JOHN L. TOBIAS Canada'sSubjugation of thePlains Cree,ß 879- 885

ONEOF THE MOST PERSISTENT MYTHS that Canadianhistorians perpetuate is that of the honourableand just policyCanada followed in dealing with the PlainsIndians. First enunciatedin the Canadianexpansionist literature of the 187os as a means to emphasizethe distinctive Canadianapproach to and the uniquecharacter of the Canadianwest, 1 it hasbeen given credence by G.F.G. Stanleyin his classicThe Birth of WesternCanada, • and by all those who use Stanley'swork as the standardinterpretation of Canada'srelationship with the PlainsIndians in the period 187o-85. Thus studentsare taughtthat the Canadian governmentwas paternalistic and far-sightedin offeringthe Indiansa meansto becomecivilized and assimilatedinto white societyby the reservesystem, and honest and fair-minded in honouring legal commitmentsmade in the treaties.• The PlainsIndians, and particu- larly the PlainsCree, are saidto be a primitivepeople adhering to an inflexiblesystem of traditionand custom,seeking to protectthemselves againstthe advanceof civilization,and takingup armsin rejectionof the reservesystem and an agriculturalway of life.4 This traditional

Doug Owram, Promiseof Eden: The Canadian Expansionist Movement and the Idea of the West,•856-•9oo (Toronto •98o), •3•-4 G.F.G. Stanley,The Birth of WesternCanada: A Historyof theRiel Rebellions(Toronto •96o) Ibid., 2o6-• 5 Ibid., vii-viii, • 96, 2 • 6-36. It shouldbe noted that the traditionalinterpretation of a Cree rebellionin associationwith the Metis hasbeen challenged by R. Allen, 'Big Bear,' SaskatchewanHistory, xxv (•972); W.B. Fraser,'Big Bear, Indian Patriot,'Alberta Historical Review, x•v 0966), •-• 3; Rudy Wiebe in his fictional biography,The Temptations ofBig Bear (Toronto •973) and in hisbiography of Big Bear in the Dictionaryof CanadianBiography [r•cB], x•, •88•-9o (Toronto •982), 597-6o •; and NormaSluman, Poundmaker (Toronto • 967). However,none of these

${protocol}://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/CHR-064-04-04 - Tuesday, June 25, 2019 11:21:10 AM University of Saskatchewan IP Address:128.233.10.173 CanadianHistorical Review, Lx•v, 4, • 983 ooo8-3755/83 / • 2oo-o 5 • 9 $o•. 25/o¸ Universityof TorontoPress 520 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

interpretation distortsthe 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, while the Canadiangovernment was neither as far-sighted nor asjust as tradition maintains.Canada's principal concern in its relationshipwith the PlainsCree wasto establishcontrol over them, and Canadianauthorities were willing to and did wagewar upon the Cree in order to achieve this control. Those who propagatethe myth would haveus believethat Canada beganto negotiatetreaties with the Indiansof the Westin • 871 aspart of an overall plan to developthe agriculturalpotential of the West, openthe land for railwayconstruction, and bind the prairiesto Canada in a networkof commercialand economicties. Although there is an element of truth to these statements,the fact remains that in •87• Canadahad no planon howto dealwith the Indiansand the negotiation of treatieswas not at the initiativeof the Canadiangovernment, but at the insistenceof the OjibwaIndians of the North-WestAngle and the Saulteauxof the tiny provinceof Manitoba. What is ignored by the traditionalinterpretation is that the treaty processonly startedafter YellowQuill's band of Saulteauxturned backsettlers who tried to go westof Portagela Prairie, and after other Saulteauxleaders insisted uponenforcement of the SelkirkTreaty or, moreoften, insisted upon makinga new treaty. Also ignored is the fact that the Ojibwaof the North-West Angle demanded rents, and createdthe fear of violence againstprospective settlers who crossed their landor madeuse of their territory, if Ojibwa rights to their lands were not recognized.This pressureand fear of resultingviolence is what motivatedthe govern- ment to begin the treaty-makingprocess. 5 Canada'sinitial offer to the Saulteauxand OjibwaIndians consisted onlyof reservesand a smallcash annuity. This proposalwas rejected by the Ojibwain •87 • and againin • 872, while the Saulteauxdemanded, much to Treaty CommissionerWemyss Simpson's chagrin, farm animals,horses, wagons, and farm toolsand equipment.Simpson did 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 Ottawa. Thus, the originalTreaties • and 2 did not include thoseitems the Saulteauxsaid had to be part of a treatybefore they

authorsdeals with Canada'sIndian policy,and noneexamines what the Cree were doing in the period • 876-85. 5 AlexanderMorris, TheTreaties of Canadawith the Indians of Manitoba and the North-WestTerritories (Toronto • 88o), 37; PublicArchives of Manitoba,Adams G. ArchibaldPapers (hereafter cited as •,^M Archibald Papers, letters) ${protocol}://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/CHR-064-04-04 - Tuesday, June 25, 2019 11:21:10 AM University of Saskatchewan IP Address:128.233.10.173 CANADA'S SUBJUGATION OF THE PLAINS CREE 521

would agreeto surrendertheir lands.Only in •874, after the Indian leadersof Manitoba becameirate over non-receiptof the goodsthat Simpsonhad promisedthem, wasan inquirylaunched, and Simpson's list of 'outsidepromises' discovered and incorporatedin renegotiated treatiesin 1875.6 It was only 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- manded. After this experienceCanada made suchgoods a standard part of later treaties.7 Justas it waspressure from 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 processwith the Indiansof the Qu'Appelleand Saskatchewandistricts. The PlainsCree had inter- fered with the geologicalsurvey and preventedthe constructionof telegraphlines through their territory to emphasizethat Canadahad to dealwith the Creefor Creelands. 8 The Creehad learned in 187o about Canada'sclaim to their lands, and not wanting to experience what had happened to the Indians in the United Stateswhen those peoplewere facedwith an expansionistgovernment, the Cree made clear that they would not allow settlementor use of their landsuntil Creerights had beenclearly recognized. They alsomade clear that part of anyarrangement for Creelands had to involveassistance to the Cree in developinga new agriculturalway of life? 6 PublicArchives of Canada,Record Group • o Indian Affairs Files,vol. 357•, file •'4-2, alsovol. 36o3, file 2o36 (hereafer cited as P^c, •tc;•o, vol. file). See also Morris, Treatiesof Canada,25-43 and • 26-7, for a printed accountof the negotiationsand the textsof the originaland renegotiatedtreaties, pp 3 •3-2o, 338-42. Two articlesby John Taylor, 'Canada'sNorthwest Indian Policyin the •87o's:Traditional Premises and NecessaryInnovations' and 'Two Viewson the Meaningof TreatiesSix and Seven'in TheSpirit of Alberta Indian Treaties (Montreal• 98o), 3-7 and 9-45 respectively,provide a goodaccount of the Indian contribution and attitude towards the treaties. 7 Morris, Treatiesof Canada,44-76; on pp • 2o- 3 Morris demonstrateshow he had to makeTreaty 3 the modelfor the Qu'AppelleTreaty to get the Saulteauxand Creeof the Qu'AppelleRiver region to acceptwhat he originallyoffered them. CompareTreaties •-6 to seewhat the governmentwas forced to concede.Also seeTaylor's 'Traditional Premises'for Indian contributionsto the negotiation process. 8 Pt,c, •tc •o, vol. 3586, file • •37, Lieutenant-GovernorMorris to Secretaryof 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, entire file; v^MArchibald Papers, WJ. Christieto GeorgeW. Hill, 26 Apr. • 87 •; Archibaldto Secretaryof Statefor the Provinces, 5_Jan. •872; alsoletters in note •; WilliamFrancis Butler,. The Great Lone Land ${protocol}://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/CHR-064-04-04 - Tuesday, June 25, 2019 11:21:10 AM University of Saskatchewan IP Address:128.233.10.173 522 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

In adoptingthis position, the Creewere simply demonstrating a skill thatthey had shown since their initialcontact with Europeansin x67 o. On numerousoccasions during the fur tradeera, they had adapted to changedenvironmental and economiccircumstances, beginning first ashunters, then asprovisioners and middlemenin the Hudson'sBay Companytrading system, and finallyadapting from a woodlandto parkland-prairiebuffalo hunting culture to retaintheir independence and their desiredties with the fur trade.•ø Having accommodated themselvesto the PlainsIndian cultureafter x8oo,they expanded into territoryformerly controlled by the Atsina,and asthe buffaloherds began to decline after x85o, the Cree expandedinto Blackfoot territory.• Expansionwas one responseto the threat posedby decliningbuffalo herds;another was that somePlains Cree bands beganto turn to agriculture.•2 Thus, whenthe Cree learnedthat Canada claimedtheir lands, part of the arrangementthey were

