cree did engagein someactsof violencethat
Dewdneychoseto label actsof rebellion.
Theseactswere unrelatedto the Cree movementfor treatyrevision.
In fact, these acts that led to the subjugationof the Cree were
committed by personsnot involved with the Cree movementfor

78 PAC,MG26A,vol. • •7, Dewdneyto Macdonald,9 Feb. •885. PAC,RG10, vol. 3676,

file 3O9A,Dewdneyto Vankoughnet, •2 Feb. •885
79 •'AC,RG10, vol. 3705, file •7,•93, Vankoughnetto Dewdney,5 Feb. •885;
Vankoughnetto Macdonald,3 • Jan. •885; vol. 3582, file 949, Vankoughnetto
Reed,28 Jan. •885. DewdneyPapers,III, file 38, Macdonaldto Dewdney,23
Feb. •885
80 PAC,RG10, vol. 3576, file 309A, Dewdneyto Vankoughnet, •2 Feb. •885
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[Link] isone of the ironicquirksof historythat the leadersof the

Creemovementhad little or nothingto do with the eventswhichwould
destroythat movementto which they had devotedten yearsof their
[Link],they would be held responsiblefor the actionsof
their desperateand hungry [Link] heightenthe irony, it wasthe
Metis movement, from which the Cree had held aloof, which would
giveDewdneythe excuseto usemilitaryforceto subjugatethe Cree.
The Duck Lake clashcoincidedwith a Cree Councilon Sweetgrass
Reserve. The council of the Battleford area Cree had been called to
considerhow they could press for increasedrations. When word
reachedthe Cree at Sweetgrass of the clashat Duck Lake,theyfelt that
circumstances would make Indian Agent Rae willing to grant them
more rations. Thus the Cree, taking their women and children with
themto demonstratetheir peacefulintent, setout for [Link]
and panic prevailed at Battleford, for on learning of the Crees'
approach,the town'scitizensassumedthat the Cree had thrown in
their lot with the Metis. The town wasevacuated;mosttownspeople
tookrefugein theMountedPolicepost.
8•
When the Cree arrived at Battleford they found the town aban-
[Link] sentword to the policepostthat they wishedto speakto
the Indian Agent, whorefusedto leavethe safetyof the [Link] Cree
women, seeing the abandoned storesand housesfilled with food,
beganto help themselves. Then, fearing arrestby the police,the Cree
left town. On the way backto their reserves,aswell ason their wayto
town, the Cree assisteda number of Indian Departmentemployees
and settlersto crossthe Battle River to get to the policepost, thus
demonstrating
thepacificnatureof theirintentions?
Ratherthan returning to their individualreserves,the Cree wentto
Poundmaker's, for as the leader in the Battleford district to whom the
governmenthad shownmuch favour in the past,Poundmakerwas
seen as the man best able to explain to the governmentwhat had
happenedat Battleford.A secondsignificantreasonwasthe deathsof
two prominent Cree leaders:Red Pheasant,the night before the Cree
left for Battleford, and Little Pine, the night they returned. As it was
the practiceof the Cree to leave the placewhere their leadershad
expired, both bandsleft their reservesand went to Poundmaker's,
who, given the fears the whiteshad concerninga Cree and Metis
alliance, might possiblydefuse any crisis. Thus, in March x885,
Poundmaker
becamethespokesman
of the BattlefordCree.83
No soonerwere the Cree at Poundmaker'sthan theywerejoined by
8• Jefferson,Fifty YearsontheSaskatchewan • 25
8•, Ibid., •,6-8. •'ac,MG•,6a,deposition,
WilliamLightfoottoJ.A. MacKay,3•
May • 885
83 Jefferson,FiftyYearsontheSaskatchewan •'7, •3ø, •38
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the local Assiniboine, who insistedthat a soldier's(war) tent be erected,

