case he got killed. So she called a medicine man who followed the instructions and Big Bear was brought back to life. He didn’t take revenge on this man right away, but later he got the medicine man to use bad medicine on him and killed him.” And Big Bear forgives his young wife because of the alcohol.
In mid-February, the bands from Mosquito, Moosomin, and Poundmaker—now “the most influential chief on the Saskatchewan”—come to Battleford to declare they must hold a Grand Council with the Indian Commissioner. The treaty understandings must be changed, Poundmaker states; if extra rations are not given, he will kill government oxen for food, and there are not police enough to arrest him. But there is no commissioner in winter Battleford, nor even an agent, to answer them, and they return to their bits of “land set aside” all the hungrier.
In May, Poundmaker and three thousand treaty Cree, unable to plant crops because they have no seed or draftanimals or food, leave their reserves again to look for buffalo in the Cypress Hills. But no herds will ever again roam free in prairie Canada. To prevent violence, the Fort Walsh police dole out starvation rations of flour and rancid bacon hauled from Fort Benton, before they force the People north for treaty payments. Meanwhile, Montana ranchers petition the U.S. Army to chase Canadian Indians back over the border because, though they are “ostensibly here for the purpose of hunting buffalo, they have killed and eaten many of our cattle.”
Year Four: August 1881 to August 1882
When Big Bear Ran His Last Buffalo
The Marquis of Lorne, Governor General of Canada, tours the North-West Territories. Poundmaker guides his huge party from Battleford across the bone-haunted prairie to Crowfoot on the Bow River. During the journey Poundmaker is astounded to discover that the haughty, aloof Imperial Head of Canada, whose one wife is the daughter of the Great Grandmother venerated in every treaty, can actually explain nothing about government actions. The man Macdonald, who will never visit the Territories and whom no more than a dozen PlainsPeople will ever see, makes all decisions as Head of Indian Affairs through an Indian Act no Person has ever heard a word about.
Another hard winter. There are still large herds along the Missouri, but rotgut whisky is more destructive than ever, and cycles of horse stealing by Young Men ruin the peace. Big Bear and his People, camped on the Musselshell River, recognize that despite adequate hunting, their life and community are being destroyed.
Major John Young, in charge of the immense Indian lands along the Missouri, offers Big Bear a reservation if he signs a treaty with Washington. Twin Wolverine, Imasees, and Wandering Spirit are strongly in favour, and a deep rift develops in the band when Big Bear will not agree.
In March, the U.S. Army launches “The Milk River Sweep.” Soldiers attack Little Pine’s band and harry them back across the border, but a messenger warns Big Bear in the Little Rocky Mountains, and war chief Wandering Spirit takes command. He sends scouts to watch for patrols while camp is struck and, covering their trail of travois and hoof prints, twelve hundred People disappear into the Missouri Breaks. The Benton
Record
is disgusted: the army should present Big Bear the “Freedom of Milk River” on a silver platter—if they can find him.
But the Plains Cree cannot live a life in hiding. After one more good hunt, and some warrior adventures for the Young Men stealing back horses stolen from them in past years, as the leaves open on the Missouri cottonwoods, Big Bear’s band trails slowly north. Past the valley where Chief Joseph and his Nez Percé made their last stand in the Bears Paw Mountains, north along Battle Creek, across the Medicine Line and past Old Man On His Back to the Cypress Hills. They circle their lodges at Cypress Lake; a day’s ride away, near Fort Walsh among the green-grass hills are the
In mid-February, the bands from Mosquito, Moosomin, and Poundmaker—now “the most influential chief on the Saskatchewan”—come to Battleford to declare they must hold a Grand Council with the Indian Commissioner. The treaty understandings must be changed, Poundmaker states; if extra rations are not given, he will kill government oxen for food, and there are not police enough to arrest him. But there is no commissioner in winter Battleford, nor even an agent, to answer them, and they return to their bits of “land set aside” all the hungrier.
In May, Poundmaker and three thousand treaty Cree, unable to plant crops because they have no seed or draftanimals or food, leave their reserves again to look for buffalo in the Cypress Hills. But no herds will ever again roam free in prairie Canada. To prevent violence, the Fort Walsh police dole out starvation rations of flour and rancid bacon hauled from Fort Benton, before they force the People north for treaty payments. Meanwhile, Montana ranchers petition the U.S. Army to chase Canadian Indians back over the border because, though they are “ostensibly here for the purpose of hunting buffalo, they have killed and eaten many of our cattle.”
Year Four: August 1881 to August 1882
When Big Bear Ran His Last Buffalo
The Marquis of Lorne, Governor General of Canada, tours the North-West Territories. Poundmaker guides his huge party from Battleford across the bone-haunted prairie to Crowfoot on the Bow River. During the journey Poundmaker is astounded to discover that the haughty, aloof Imperial Head of Canada, whose one wife is the daughter of the Great Grandmother venerated in every treaty, can actually explain nothing about government actions. The man Macdonald, who will never visit the Territories and whom no more than a dozen PlainsPeople will ever see, makes all decisions as Head of Indian Affairs through an Indian Act no Person has ever heard a word about.
Another hard winter. There are still large herds along the Missouri, but rotgut whisky is more destructive than ever, and cycles of horse stealing by Young Men ruin the peace. Big Bear and his People, camped on the Musselshell River, recognize that despite adequate hunting, their life and community are being destroyed.
Major John Young, in charge of the immense Indian lands along the Missouri, offers Big Bear a reservation if he signs a treaty with Washington. Twin Wolverine, Imasees, and Wandering Spirit are strongly in favour, and a deep rift develops in the band when Big Bear will not agree.
In March, the U.S. Army launches “The Milk River Sweep.” Soldiers attack Little Pine’s band and harry them back across the border, but a messenger warns Big Bear in the Little Rocky Mountains, and war chief Wandering Spirit takes command. He sends scouts to watch for patrols while camp is struck and, covering their trail of travois and hoof prints, twelve hundred People disappear into the Missouri Breaks. The Benton
Record
is disgusted: the army should present Big Bear the “Freedom of Milk River” on a silver platter—if they can find him.
But the Plains Cree cannot live a life in hiding. After one more good hunt, and some warrior adventures for the Young Men stealing back horses stolen from them in past years, as the leaves open on the Missouri cottonwoods, Big Bear’s band trails slowly north. Past the valley where Chief Joseph and his Nez Percé made their last stand in the Bears Paw Mountains, north along Battle Creek, across the Medicine Line and past Old Man On His Back to the Cypress Hills. They circle their lodges at Cypress Lake; a day’s ride away, near Fort Walsh among the green-grass hills are the
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