(Rutland,v•r •97o), 36o-2,368; v^c, ManuscriptGroup 26A,John A. Macdonald Papers,vol. •o4, entire volume(hereafter cited as P^c, Mg 26^, letters),P^M, ArchibaldPapers, Joseph Howe to Archibald,3oJune • 872;•^•, AlexanderMorris Papers,Lt Governor'sCollection, Morris to Ministerof the Interior 7 July • 873 (hereaftercited as •^•, 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•V to the Minister of Justice,6 and •9 August•875; Morris,•7o-•, •g •o, vol.36•2, file 4o•2, entire file; AdamsG. ArchibaldPapers, Petition of JamesSeenum to Archibald,9 Jan. •87•, and attachedletters of Kehewin,Little Hunter, and Kiskion;Archibald to Secretaryof Statefor the provinces,5 Jan. • 872 Two excellentstudies of the Cree in the pre-• 87o era are thoseby Arthur J. Ray, Indiansin theFur Trade.'Their Role as Hunters, Trappers, and Middlemen in theLands SouthwestofHudson Bay •66o-•87o (Toronto•974), and DavidG. Mandelbaum, ThePlains Cree, xxxvII, Part II of AnthropologicalPapers of the AmericanMuseum of Natural History (New York • 94o). Ibid. An excellentstudy of the Cree expansionis the unpublished•^ thesisby John S. Milloy,'The PlainsCree: A PreliminaryTrade and MilitaryChronology, • 67o-• 87o' (CarletonUniversity • 972); alsoHenry John Moberlyand WilliamB. Cameron,When Fur WasKing (Toronto • 929), 2o8- • 2, describespart of the last phaseof thismovement. The shrinkingrange of buffaloand howthe Creereacted are alsodiscussed in Frank Gilbert Roe, TheNorth American Buffalo: A CriticalStudy of theSpecies in Its Wild State(Toronto •95•), 282-333. Henry YouleHind, Narrativeof theCanadian Red River Exploring Expedition of ß857 andof theAssiniboine and SaskatchewanExploring Expedition of ß858 (Edmonton • 97 •), vol. I, p. 334; Irene Spry, ThePalli•er Expedition: An Accountof John Palliser'sBritish North American Expedition, • 85 7-• 86o (London • 964), 59-6o; ViscountMilton and W.B. Cheadle,The Northwest Passage by Land, Being the Narrative of anExpedition from the Atlantic to the Pacific (Toronto • 97o), 66-7; Edwin ThompsonPerry, Five Indian Tribes of the Upper Missouri: Sioux, Arickaras, Assiniboine, Crees,Crow (Norman, oI• •969), 99-•37; J. Hines, TheRed Indians of thePlains: ThirtyYears' Missionary Experience in Saskatchewan(Toronto • 9 • 6), 78-8o, 88- 9 • ${protocol}://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/CHR-064-04-04 - Tuesday, June 25, 2019 11:21:10 AM University of Saskatchewan IP Address:128.233.10.173 CANADA'S SUBJUGATION OF THE PLAINS CREE 523

determinedto makeand succeeded in makingwas to receiveassistance in adaptingto an agriculturalway of life. So successfulwere they in negotiatingsuch assistancethat when the Mackenziegovernment receiveda copyof Treaty 6 in 1876 it acceptedthe treatyonly after expressinga protestconcerning the too-generousterms granted to the Cree. • 3 While willingto explorethe alternativeof agriculture,three Cree leadersin the 187ossought means to guaranteepreservation of the buffalo-huntingculture as long as possible.Piapot (leader of the Cree-Assiniboineof the region south of theQu'Appelle River), and Big Bearand Little Pine(leaders of twoof the largestCree bands from the SaskatchewanRiver district) led what has been called an armed migrationof the Cree into the CypressHills in the latter 186os.All threemen were notedwarriors, and Big Bear and Piapotwere noted religiousleaders, but their prowesswas not enoughto preventa Cree defeatat the Battle of the Belly River in 187o,•4 and as a resultthey exploredthe alternativeof dealingwith the governmentof Canada, but in a manner to extractguarantees for the preservationof Cree autonomy.They weredetermined to getthe governmentto promiseto limit the buffalohunt to the Indians- a goalthat Cree leaders had been advocatingsince the 185os.'5 When Big Bear met with Treaty CommissionerAlexander Morris at Fort Pitt in September1876, he extracteda promisefrom Morris that non-Indian hunting of the buffalowould be regulated.'6 Big Bear refusedto take treatyin 1876,despite receiving Morris's assurancesabout the regulationof the hunt. Little Pineand Piapotalso did not take treatywhen the treatycommissions first came to dealwith

•3 Morris,Treaties of Canada, 77-•23 and •68-239, discussesthe negotiationsof Treaties4 and 6 with the Creeand howhe wasforced to modifyhis offer. Also described is the Cree concern about their land. The reaction of the Mackenzie governmentis detailedin •,^c,Ro •o, vol.3636, file 6694-2and in particular, Ministerof the InteriorReport to PrivyCouncil, 3 • Jan. •877 andorder-in-council, •o Feb. •877. •4 Milloy,'The PlainsCree' 25o-62; AlexanderJohnson, The Battle at BellyRiver: Storiesof theLast Great Indian Battle (Lethbridge • 966) •5 Henry Youle Hind, vol. •, pp 334, 36ø-•, carriesreports of Mistickoosor Short Stick's comments on a cot•ncil of Cree leaders that resolved to limit white and Metishunting privileges. Viscount Milton and W.B. Cheadle, The Northwest Passage byLand, Being the Narrative of an Expedition from the Atlantic to the Pacific, 66, 67, contains comments on the Cree determination to limit non-Indian involvement in the hunt. •'^M,E. AdamsArchibald Papers, letter #2oo, Macdonaldto Archibald, 14 Feb. 1871;letter #•7 o, Englishhalfbreeds to Archibald,•oJan. •87•, all stress that Cree were takingaction to limit non-Indianinvolvement in the buffalo hunt. •6 Morris, Treatiesof Canada,24• ${protocol}://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/CHR-064-04-04 - Tuesday, June 25, 2019 11:21:10 AM University of Saskatchewan IP Address:128.233.10.173 524 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

the Cree. Oral tradition among the Cree maintainsthat all three leaderswished to see how faithful the governmentwould be in honouringthe treaties, •7 but equally important for all threeleaders was their belief that the treatieswere inadequateand that revisionswere necessary.Piapot thought Treaty 4 (theQu'Appelle Treaty) needed to be expandedto includeincreased farm equipmentand tools,and to stipulatethat the governmenthad to provide mills,blacksmith and carpentryshops and tools,and instructorsin farmingand the trades. Only after receivingassurances that Ottawa would considerthese requestsdid Piapottake treaty in •875.•s Big Bearand Little Pine objectedto Treaty 6 (Fort Pitt and Carlton) becauseCommissioner Morrishad made clear that in takingtreaty the Cree would be bound by Canadianlaw. To acceptthe treatieswould mean being subject to an externalauthority of whichthe Creeshad little knowledgeand upon whichthey had little influence. Neither Big Bearnor LittlePine would countenancesuch a lossof autonomy. BigBear had raised the matter of Creeautonomy at FortPitt in • 876 whenhe met CommissionerMorris. At that time Big Bearsaid: 'I will makea requestthat he [Morris] saveme from what I mostdread, that is therope about my neck... It wasnot givento usto havethe rope about our neck.'•9 Morris and mostsubsequent historians have interpreted BigBear's statements to bea specificreference to hanging,but such an interpretationignores the factthat Big Bear, like most Indian leaders, oftenused a metaphorto emphasizea point. In • 875, he hadmade the samepoint by using a differentmetaphor when he spoketo messengers informinghim that a treaty commissionwas to meetwith the Cree in •876. At that time Big Bear said: 'We want none of the Queen's presents:when we seta foxtrapwe scatterpieces of meatall around, butwhen the fox getsinto the trap we knockhim on the head;we want no bait ...,20A more accurateinterpretation of Big Bear'swords to Morrisin • 876is that he fearedbeing controlled or 'enslaved,'justas an animalis controlled when it hasa ropearound its neck. 2• In • 877,when •7 Interviewwith Walter Gordon, Director of the IndianRights and Treaties Pro- gram,Federation of SaskatchewanIndians, Mar. • 974.Poundmaker made a similar statementin an interviewquoted in 'IndianAffairs,' Saskatchewan Herald, • Aug. • 88o.The importanceof Big Bear,Piapot, and Little Pinecannot be underesti- mated,for of thoseCree chiefs who took treaty only Sweetgrass had the standing of thesemen, and Sweetgrass died within a fewmonths of takingtreaty. •8 Morris, Treatiesof Canada,85-7. More detailedinformation on the adhesionsof Piapotand Cheekuk is to be foundin •'•,c,l• •o, vol.36•5, file5489; w.J. Christie to Laird, 7 Oct. •875 •9 Morris,Treaties of Canada, •4 o for thequotation. See p 355 for theclauses in Treaty 6 respectingacceptance of Canadianlaws. •o Ibid., •74 • • Fraser,'Big Bear, Indian Patriot' 76-7 agreesthat Big Bear was not referring speci-