for events at the Assiniboine reserves convinced them that an attack on
the Indian [Link] Assiniboineexplainedthat when
word had reachedthem of the Duck Lake fight, a few of their young
mensoughtrevengeonfarminginstructor JamesPayne,whowasblamed
for thedeathof a [Link] girl'smalerelativeskilledPayneandmurdered
farmer Barney Tremont. The Assiniboinenow assumedthat the
Canadian authorities would behave in a similar manner to the
Americans and blame all Indians for the actionsof a few individuals.s4
Erection of the soldier's tent meant that the warriors were in control
of the campand thatPoundmakerand the civilauthoritieshadto defer
to them. It wasat this time that the Metis appealfor aid wasreceived.
The Cree refusedto assistthe Metis,althoughtheyexpectedan attack
on their camp. Watcheswere set on the roads,and protectionwas
offered to the Metis at Bresaylorfor the settlersthere had earnedthe
enmityof the [Link] long as no militaryor policeforces
cametowardsthe Cree camp,the Cree remainedon their reservesand
did not interfere with anyone going to or leaving Battleford. The
Mounted Police detachment from Fort Pitt and Colonel Otter's
militaryunit arrived in Battlefordwithoutencounteringany Indians.
Nevertheless,reports from the police and local officialsmaintained
thatthetownwasundersiege.
85
Whilethe BattlefordCreewerepreparingtheir defences, BigBear's
bandwasmakingtroublefor [Link]
when the membersof his band heard about the fight at Duck Lake.
WanderingSpirit and Imasessoughtto usethe opportunitypresented
by the Metis uprising to seek revengefor the insultsand abuses
perpetratedagainstthe Cree by Indian Agent ThomasQuinn and
[Link] abusedsomeof the
Indian men, while Delaneyhad cuckoldedothersbeforehe broughta
whitebride to Frog Lake in late • 884. Big Bear'sheadmendemanded
that the two officialsopen the storehouseto the Cree, and whenthey
refusedto do so, they were murdered. This set off further actsof
violencethat resultedin the murder of all the white men in the camp
save one. 86
On his return to camp Big Bear ended further actsof violence.

84 Innes,'Fine Day Interview,' •85. Sluman,Poundmaker, •99-eoo, •84-5. Jefferson,

FiftyYearsontheSaskatchewan, •3o-8
85 DesmondMorton, TheLastWarDrum(Toronto • 97e), 98- • [Link],FiftyYears
ontheSaskatchewan, • •5-4 o
86 PAC,RG•o, vol. 3755, file 3o,973,Reedto Commissioner,•8 June •88•; seealso
materialcited in note 7e [Link] B. Cameron,BloodRedtheSun
(Edmonton•977), 33-6•, vividlydescribes the slaughterat Frog Lake.
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Althoughunableto preventa minor skirmishbetweenhisyoungmen

and a smallpolicepatrol, he convincedhiswarriorsto allowthe police
detachmentat Fort Pitt to withdraw from the post without being
attackedand to guaranteesafetyto the civilianresidentsof the Frog
Lakeand Fort Pitt [Link] Bearthen led hispeoplenorth,where
he hopedthey would be out of harm'sway and not engagein further
actsof violence.87
Beardyalsolostcontrolof [Link] and the neighbouringOne
Arrow band had reserves next to Batoche. Before the clash with the
police,the Metis had come to the One Arrow Reserve,captured
FarmingInstructorPeter Thompkins,and threatenedthe Cree band
withdestruction
unless
[Link] theyoungermen
of One Arrow'sband agreedto do so.• The Metismadethe same
threatagainstBeardyand hisband,and althougha few of hisyoung
men joined the Metis, Beardy and most of his people remained
neutral. 89 It is doubtful that the Cree would have aided the Metis
without the threat of violence. Earlier, the Cree of the Duck Lake
regionhad threatenedhostilitiesagainstthe Metis,for the Metishad
settledon One Arrow'sReserveand demandedthat the government
turn overto them someof One Arrow'[Link],fearingthe
Metis more than the Cree in •88o, [Link] the next four
years,onetaskof the localIndian Agentand the policewasto reconcile
the Cree with the Metisof the Batocheregion?
The Cree actsof violencein March • 885 werethe excuseDewdney
neededtojustify the useof troopsagainstthem. He maintainedthat
the Battleford,Fort Pitt, and Duck Lake Cree were part of the Riel
[Link], Dewdney reported to Ottawa that he saw the
eventsat Battlefordand FrogLakeasthe actsof a desperate,starving
peopleand unrelatedto whatthe Metisweredoing.9• In fact,Dewdney
had soughtin late March to open negotiationswith the Battleford
Cree,but Rae refusedto meet the Cree [Link] effortsto