${protocol}://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/CHR-064-04-04 - Tuesday, June 25, 2019 11:21:10 AM University of Saskatchewan IP Address:128.233.10.173 ficallyto hangingbut to the effectthe treatywould have on the Cree. CANADA'S SUBJUGATION OF THE PLAINS CREE 525

meetingwith Lieutenant-GovernorDavid Laird, Little Pinealso stated that he would not take treaty becausehe sawthe treatiesas a meansby whichthe governmentcould 'enslave' his people.• The importanceof thesethree leaderscannot be underestimated, for theyhad with themin the CypressHills morethan fifty per centof the total Indian populationof the Treaty 4 and 6 areas.By concen- trating in such numbers in the last buffalo ranges in Canadian territory,the Creewere free from all externalinterference, whether by other Indian nationsor by the agentsof the Canadiangovernment - the North-WestMounted Police.•3 Recognizingthat thesemen were bargainingfrom a positionof strength,Laird recommendedin 1878 that the governmentact quicklyto establishreserves and honour the treaties.He wasaware that the CypressHills leadershad the supportof manyof the Cree in treaty, and that many of the Cree leaderswere complainingthat the governmentwas not providing the farming assistancepromised. As the numberof thesecomplaints increased, so did Cree supportfor Big Bear and Little Pine.24 The Cree were concernednot only about the lack of assistanceto farm, but when Canadianofficials were slowto take actionto regulate the buffalohunt, Big Bear, Piapot,and Little Pinemet with Blackfoot leadersand with SittingBull of the Teton Siouxin an attemptto reach agreementamong the Indian nationson the needto regulatebuffalo hunting.•5 Thesecouncils were alsothe forum whereIndian leaders discussedthe need to revisethe treaties.On learning aboutthe Indian council,the non-Indian populaceof the West grew anxious,fearing establishmentof an Indian confederacywhich would wage war if Indiandemands were rejected. •6 However, an Indian confederacy did not resultfrom thesemeetings, nor wasagreement reached on howthe

22 PAC,RG 10, vol. 3656, file 9093, Agent Dickiesonto Lt-Gov. Laird, •4 Sept. •877 •3 PAC,RG 2o, 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,RG 2o, vol. 367o, file •o,771, Laird to Ministerof the Interior, • Nov. •878. PAC,RG •o, vol. 367•, file • o,853,Dickieson to Meredith,• Apr. • 878;vol. 3656,file 9o9•, Inspector JamesWalker to Laird, 5 Sept. 2877. Departmentof 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•, Laird to 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- katchewanHerald, 5 May • 879. 'ContradictoryNews from the West,'Fort Benton Record,3 • Jan. • 879 ${protocol}://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/CHR-064-04-04 - Tuesday, June 25, 2019 11:21:10 AM University of Saskatchewan IP Address:128.233.10.173 526 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

buffalo were to be preserved,because the 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 bandssouth to the buffalo rangeson the Milk and Missouri rivers, most of the other Cree and Assiniboine bands also went with them. The Cree who remained in Canadafaced starvation while awaiting the survey of theirreserves and the farming equipmentthat had been promised.Realizing that many of the Cree were dying, the governmentdecided that thosewho had taken treaty should be given rations. As well, the government appointedEdgar Dewdneyto the newly-createdposition of Commis- sioner of Indian Affairs for the North-West Territory; a farming policy for the western reserveswas introduced;a surveyof Cree reserveswas begun; and twelve farming instructorswere appointed to teach the Indians of the North-West. 28 The new Indian Commissionerquickly soughtto use rationsas a means of getting control over the Cree. In the fall of x879 he announcedthat rationswere to be providedonly to Indianswho had takentreaty. To get the Cree into treaty more easilyand to reducethe influenceof recalcitrantleaders, Dewdney announced that he would adoptan old Hudson'sBay Company practice of recognizingany adult 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 would deserttheir old leadersto get rations.As a meansof demonstratingCanada's control over the Cree, Dewdney ordered that only the sick,aged, and orphansshould receive rations without providingsome service to one of the governmentagencies in the West. •9

•7 e^c, Rc •o, vol. 367•, file •o,853, M.G. Dickiesonto Vankoughnet,26July •878; Openingup theWest: Being the Official Reports to Parliament 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-Generalof 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 (hereafercited as cse, vol., year, report); Edward Ahenakew, Voices of the Plains Cree,Ruth Buck,ed. (Toronto •973), •6. Dewdneyin adoptingthis tactic simply copiedwhat the fur-tradingcompanies had done in the past.The Creetolerated suchpractices because they improved the opportunitiesto havebetter access to Europeangoods. See Arthur J. Ray and Donald Freeman,'Give Us Good Mea- sure':An EconomicAnalysis of Relations between the Indians and the Hudson's Bay Company before•763 (Toronto •978), passim.Ray, Indians in theFur Trade,passim, deals with the samepractice in the post-•763 period.Mandelbaum, The Plains Cree, •o5- •o discussesthe natureof Creepolitical organization and leadership that explainstheir acceptanceof suchpractices. ${protocol}://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/CHR-064-04-04 - Tuesday, June 25, 2019 11:21:10 AM University of Saskatchewan IP Address:128.233.10.173 CANADA'S SUBJUGATION OF THE PLAINS CREE 527

Dewdney's policies seemed to work, for when the Cree and Assiniboinewho had goneto hunt in Montanareturned starving, their resolveweakened. Little Pine'speople convinced their chief to take treatyin •879, but whenBig Bearrefused to do the same,almost half of hisfollowing joined LuckyMan or Thunderchildto form newbands in order to receive rations. so Taking treaty to avoid starvationdid not mean that the Cree had cometo acceptthe treatiesas written; rather theyaltered their tacticsin seekingrevisions. Believing that smallreserves were more susceptible to the controlof the Canadiangovernment and itsofficials, Big Bear, Piapot,and Little Pine soughtto effect a concentrationof the Cree peoplein an Indian territory similarto the reservationsystem in the United States.In sucha territory the Cree would be able to preserve their autonomy,or at leastlimit the abilityof othersto control them; 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 Mounted Policepost of Fort Walsh.Piapot requested a reservenext to Little Pine's,while ten other bands,including most of the Assiniboine nation, selectedreserve sitescontiguous to either Little Pine's or Piapot'sand to one another? If all thesereserve sites were granted, and if Big Bear were to take treatyand settlein the CypressHills, the result would be concentration of much of the Cree nation and the

3ø Morris, Treatiesof Canada,366-7 . DIAND,Treaty AnnuityPay Sheets for •879. More than •,ooo PlainsCree tooktreaty for the first time in • 879 under Little Pine, Thunderchild,and LuckyMan. Othersfrom Little Pine'sand Big Bear'sbands had alreadytaken treaty a year earlieras part of Thunder Companion'sband, while othersjoined Poundmaker,and the three Cree bandssettled in the PeaceHills. A portionof the Assiniboinealso took treaty under Mosquitoin • 878, whilemany of the northernSaulteaux who had followedYellow Sky took treaty in •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 thesematerials refer to eventsin the Battleford district,as will be demonstrated,the tacticsin • 883- 4 weresimilar, if not exactlythe sameas those used in the CypressHills between•879 and •88•,. That theywere not betterrecorded for the earlierperiod is due to the fact that the governmenthad fewer men workingwith the Indians,and did not have aseffective supervision in •879-8•, period as it did at Battleford. Also much of the policeand Indian Affairs materialrelating to thisregion in the •879-8•, period havebeen lost or destroyed. 3• •'Ac,RG •O, vol. 373o, file 36,•,79,entire file; vol. 3668,file •o,44o,Agent Allen to L. Vankoughnet,• • Nov. •878. cs•',vol. xvI (•883), Paperno. 5, P •97. Settlersand Rebels:Being the Reports to Parliament of theActivities of theRoyal North-West Mounted PoliceForce from z88:-z885 (Toronto •973), Report for •88•,, pp 4-6 (hereafter cited as Settlersand Rebels) ${protocol}://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/CHR-064-04-04 - Tuesday, June 25, 2019 11:21:10 AM University of Saskatchewan IP Address:128.233.10.173 528 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

creationof an Indian territory that wouldcomprise most of whatis now south-western Saskatchewan. Unaware of the intention of the Cree and Assiniboine leaders, Canadianofficials in the springof 188oagreed to the establishmentof a reservefor all the CanadianAssiniboine and reservesin the Cypress Hills for each of the Cree bands that wished them. In 188o, the Assiniboinereserve was surveyed,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 remainingAmerican buffalo ranges causedthem much trouble. The Crow, the Peigan,and other Indian nationswith reservationsin Montanawere upset by competitionfor the scarcefood resource,and thesepeople threatened to breakthe treaties theyhad madewith the Americangovernment and to wagewar on the Cree if the American authoritiesdid not protect the Indian hunting ranges.These threats were renewed when the Cree began to steal horses from the Crow and Peigan. To add to their difficulties, Americanranchers accused the Cree of killingrange cattle. American officials,not wishingtrouble with their Indiansand wishingto placate the ranchers,informed the Cree that they would have to return to Canada.Most Cree bands,aware that if theydid not leavevoluntarily the American governmentwould use troopsto force them to move north, returned to the CypressHills. 34 They returnedto find that Canadianofficials were now aware of the dangersto their authorityposed by a concentrationof the Cree.A riot at Fort Walshin 188o,which the policewere powerlessto preventor control,assaults on farming instructorswho refusedto providerations to starvingIndians, and rumoursthat the Creewere planning a 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,RG 10, vol. 373o, file 26,2•9, Reportof surveyorPatrick to Superintendent- General, •6 Dec. •88o; vol. 37•6, file 22,546, AssistantCommissioner E.T. Gait to Superintendent-General,27July 188o; vol. 3757, files 3•,393 and 31,333; •ol. 3757,file 20,034.PAC, MG 26A, 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 Record throughout the springand summerof •88o carried reportsof Cree and Assiniboinehorse-stealing raids, and reportsof whatthe Cree were doing in Montana. On 7 May •88o, the paper carriedan articleentiled 'StarvingIndians,' which was a strongdenunciation of Canada'sIndian policyand the effect it had on the Cree. 35 PAC,MG 26A, vol. 2 •O, Dewdneyto Macdonald,29 Oct. •88o; SaskatchewanHer- a/d, •4 Feb. 188• ${protocol}://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/CHR-064-04-04 - Tuesday, June 25, 2019 11:21:10 AM University of Saskatchewan IP Address:128.233.10.173 CANADA'S SUBJUGATION OF THE PLAINS CREE 529

rationsbe given them, regardlessof whether the supplicantwas in treaty.•6 There waslittle that the governmentcould do 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 bands Dewdney had createdwere going to the councilin American territory. What was alsodisconcerting to Cana- dian officialswere the reportsthat Big Bear and Little Pine, who had goneto Montanato preparefor the council,had reachedan accommo- dation with 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 Americanofficials to intervenemilitarily to force the Cree to return to Canada.With Montana stockmenacting as militia units,the American army preventedmost Cree and Assiniboinebands from entering the United States.As well, the American forcesseized horses, 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 Blackfoot and thereby destroyedthe accordthat Little Pine and Big Bear were attemptingto create.•9 The actions of the American military in •88• were extremely beneficialto Canada.Not only did the Americansprevent the holding of the Indian council,but by confiscatingthe gunsand horsesof the Cree, the Americanshad dispossessedthe Cree of the abilityto resist whatevermeasures the Canadianauthorities wished to take against them. The Canadian authorities also benefited from Governor- GeneralLorne's tour of the Westin • 88 •, for many of the Cree bands 36 PAC,MG 26A, vol. 2•O, Dewdneyto Macdonald,26 Oct. •88o and 23 Apr. •88o; SaskatchewanHerald, •4, 28 Feb. •88• 37 PAC,MG 26A, vol. 2•O, Dewdneyto MacPherson,4July •88•; vol. 247, Gaitto MacPherson,• 4 July • 88 •; 'Edmonton,'Saskatchewan Herald, • 2 Nov. • 88 • 38 Ibid., also•'AC, MG 26A, vol. 2•O,Dewdney to Macdonald,•9June •88•; vol. 247, Gaitto Vankoughnet,•6July 188•. PAc,Rc •o, vol. 3739,file 28,748-x,Dewdney to Macdonald,3 Apr. • 882; Fred White to Ministerof the Interior, 9 June • 882; Freylinghausento Sackville-West,9 June • 882. SaskatchewanHerald, • Aug. • 88•; 'StarvingIndians,' Benton Weeekly Record, •4 July x88•; 25 Aug., • Sept.,and •3 Oct. •88• 39 v^c, Rc •o. vol. 3739, file 28,478-•, C.G. Denny to Commissioner,24 Oct. •88•; vol.3768, file 33,642;vol. 36o3, file 2o,•4•, McIlreeto Dewdney,2• June •882. GlenbowInstitute, Calgary, Edgar Dewdney Papers, v, file 57, Irvine to Dewdney, 24June •882 (hereaftercited as Dewdney Papers, vol., file, letter). Saskatchewan Herald,24June •882; EdmontonBulletin, •7June •882 ${protocol}://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/CHR-064-04-04 - Tuesday, June 25, 2019 11:21:10 AM University of Saskatchewan IP Address:128.233.10.173 530 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

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. 4ø Thus, 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 Canadian officialsin late •88•. They saw how the Cree had forced officialsto placatethem and to ignore their ordersin •88o and •88•. This convincedboth Dewdneyand Ottawa that the Cree request for contiguousreserves in the CypressHills could not be granted.Dewdney recognized that to grantthe Creerequests would be to createan Indian territory, for most of the Cree who had reserves further north would cometo the CypressHills and requestreserves contiguousto thoseof the CypressHills Cree. This wouldresult in so large a concentrationof Cree that the only way Canadacould enforce its lawson them would be via a military campaign.To preventthis, Dewdneyrecommended a sizeableexpansion of the Mounted Police force and the closureof Fort Walsh and all governmentfacilities in the CypressHills. This actionwould removeall 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• Dewdneydecided to take thesesteps fully awarethat what he was doingwas a violationnot onlyof the promisesmade to the CypressHills Indiansin • 88oand • 88 •, but alsothat by refusing to grantreserves on the sitesthe Indianshad selected,he wasviolating the promisesmade to the Cree by the Treaty Commissionsin •874 and •876, and in the written treaties.Nevertheless, Dewdney believed that 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,Dewdney wanted to exploit the opportunitypresented to him by the hungercrisis and disarmamentof the Cree to 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,MG 26A, vol. 2•o, Dewdneyto Macdonald,•9June 1881;vol. 247, Gait to Vankoughnet,• 6 July 1881.Saskatchewan Herald, • Aug. • 88•. 'StarvingIndians,' BentonWeekly Record, •4July •881. Seealso Benton Weekly Record, 25 Aug., • Sept.,and • 3 Oct. • 881, 42 Morris, Treatiesof Canada,2o 5, 218,352-3 ${protocol}://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/CHR-064-04-04 - Tuesday, June 25, 2019 11:21:10 AM University of Saskatchewan IP Address:128.233.10.173 CANADA'S SUBJUGATION OF THE PLAINS CREE 531

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 issuingrations at Fort Walsh and the Indian Departmentfarm that had been locatednear Fort Walsh wasclosed. Facedwith the prospectof starvation,without weapons or transportto getto the Montanabuffalo ranges, and knowingthat if theywere to try to go souththe Mounted Policewould inform the Americanmilitary authorities,many Cree and all the Assiniboinedecided to go north.43 EvenBig Bear discovered that hispeople wanted him to taketreaty and move north. In •882, after taking treaty, he, along with Piapotand Little Pine,promised to leavethe CypressHills. 44 Only Piapotkept his promiseand even he 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 they couldlose their autonomy if the governmentcould deal with them as individual bands.45 On hearingthis report, the other Cree leadersrefused to leave the Fort Walsh region and insistedupon receiving the reserves promised them in •88o and •88•. North-West Mounted Police CommissionerIrvine feared a repetitionof the incidentsof • 88o if he refusedto feed the Cree and believedthat the hungry Cree would harassthe constructioncrews of the CanadianPacific Railway for food, which would lead to a confrontation between whites and Indians which thepolice would be unable to handleand which in turn mightlead to an Indian war. Therefore Irvine decided to feed the Cree. 4" Dewdneyand Ottawa were upsetby Irvine's actions.Ottawa gave specificinstructions to closeFort Walshin the springof •883. When Irvine closedthe fort, the Cree facedstarvation. As it wasquite evident that they could not go to the United States,and as they would not

43 PAC,RG 10, vol. 36o4, file 2589, entirefile. Seealso Settlers and Rebels, •882 Report. Seealso Dewdney Papers, 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- chewanHerald, 24 June • 882 44 DewdneyPapers, v, file 57, Irvine to Dewdney,24June x882and 25 Sept. •882. Settlersand Rebels, 1882 Report,pp. 4, 5. csP,xvI (•883), Paperno. 5, P 197. ac xo, vol. 36o4,file 2589. 'RepatriatedIndians,' Saskatchewan Herald, 5 Aug. •882. 45 Ibid.; DewdneyPapers, IV, file 45, White to Dewdney,12 Oct. 1882.Saskatchewan Herald,14 Oct. • 882. 'Big Bear and Others,'and the 'I.D.,' EdmontonBulletin, 21 Oct. 1882 46 DewdneyPapers, IV, file 45, White to Dewdney,•7 Oct. •882. }'Ac,M• 26A,vol. 289, Vankoughnetto Macdonald,2 Nov. •882 ${protocol}://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/CHR-064-04-04 - Tuesday, June 25, 2019 11:21:10 AM University of Saskatchewan IP Address:128.233.10.173 532 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