87 Cameron,passim
88 CharlesMulvaney,TheHistoryof theNorth-West Rebellion of •885 (Toronto 1885),
2•,-•6. SettlersandRebels,1882 Report,pp 22, 26- 7. PAC,RG10, vol. 3584, file
x•3o, p. •, SuperintendentHerchmerto Dewdney,5 Apr. •885
89 Ibid.
9ø PAC,RG•O,vol. 3697, file •5,446, entirefile; vol. 3598, file •4• •, entirefile; vol.
7768, file 2•o9-2; vol. 3794, file 46,584
9•VAC,Mg27IC4, vol.7, letters,Dewdneyto White,Mar.-Apr. •885. This
correspondence revealsthat in earlyApr. Dewdneybelievedthat he hadto dealwith
an Indian [Link],he did admitthat thisimpression wasbasedon
scantyand often faultyor [Link] mid-Apr.,Dewdneymakesclearto
White,theNWMP Comptroller,thathe did notbelievethathewasdealingwith
eitheran Indian uprisingor a rebellion.
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open negotiationsended in failure becausethere wasno wayto get a

message to Poundmaker,and after ColonelOtter'sattackon the Cree
campany thoughtof negotiationswasdropped?
PubliclyDewdneyproclaimedthat the Cree werepart of the Metis
[Link] issueda proclamationthat anyIndian wholeft hisreserve
wasto be regarded asa rebel?• As well, to intimidatePiapotand the
Treaty 4 Cree, Dewdneystationedtroopson their reserves. To prevent
an allianceof Blackfootand Cree, Dewdneyannouncedthat he was
stationingtroops at Swift Current and Medicine Hat. Dewdneytook
thesesteps,as he confidedto Macdonald,becausehe feared that the
Cree might still attemptto take actionon their own cause,and he was
concernedbecausein the previousyear the Cree had attemptedto
enlist the Blackfoot in the movement to revise the treaties? 4
The military commanderin the North-West,GeneralF.D. Middle-
ton, was not as concernedabout the problemswith the Cree. He
wantedto concentratehisattentionon the [Link] did send
troopsunder ColonelWilliam Otter to Swift Current, he refusedto
order them to Battlefordto lift the allegedsiegeuntil he receivedword
of the Frog Lake [Link] wasthen orderedto lift the 'siege'and
protect Battleford from Indian attack,but he was not to take the
[Link] the sametime GeneralThomasStrangewasorderedto
bring Big Bear under control.
Otter reached Battleford without seeingan Indian. He wasupset
that he and histroopswouldnot [Link] thereforeproposedthat
he attackthe Indian campat Poundmaker'[Link]
the plan,but Dewdneywelcomedit asa meansto bringtheCreeunder
[Link] the Lieutenant-Governor's approvalto be
paramount to Middleton's veto, Otter launched his attack. The
engagement,known asthe Battleof Cut Knife Hill, almostendedin
total disasterfor Otter's force. Only the Cree fear that they would
suffer the samefate as Sitting Bull after the Battle of the Little Big
Horn savedOtter'stroopsfrom total annihilation?5
The tale of the subsequent militarycampaignsagainstthe Cree by
Strangeand Middletonand the voluntarysurrendersof Poundmaker
and Big Bear is found in detailin Stanley'sBirthof Western Canadaand
Desmond Morton's The Last War Drum. With Big Bear and Pound-
makerin custody,Dewdneypreparedto usethe courtsin the manner

92 PAC,MG27•C4,vol. •, Dewdneyto Begg,3 May 1885;vol.4, Dewdneyto

Middleton,3ø Mar. •885. RC;-10,
vol. 3584, file xx3o, Dewdneyto Ray,7 May x885.
Jefferson, Fifty YearsontheSaskatchewan,
• 28-33
93 PAC,RC•o, vol. 3584, file • •2o. Proclamationof 6 May 1885
94 MC 26A,vol. •O7, Dewdneyto Macdonald,6 Apr. 1885
95 Morton, TheLastWarDrum 96-• •o
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he had planned before the Riel [Link] Cree leaderswere