receivereserves in the CypressHills, the Cree moved north. Piapot movedto Indian Head and selecteda reservesite next to the huge reserveset aside for the Assiniboine.Little Pineand LuckyMan moved to Battleford and selected reserve sites next to Poundmaker's reserve. Big Bear went to Fort Pitt. The move to the north wasnot a signof the Cree acceptanceof the treatiesas written, nor of their acceptanceof the authority of the Canadiangovernment. Big 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 • period.Therefore, the move to the north wassimply a tacticalmove, for no soonerwere these chiefs in the north than theyonce again sought to effecta concentrationof their people. By movingto Indian Head, Piapothad effecteda concentrationof more than 2,oooIndians. This numberthreatened to growlarger if the councilhe plannedto hold with all the Treaty 4 bandsto discusstreaty revisionswere successful.Commissioner Dewdney, fearing the results of sucha meetingin •883, wasable to thwart Piapotby threatening to cut off rations to any Indians attendingPiapot's council and by threateningto arrest Piapot and deposeany chiefswho did meet with him. Although Dewdney,in •883, preventedPiapot holding a large councilby suchactions, Piapot was able to get the Treaty 4 chiefsto agreeto meetin the late springof • 884 for a thirstdance and council on Pasquah'sReserve, near Fort Qu'Appelle.47 While Piapotwas organizing an Indian councilin the Treaty 4 area, Big Bearand Little Pinewere doingthe samefor the Treaty 6 region. Little Pineand LuckyMan attemptedto effecta concentrationof more than 2,ooo Cree on contiguousreserves in the Battleforddistrict, by requestingreserves next to Poundmaker,whose reserve was next to three other Cree reserves,which in turn were only a short distance from three Assiniboinereserves. Another 5oo Cree would have been locatedin the Battlefordarea if Big Bear'srequest for a reservenext to Little Pine'ssite had been granted.Only with difficultywas Dewdney ableto getBig Bear to moveto FortPitt. 48 However, he was unable to preventBig Bear and Little Pine from sendingmessengers to the Cree

47 PAC,MG 26A, XI, DewdneytoJ.A. Macdonald,2 Sept. 1883.PAC, RG 10, vol. 3682, file 12,667,Dewdney to Superintendent-General,28 Apr. 1884 48 PaC,• lo, vol. 3668, file lo,644, Reedto Commissioner,23 Dec. 1883.Robert Jefferson,Fifty Yearson the Saskatchewan (Battleford 1929), lo 3 ${protocol}://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/CHR-064-04-04 - Tuesday, June 25, 2019 11:21:10 AM University of Saskatchewan IP Address:128.233.10.173 CANADA'S SUBJUGATION OF THE PLAINS CREE 533

leaders of the Edmonton, Carlton, and Duck Lake districts to enlist their supportfor the movementto concentratethe Cree.49 Dewdneywas convinced that the activitiesof Big Bear, Piapot,and Little Pinewere a preludeto a major projectthe Cree plannedfor the followingyear, x884. He wasalso aware that hisability to dealwith the impendingproblem was severely limited by decisionstaken in Ottawa. The Deputy Superintendent-Generalof Indian Affairs, Lawrence Vankoughnet,was concerned about the costof administeringDewdney's policies,and he ordered reductionsin the levelof assistanceprovided to the Cree and in the numberof employeesworking with the Cree.5ø In makingthese decisions, Ottawa effectively deprived Dewdney of his majorsources of intelligenceabout the Cree and their plans.It also deprivedDewdney of a majorinstrument in placatingthe Cree - the distributionof rationsto thosebands which co-operated. Vankoughnet'seconomy measures led to further alienationof the Cree. In some areas, notably in the Fort Pitt, Edmonton,and Crooked Lakes regions, farming instructorswere assaultedand governmentstorehouses broken into when Indians were denied rations.The incidenton the SakemayReserve in the CrookedLakes areawas quite serious,for whenthe policewere called upon to arrest thoseguilty of the assault,they were surrounded and threatenedwith death if they carried out their orders. Only after AssistantIndian CommissionerHayter Reed had agreedto restoreassistance to the Sakemayband to the 1883 level and had promisednot to imprison the accusedwere the policeallowed to leavewith their prisoners.5• The violence that followed the reductions in rations convinced Dewdneythat starvingthe Cree into submissionwas not 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, Reed to Commissioner,23 Dec. •883. Edmonton Bulletin,9 Feb. •884; SaskatchewanHerald, 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; Dewdney to Superintendent-General,27 Sept. 1883;Deputy Superintendent-General to Reed, 1oApr. 1884;vol. 212, Dewdneyto Macdonald,2 Jan. 1883 [sic!Given the contentsof the letter,it is obviousDewdney forgot that a newyear had begun the previousday], vol. 91, Dewdneyto Macdonald,24 July 1884,another letter but withouta date,which was probably written in the firstweek of 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 10,181.Burton Deane, Mounted Police Life in Canada:A Recordof Thirty-OneYears in Service,• 883- •9•4 (Toronto 1973), •4o-53 . Isabell Andrews,'Indian Protestagainst Starvation: The YellowCalf Incidentof 1884,' SaskatchewanHistory, xxv• (1975), 4-52. EdmontonBulletin, 7 Jan., 3 Feb., 7, 28 July, and 4 Aug. 1883 ${protocol}://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/CHR-064-04-04 - Tuesday, June 25, 2019 11:21:10 AM University of Saskatchewan IP Address:128.233.10.173 534 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

recommended that more men be recruited for the Mounted Police. In addition,Dewdney wanted to ensurethat jail sentenceswere given to arrestedIndians so that theywould cause no further problems.Having seenthe effectsof incarcerationon Indians, Dewdneywas convinced 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 Indiansunder control.Therefore, Dewdneywanted all Indian Departmentofficials in the Westto be appointedstipendiary magistratesin order that all Indian troublemakerscould be brought to 'justice'quickly. As Dewdneystated in hisletter to PrimeMinister John A. Macdonald:'The onlyeffective course with 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 his efforts to usethe Mounted Policeto break up the Indian councilsand to arrest Indian leadersonly led to confrontationsbetween the Cree and the police.In theseconfronta- tionsthe policewere shownto be ineffectualbecause they were placed in situationsin which, if the Cree had been desirousof initiating hostilities,large numbers of MountedPolice would have been massacred. The first incident which called the policy of compulsioninto questionwas the attempt to prevent Piapot from holding his thirst danceand councilin May 1884.Assistant Commissioner Hayter Reed, fearingthat the councilwould result in a concentrationof all theTreaty 4 bands,ordered PoliceCommissioner Irvine to preventPiapot from attendingthe council.Irvine wasto arrestthe chief at the first signof any violationof even the mostminor law. To be certainthat Piapot broke a law, Reed promised to have an individual from Pasquah's reserveobject to the councilbeing held on that reservein orderthat the accusationof trespasscould be usedto breakup the meeting,which all the bandsfrom Treaty 4 were attending.53 With a force of fifty-six men and a seven-poundergun, Irvine caught up with Piapot shortly before the chief reachedPasquah's reserve. Irvine and the police entered the Indian camp at 2 ^.M., hopingto arrestPiapot and removehim from the campbefore his band wasaware of what happened.However, when they enteredthe camp, the policefound themselvessurrounded by armedwarriors. Realizing

5• DewdneyPapers, v, file 58, Dewdneyto Superintendent-General,•9 Feb. • 884; PAC,MC •6A, vol. • • •, Dewdneyto Macdonald,6 Oct. •883; vol. •, Reed to Dewdney,15 Feb. 1884; Dewdneyto Macdonald,16 Feb. and 9 Apr. 1884 53 PAC,RC 10, vol. 368•, file 1•,667, Dewdneyto Superintendent-General,•8 Apr. 1884; vol. 3686, file 13,168, entire file; vol. 3745, file •9,5o6-4(•), Reed to Colonel Irvine, 18 May 1884 ${protocol}://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/CHR-064-04-04 - Tuesday, June 25, 2019 11:21:10 AM University of Saskatchewan IP Address:128.233.10.173 CANADA'S SUBJUGATION OF THE PLAINS CREE 535

that any attempt to arrest the chief would result in a battle, Irvine decidedto holdhis own council with Piapot and Reed. This impromptu council agreed that Piapot should receive a new reserve next to Pasquah,in return for which Piapot would return to Indian Head temporarily.•4 The agreementreached between Piapot and Irvine and Reedwas a victoryfor Piapot.By gettinga reserveat Qu'Appelleagain, Piapot had approximately2,ooo Cree concentrated on the Qu'AppelleRiver, and he was able to hold his counciland thirst dance,for after going to Indian Head, he immediatelyturned aroundand went to Pasquah's. Reed and Irvine were aware of Piapot'sruse, but did nothing to preventhis holding the council,for they were awarethat the Cree at Qu'Appelle were prepared to protect Piapot from what the Indians regarded as an attack on their leader. Realizingthe effect that an Indian war wouldhave on possiblesettlement, and that the policewere inadequatefor such a clash,the Canadian officialswished to avoid givingcause for violentreaction by the Cree.• Piapotacted as he did becausehe realized that if any blood were shed the Cree would experiencea fate similar to that of the Nez Perc6s,Blackfoot, and DakotaSioux in thosepeoples' conflicts with the United States. Dewdneyand the policewere to havea similarexperience when they attemptedto preventBig Bear from holdinga thirstdance and council at Poundmaker'sreserve in June • 884.Dewdney feared that Big Bear's council, to which the old chief had invited the Blackfoot and all the Indiansfrom Treaty 6, would resultin a larger concentrationof Cree than Little Pine had already effected at Battleford. Dewdneyalso believedthat he had to undo what Little Pine had accomplished,and refusedto grantLittle Pineand LuckyMan the reservesites they had requestednext to Poundmaker.Big Bear wasagain told that he would not be granteda reservein the Battleforddistrict. Dewdney believed that the Cree chiefswould ignore his order to selectreserve sites at some distance from Battleford, and that this could be used as a reason for arrestingthem. To legitimizesuch actions on 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 orderto avoid violence when he attempted to prevent

54 Ibid.,vol. 3745, file •,9,5o6-4(2),Reed to Irvine, 18May 1884;Irvine to Comptroller Fred White, •'7 May 1884;White to Vankoughnet,19 May 1884 55 Ibid., AgentMacdonald to Commissioner,•'9 May 1884;vol. 3655,file 9o•,6, Dewdneyto Superintendent-General,13 June 1884 56 •'ac,Rc lO, vol.3745, file •,9,5o6-4(•),Reed to Superintendent-General,19 Apr. 1884.Similar report in vol.3576, file 3o9B. •'ac, Mc •,6a,file 37, Dewdneyto Macdonald,3 May 1884.Dewdney's request and actionswere contrary to whatthe ${protocol}://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/CHR-064-04-04 - Tuesday, June 25, 2019 11:21:10 AM University of Saskatchewan IP Address:128.233.10.173 536 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

Big Bear'scouncil and ordered the arrestsof Lucky Man and Little Pine,Dewdney instructed the Indian agentsat Battlefordand Fort Pitt to purchaseall the horses,guns, and cartridgesthe Cree possessed.He increasedthe sizeof the policegarrison at Battlefordand ordered the policeto preventBig Bear from reachingBattleford? All Dewdney'sefforts had little effect, for Big Bear and his band eludedthe police,reached Battleford, and heldtheir thirst dance. The Cree refused to sell their arms, and even the effort to break up the gatheringby refusingto providerations had no resultother than to provokeanother assault on a farm instructoron • 7 June • 884. When the policesought to arrest the farm instructor'sassailant, they were intimidated into leaving without a prisoner. When a larger police detachmentwent to the reserveon • 8 June,the policewere still unable to make an arrestfor fear of provokingarmed hostilities. Only on 2o June, when the thirst dance had concluded,were the policeable to arrestthe accusedand only then by forciblyremoving him from the Cree camp. This wasdone with the greatestdifficulty for the police werejostled and provokedin an effort to get them to fire on the Cree. That no violenceoccurred, Superintendent Crozier, in chargeof the policedetachment, attributed to the disciplineof his men and to the actionsof Little Pine and Big Bear, who did all that was humanly possibleto discourageany attack on thepolice? The eventsat Battleford frightened all parties involved in the confrontation.Big Bear wasvery muchdisturbed by them, for he did not want war, ashe had made abundantlyclear to Dewdneyin March •884, and again to the Indian agent at Battleford,J.A. Rae, in June. However, he did want the treaties revised and establishment of an Indian territory.•9 Agent Rae wasthoroughly frightened and wanted

Creehad beentold about how reserve sites could be chosen,as were the govern- ment'sactions in denyingthe Cree reservesin the CypressHills and forcingthem to movenorth. SeeMorris, Treatiesof Canada,passim. •'Ac, Rc •o, vol. 3576, file 3o9B, Vankoughnetto Dewdney,•o May •884; Mc 26A,vol. lo4, Dewdneyto Superintendent-General,14June 1884.Campbell Innes, The Cree Rebellion of z884: SidelightsofIndian Conditions Subsequent to z876 (Battleford• 926), 'FinedayInter- view,' • 3- • 5. SaskatchewanHerald, • 9 Apr. and • 7 May • 884 57 •'ac, R• •o, vol. 3576, file 3o9B, Reed to Superintendent-General,•9 Apr. •884. Reedto Vankoughnet,•9 Apr. •884; Rayto Commissioner,93 Apr. •884; Reedto Superintendent-General,2o May 1884.Dewdney Papers, •, file 36, Dewdneyto Macdonald,• 2 June 1884 58 •'ac, • •o, vol. 3576, file 3o9s, Ray to Commissioner,•9, 2• June 1884;Crozier to Dewdney,22 June •884. Jefferson, •o8- 9. Innes, TheCree Rebellion of z884, •3-•7, 28 59 •'ac,ac lo, vol. 3576,file 3o9•, Rayto Commissioner,28 June •884; seealso Rae to Dewdney,9 June 1884. Innes, 'McKay Interview,'44. •'ac, a• •o, vol. 3576, file 3o9A, Dewdneyto Ray, 5 July • 884 ${protocol}://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/CHR-064-04-04 - Tuesday, June 25, 2019 11:21:10 AM University of Saskatchewan IP Address:128.233.10.173 CANADA'S SUBJUGATION OF THE PLAINS CREE 537

Dewdneyand Ottawa to adopt a more coercivepolicy designedto subjugatethe Cree. SuperintendentCrozier arguedfor a lesscoercive policy,for unlesssome accommodation were reachedwith the Cree, Crozierbelieved that out of desperationthey would resort to violence.6ø On hearingof the eventsof May and June 1884, Ottawadecided that Dewdney,who was now Lieutenant-Governor in additionto being Indian Commissioner,was to have complete control over Indian affairs in the North-West Territories. As well, the Prime Minister informed Dewdneythat more policewere beingrecruited for 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 permissionof the localIndian Departmentofficial. 6• Dewdneywas thus being given the instrumentsto make his policyof compulsioneffective. Dewdney did not, however, immediatelymake use of his new powers.He still intendedto preventconcentration of the Cree, and rejectedthe requestsBig Bear, Poundmaker,Lucky Man, and others madefor a reserveat BuffaloLake, and later rejectedBig Bear's,Little Pine's, and Lucky Man's renewed requestsfor reservesnext to Poundmaker's?However, rather than following a purelycoercive policy,Dewdney adopted a policyof rewardsand punishments.He providedmore rations,farming equipment,oxen, ammunition,and twine, and arrangedfor selectedCree chiefsto visit Winnipegand other large centres of Canadian settlement.If the Cree were not satisfiedwith hisnew approach,he woulduse force against them. To implementthis new policy,Dewdney increased the numberof Indian Departmentemployees working on the Creereserves, for he wantedto monitor closelythe behaviour of the Indians, and, if necessary,to arrest troublesome leaders.63 While Dewdneywas implementing his new policy,the Cree leaders continuedtheir effortsto concentratethe Creein an exclusivelyIndian territory. Little Pine went south to seek Blackfoot support for the

6o PAc,RG •o, vol. 3576,file 3o9B, Ray to Dewdney,23 June •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,27 July • 884 62 PaC,gg •o, vol. 3576, file 3o9B, Rayto Commissioner,3o June •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,29 July • 884 63 P•,C,gg •o, vol. 3745, file 29,5o6-4(2),Dewdney to Superintendent-General,7 Aug. •884; vol. 3576, file 3o9•, Ray to Dewdney,•9July •884. PaC,Mg 26•, vol. •o4, Dewdneyto Department,• 9 July • 884 ${protocol}://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/CHR-064-04-04 - Tuesday, June 25, 2019 11:21:10 AM University of Saskatchewan IP Address:128.233.10.173 538 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

movement.64Big Bear, Lucky Man, and Poundmaker went to 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 CarltonDistrict. Beardy, who actedas spokesman for the Carlton chiefs,had beenrelatively inactive in the Cree movementsin the 1881- 3 period. He, however,had been the most vehementcritic of the government'sfailure to deliver the farm materialspromised by the treaty commissioners.In the 1877-81 period, Beardywas a man of little influencein the Carlton area, but when Mistawasisand Ahtahkakoop,the principalCree chiefsof the CarltonDistrict came to sharehis views, Beardy's standing among the CarltonCree rose dramatically. 65 The Duck Lake Council, called by Cree leaders who Dewdney thoughtwere loyaland docile,and of whichthe Commissionerhad no foreknowledge,was a causeof muchconcern. Especially vexing was the detailedlist of violationsof the treaty for which the Cree demanded redress from the government. The Cree charged that the treaty commissionerslied to them when they saidthat the Cree wouldbe able to makea living from agriculturewith the equipmentprovided for in the treaties.However, rather than provideall the farming goods,what the governmentdid, accordingto the Cree, wasto withholdmany of the cattle and oxen; send inferior qualitywagons, farm tools,and equipment; and provide insufficientrations and clothes,and no medicinechest. The petition closedwith the statementexpressing the Cree sentiment that they had been deceived by 'sweet promises' designedto cheat them of their heritage, and that unless their grievanceswere remediedby the summerof 1885, they wouldtake whatevermeasures necessary, short of war,to get redress. 66 Dewdney originally assumed,as did somenewspapers across the West,that the Duck Lake Council waspart of a plot by Louis Riel to foment an Indian and Metis rebellion. Dewdney'sassumption was 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,3o June •884; file 3o9^, Rayto Commissioner,24, 29 July • 884. •'^c,Mc 26^,vol. 2• 2, Dewdneyto Macdonald,•4July •884; J.A. MacRaeto Commissioner,7 Aug. 1884;vol. 107,Ray to Commissioner,•'9 July •884 65 •'^c,M• 26^, vol. •o7, Ray to Commissioner,29 July and 2 Aug. 1884;J.A. MacRae to Commissioner,•'9 July •884 66 •'^c, R• •o, vol. 3697, file •5,423, J.A. MacRaeto Dewdney,25 Aug. •884 67 Ibid., Reedto Superintendent-General,23 Jan. •885; Reedto Dewdney,22, 25 Aug. • 884. •'^c,M• 26^, vol. • o7,J.A. MacRaeto Commissioner,29 July • 884;J.M. ${protocol}://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/CHR-064-04-04 - Tuesday, June 25, 2019 11:21:10 AM University of Saskatchewan IP Address:128.233.10.173 CANADA'S SUBJUGATION OF THE PLAINS CREE 539