chargedwithtreason-felony, despiteDewdney's knowledge that neither
man had engagedin an actof [Link] to the eventsat
Fort Pitt, Frog Lake, and Battleford all made clearthat neither chief
wasinvolvedin the murders and looting that had [Link] fact,
manyof thesepeopleservedas defencewitnesses?
As Dewdney
informed the Prime Minister, the diaries and letters of the murdered
officialsat Frog Lake showedthat until the day of the 'massacre'
there
was 'no reason to believe that our Indians were even dissatisfied much
lesscontemplated violence.
'97Ballendine'sreportsindicatedthatthere
were no plansfor violence,that the Cree were not involvedwith the
Metis,and that theyplannedno [Link] the
Cree had not 'even thought, intendedor wishedthat the uprising
wouldreachtheproportion
it has...Things
justgotoutofcontrol.
'98As
Dewdneyrelatedto the Prime Minister,had the peoplelivingin the
regionnot beennew settlersfrom the East,and had they not fled in
panic,muchof the 'raiding'and lootingwouldnot [Link]
regionswhere people had not abandonedtheir homesno raiding
occurred.99Therefore, the chargesagainstBig Bearand Poundmaker
were designedto remove the leadershipof the Cree movementfor
revisionof the [Link] were chargedto elicitprisonsentences
that wouldhavethe effectof coercingthe Creeto acceptgovernment
control. The trials were conducted to have the desired result, and both
Big Bear and Poundmakerwere convictedand sentencedto three
yearsin StoneyMountainPenitentiary. XøøNeithermanservedhisfull
term, and both died a shorttime after their releasefrom prison.
By the end of 1885, Dewdneyhad succeededin subjugatingthe
Cree. Big Bear was in prison, Little Pine was dead, and Piapot was
intimidatedby havingtroopsstationedon his [Link]
deprivedthe Creeof their principalleadersandof their [Link]
usedthe military to disarmand impoverishthe Cree by confiscating
their horses and carts; he increased the size of the Mounted Police
force,and usedthe policeto arrestCree leaderswho protestedagainst
his policies;he broke up Cree Bands,deposedCree leaders,and
96 Cameron,BloodRedtheSun,x95-eo4. SandraEstlinBingman,'The Trials of
Poundmaker andBigBear,'Saskatchewan Hi•tory,xxwII (x975),8x-95, givesan
accountof the conductof the trialsand raisesquestions abouttheir conduct,
particularly
the trial of Big [Link],Bingmanapparently wasunawareof
Dewdneyand Macdonald'seffortsto usethe courtsand whateverother means
possible
to removeCreeleaders.
97 PAc,Ma e6A,vol. xo7, Dewdneyto Macdonald,3June x885
98 Ibid.
99 Ibid.
xooBingma_n,
'The Trials of Poundmakerand Big Bear,'8 x-95
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forbadeany Indian to be off his reservewithoutpermissionfrom the

Indian Agent.•ø• By x89o,throughvigorousimplementationof the
Indian Act, Dewdneyand his successor, Hayter Reed,had begunthe
processof makingthe Cree an administeredpeople.
The recordof the Canadiangovernmentin dealingwith the Creeis
thus not one of honourable fair-mindednessand justice as the
[Link] Dewdneyadmittedin x885,the
treaties'promisesand provisionswerenot beingfulfilled,and Dewdney
himself had taken stepsto assureCanadiancontrol over the Cree,
which were themselvesviolations of the treaties. Thus, he had refused
to grant the Cree the reservesitesthey selected;he had refusedto
distributethe ammunitionand twine the treatiesrequired. His plans
for dealingwith the Cree leaderswerebasedon a politicaluseof the
legalandjudicial system,and ultimatelyhe madeuseof the military,
the police,and the courtsin a politicalmannerto achievehisgoalsof
subjugating the [Link] by ignoringthesefactscanonecontinueto
perpetuatethe myth of Canada's just and honourableIndian policy
from x87o to x885.
•o• A verygoodaccountof Dewdney'sactionsto bringthe Creeunder government
controlafter • 885 is to be found in JeanLamour,'EdgarDewdneyand the
Aftermathof the Rebellion,'Saskatchewan History,xxuI (• 97o), • o5- • 6. For
a discussionof the useof the Indian Act asa meansof destroyingIndian
culturalautonomyseeJohn L. Tobias,'Protection,Civilization,Assimilation:
An Outline Historyof Canada'sIndian Policy,'TheWestern Canadian Journalof
Anthropology,
vI (• 976). For a discussionof specificuseof thispolicyagainstthe
Cree,and howthe Cree reactedseeJohn L. Tobias,'Indian Reserves in Western
Canada:Indian Homelandsor Devicesfor Assimilation,' in Approaches toNative
Historyin Canada:Papersof a Conference heldat theNationalMuseumofMan, October,
•975, D.A. Muise,ed. (Ottawa •977), 89-xo3 ß