investigation,however, made quite clear that Riel had little influence on the Cree.'To allaythe growingconcern about the possibilityof an Indian war, Dewdneyhad Hayter Reedissue a statementthat nothing untowardwas happening and that there wasless danger of an Indian war in • 884 than therehad beenin • 88 •. PrivatelyDewdney admitted to Ottawaand hissubordinates in the Westthat the situationwas very serious?After bothhe and Dewdneyhad met with Creeleaders throughoutthe Westand after carefully assessing the situation, Hayter Reedstated that the governmenthad nothingto fear from the Cree until the summerof • 885. What Reed and Dewdneyexpected at that timewas a unitedCree demand to renegotiatetreaties. 69 What Reed and Dewdney had learned on their tours of the Battleford,Edmonton, Carlton, and Qu'Appelledistricts in the fall of •884 wasthat Big Bear, Piapot,and Little Pinewere on the vergeof uniting the Cree to call for new treatiesin whichan Indian territory and greaterautonomy for the Creewould be 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 reservescheduled for the springof • 885.70If the Blackfootjoined the Cree,Ottawa's ability to governthe Indiansand control the West would be seriouslyjeopardized. At the moment that the Cree movementseemed on the verge of success,Big Bear was losing control of his band. As he told the assembledchiefs at Duck Lake in the summerof •884, hisyoung men were listeningto the warrior chief, Little Poplar,who wasadvocating killinggovernment officials and Indianagents as a meansof restoring Cree independence.Big Bear feared that if Little Poplar'scourse of actionwere adopted the Creewould fight an Indian war thatthey were 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.'Big Bear Rises to Speak,'Saskatchewan Herald,5 Aug. x889.Saskatchewan Herald, 95 July and 9 Aug. •884 68 Ibid., P^c,RG XO, vol. 3576, file 3o9^, Commissionerto Ray,7 Aug. •884. Rayto Commissioner,99 July x884;see also in v^c,Mg 96^,vol. •o7. DewdneyPapers, w, file69, Crozierto Comptroller,•wMv, 97July • 884.v^c, •g 96^,vol. 9 x 9, 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,' SaskatchewanHerald, 3 • Oct. x884 7 • DewdneyPapers, w, file 66, Reedto Dewdney,4 Sept.x884 ${protocol}://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/CHR-064-04-04 - Tuesday, June 25, 2019 11:21:10 AM University of Saskatchewan IP Address:128.233.10.173 540 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

Dewdney was aware of Little Poplar'sgrowing influenceon the young men of Big Bear's and the Battleford Assiniboinebands; however,he wishedto wait until after January 1885 beforetaking any 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, destroy the movementsthese chiefs led? In anticipa- tion of confrontationsin •885, Dewdneyordered that the gunsand ammunitionnormally allotted to the Cree sothey could hunt for food be withheld.In addition, Indian councilswere prohibited,including the one scheduledfor Duck Lake in the summerof • 885, to whichall the Cree in Treaty 6 had been invited.Arrangements were madeto placethe Mounted Policeat Battleford under Dewdney'scommand, and seriousconsideration was given to placingan artillery unit there also. 75 To get improvedintelligence, Dewdney hired more men to work as Indian agentswith the Cree. These men were given broad discre- tionary powersand were to keep the Commissionerinformed on Cree activities.As well, English-speakingmixed-bloods, many of whomhad workedfor the Hudson'sBay Companyand had the confidenceof the Cree, were hired as farm instructors. There would now be a farm instructoron each Cree reserve,with explicitinstructions to keep the Indian Agent informed of what washappening on his reserve.Staff who had personalityconflicts with any of the Cree leaderswere either transferredor fired. Only Thomas Quinn, Indian Agent at Fort Pitt and his farming instructor,John Delaney,were not removedbefore March • 885, althoughboth were slatedfor transfer.TM Dewdney found that his most important staffing move was the employmentof Peter Ballendine,a former Hudson'sBay Company trader muchtrusted by the principalCree leaders.Ballendine'sjob was to ingratiatehimself with Big Bear and report on thatchief's comings and goings.Ballendine won the confidenceof Big Bear and reported uponhow wrong Dewdney's earlier efforts to 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. 1884. PAC,MG 26^, 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),Reed to Dewdney,•4 Sept. 1884;vol. 37o4, file 17,799,entire file; vol. 3664, file 9834 and 9843; vol. 376•, file 3o,836,entire file; DewdneyPapers, iv, file 45, Reedto Dewdney,• 2 Sept. • 884; vol. IV, file 47, Crozierto Comptroller,

${protocol}://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/CHR-064-04-04 - Tuesday, June 25, 2019 11:21:10 AM University of Saskatchewan IP Address:128.233.10.173 NWMP,4 Nov. •884; v, file 57, Crozier to Dewdney,3oJan. 1885 CANADA'S SUBJUGATION OF THE PLAINS CREE 541

•884 wasleft with only the mostrecalcitrant opponents of the treaty. These individualswere only lukewarm in support of their chief's non-violentefforts to getthe treatyrevised. They favouredinstead the courseof action advocatedby Little Poplar. Ballendinebelieved that the governmentcould expect trouble from the Big Bear and Little Poplarbands. However, Ballendine emphasized that there waslittle dangerof a Cree-Metisalliance, for the Cree were refusingto meet with the Metis, and were rejecting all entreariesfrom the Metis suggestingthe two shouldmake commoncause. Instead the Cree, under the leadershipof Big Bear, Beardy, and Little Pine, were planningtheir owncouncil for the summerof 1885.75 Ballendinealso developed a new sourceof informationin Pound- maker,who wasalso acting as a policeinformer. It wasfrom Pound- maker that Dewdney and the police learned that Little Pine was attemptingto involvethe Blackfootin thesummer of 1884,and wanted to do soin January1885, but wasprevented from doingso because of temporaryblindness - a possiblesign of malnutritionfrom thehunger that mostCree experiencedin the extremelyharsh winter of 1884--5. Little Pine had soughtto get Poundmakerto encourageCrowfoot to join the Cree movementbut Poundmakerrefused to aid Little Pine, and when Little Pine recovered from his blindness, he went south to meet with Crowfoot. 76 While Little Pinemet with Crowfoot,Big Bearwas being challenged for the leadershipof hisband by hisson Imases, also called Curly, and by one of his headmen,Wandering Spirit. These two men were spokesmenfor the youngermen of Big Bear'sBand, and wantedto work with Little Poplar. In the winter of 1885, Little Poplar was journeyingconstantly between Pitt and Battlefordenlisting support for his plan of action. Although Ballendinecould not get precise informationon Little Poplar'splans, he did report thatby March 1885 Big Bear had assertedhimself and that the influenceof Imasesand WanderingSpirit had seemedto wane.TM

75 v^c,RG •O, vol. 3582, file 749,Ballendine to Reed,8 Nov.and 26 Dec.•884 76 P^c,RG •O, vol. 3582, file 949, P' Ballendineto Reed,2o Nov.,26 Dec.,2 Jan., •885;J.M. Rayto Commissioner,27 Dec.•884; Crozierto Commissioner,•4wMP, 14 Jan.•885; vol. 3576, file 3o9,•,Magnus Begg to Dewdney,2o Feb. 1885. v,•c, Mg26^, extract of Rayto Dewdney,24 Jan. 1885.Ray, Ballendine, and Crozier whenthey reported on LittlePine mentioned that their principal source of informationwas Poundmaker, although Ballendine did getsome of hisinformation directlyfrom Little Pinehimself. 77 v,•c,ag •o, vol.3582, file 949, Ballendine to Reed,•o Oct.and 26 Dec.•884, and 2 Jan.and •6 Mar. 1885;Ballendine to Dewdney,•9 Mar. 1885.v,•c, •g 26,%vol. •o7, extractof Rayto Dewdney,24 Jan. •885. v,•c,Manuscript Group 27IC4, EdgarDewdney Papers, II, FrancisDickens to OfficerCommanding, Battleford,

${protocol}://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/CHR-064-04-04 - Tuesday, June 25, 2019 11:21:10 AM University of Saskatchewan IP Address:128.233.10.173 27 Oct. •884 (hereaftercited as P,•c, •ag 27IC 4, vol.,letter) 542 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

On the basisof theseand similarreports, Dewdney and the police were convincedthat, althougha number of councilswere expectedin 2885, no violencewas to be anticipatedfrom the Cree. Nevertheless, Dewdneywished to preventthe Cree from holding their councils.His strategywas to make the Cree satisfiedwith the treaties.He therefore admitted in February 2885 that the government had violated the treatiesand ordered deliveryto the Cree of all goodsthe treatieshad stipulated.In addition,he ordereda dramaticincrease in their rations. If thisfailed to placatethem he plannedto arresttheir leaders,use the policeto keep the Cree on their reserves,and to deposeany chief who attemptedto attendan Indiancouncil. 7s Dewdneyhad the full supportof Ottawa for his policyof arresting Cree leaders.The only reservationsthe Prime Ministerexpressed were that Dewdneyhave sufficientforces to make the arrestsand that he provideenough evidenceto justify the chargesof incitementto an insurrection. Macdonald also volunteered to communicate with the stipendiarymagistrates to assuretheir co-operationin imposinglong prisonterms for anyCree leader convicted of incitement.79 Macdonald was willing to provide this assistancebecause Dewdney had earlier complainedthat he could not use preventive detention of Indian leadersbecause the magistrates'only look at the evidenceand the crime 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 inopportunetime. sø All thesepreparations were completewhen word reachedDewdney of the Metis clashwith the Mounted Police at Duck Lake in March •885. The Riel Rebellionof • 885 provided Dewdneywith a new instru- ment to make his coercivepolicy effective. The troopssent into the North-West to suppressthe Rebellioncould be used to destroythe Cree movementfor an Indian territory. The Cree themselveswould provide the excuseDewdney needed virtually to declarewar on the bandsand leaderswho had led the Cree movementfor treatyrevision. During March • 885, the Cree did engagein someacts of violencethat Dewdneychose to label actsof rebellion. Theseacts were 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,MG 26A, vol. • •7, Dewdneyto Macdonald,9 Feb. •885. PAC,RG 10, vol. 3676, file 3O9A,Dewdney to Vankoughnet, •2 Feb. •885 79 •'AC,RG 10, 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

${protocol}://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/CHR-064-04-04 - Tuesday, June 25, 2019 11:21:10 AM University of Saskatchewan IP Address:128.233.10.173 80 PAC,RG 10, vol. 3576, file 309A, Dewdneyto Vankoughnet, •2 Feb. •885 CANADA'S SUBJUGATION OF THE PLAINS CREE 543

autonomy.It isone of the ironicquirks of historythat the leadersof the Cree movementhad little or nothingto do with the eventswhich would destroythat movementto which they had devotedten yearsof their lives.Nevertheless, they would be held responsiblefor the actionsof their desperateand hungry people.To heightenthe irony, it wasthe Metis movement, from which the Cree had held aloof, which would giveDewdney the excuseto usemilitary force to subjugatethe Cree. The Duck Lake clashcoincided with 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 Sweetgrassof the clashat Duck Lake, they felt that circumstanceswould make Indian Agent Rae willing to grant them more rations. Thus the Cree, taking their women and children with them to demonstratetheir peacefulintent, setout for Battleford.Fear and panic prevailed at Battleford, for on learning of the Crees' approach,the town'scitizens assumed that the Cree had thrown in their lot with the Metis. The town wasevacuated; most townspeople tookrefuge in the MountedPolice post. 8• When the Cree arrived at Battleford they found the town aban- doned.They sentword to the policepost that they wishedto speakto the Indian Agent, who refusedto leavethe safetyof the post.The Cree women, seeing the abandoned stores and housesfilled with food, beganto help themselves.Then, fearing arrestby the police,the Cree left town. On the way backto their reserves,as well ason their way to town, the Cree assisteda number of Indian Departmentemployees and settlersto crossthe Battle River to get to the police post, thus demonstratingthe pacificnature of theirintentions? Ratherthan returning to their individualreserves, the Cree went to Poundmaker's, for as the leader in the Battleford district to whom the governmenthad shownmuch favour in the past,Poundmaker was seen as the man best able to explain to the governmentwhat had happenedat Battleford.A secondsignificant reason was the 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 bands left their reservesand went to Poundmaker's, who, given the fears the whites had concerninga Cree and Metis alliance, might possiblydefuse any crisis. Thus, in March x885, Poundmakerbecame the spokesmanof the BattlefordCree. 83 No soonerwere the Cree at Poundmaker'sthan theywere joined by

8• Jefferson,Fifty Yearson the Saskatchewan • 25 8•, Ibid., •,6-8. •'ac, MG•,6a, deposition, William Lightfoot toJ.A. MacKay,3• May • 885

${protocol}://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/CHR-064-04-04 - Tuesday, June 25, 2019 11:21:10 AM University of Saskatchewan IP Address:128.233.10.173 83 Jefferson,Fifty Yearson the Saskatchewan •'7, •3ø, •38 544 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

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 campwas imminent. The Assiniboineexplained that when word had reachedthem of the Duck Lake fight, a few of their young mensought revenge on farminginstructor James Payne, who was blamed for the deathof a girl.The girl'smale relatives killed Payne and murdered 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 that Poundmakerand the civilauthorities had to defer to them. It wasat this time that the Metis appealfor aid wasreceived. The Cree refusedto assistthe Metis,although they expected an attack on their camp. Watcheswere set on the roads,and protectionwas offered to the Metis at Bresaylorfor the settlersthere had earnedthe enmityof the BatocheMetis. As long as no militaryor policeforces cametowards the 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 military unit arrived in Battlefordwithout encounteringany Indians. Nevertheless,reports from the police and local officialsmaintained thatthe town was under siege. 85 While the BattlefordCree were preparing their defences,Big Bear's bandwas making trouble for itself.Big Bearwas absent from his camp when the membersof his band heard about the fight at Duck Lake. WanderingSpirit and Imasessought to usethe opportunitypresented by the Metis uprising to seek revengefor the insultsand abuses perpetratedagainst the Cree by Indian Agent ThomasQuinn and FarmingInstructor Delaney. Quinn had physicallyabused some of the Indian men, while Delaneyhad cuckoldedothers before he broughta whitebride to Frog Lake in late • 884. Big Bear'sheadmen demanded that the two officialsopen the storehouseto the Cree, and when they 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, FiftyYears on the Saskatchewan, •3o-8 85 DesmondMorton, TheLast War Drum (Toronto • 97e), 98- • oe.Jefferson, Fifty Years onthe Saskatchewan, • •5-4 o 86 PAC,RG •o, vol. 3755, file 3o,973, Reed to Commissioner,•8 June •88•; seealso materialcited in note 7e above.William B. Cameron,Blood Red the Sun (Edmonton•977), 33-6•, vividlydescribes the slaughterat Frog Lake. ${protocol}://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/CHR-064-04-04 - Tuesday, June 25, 2019 11:21:10 AM University of Saskatchewan IP Address:128.233.10.173 CANADA'S SUBJUGATION OF THE PLAINS CREE 545

Althoughunable to preventa minor skirmishbetween his young men and a smallpolice patrol, he convincedhis warriors to allowthe police detachmentat Fort Pitt to withdraw from the post without being attackedand to guaranteesafety to the civilianresidents of the Frog Lakeand Fort Pitt regions.Big Bearthen led hispeople north, where he hopedthey would be out of harm'sway and not engagein further actsof violence.87 Beardyalso lost control of hisband. He 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 Farming InstructorPeter Thompkins,and threatenedthe Cree band withdestruction unless the Cree aided the Metis. Some of theyounger men of One Arrow'sband agreedto do so.• The Metismade the same threatagainst Beardy and 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 threatenedhostilities against the Metis, for the Metis had settledon One Arrow'sReserve and demandedthat the government turn over to them someof One Arrow'sReserve. Ottawa, fearing the Metis more than the Cree in •88o, acquiesced.Over the next four years,one task of the localIndian Agentand the policewas to reconcile the Cree with the Metisof the Batocheregion? The Cree actsof violencein March • 885 were the excuseDewdney neededto justify the useof troopsagainst them. He maintainedthat the Battleford,Fort Pitt, and Duck Lake Cree were part of the Riel Rebellion.Privately, Dewdney reported to Ottawa that he saw the eventsat Battlefordand Frog Lake asthe actsof a desperate,starving peopleand unrelatedto whatthe Metiswere doing. 9• In fact,Dewdney had soughtin late March to open negotiationswith the Battleford Cree, but Rae refusedto meet the Cree leaders.Subsequent efforts to

87 Cameron,passim 88 CharlesMulvaney, The History of theNorth-West Rebellion of •885 (Toronto 1885), 2•,-•6. Settlersand Rebels, 1882 Report,pp 22, 26- 7. PAC,RG 10, vol. 3584, file x•3o, p. •, SuperintendentHerchmer to Dewdney,5 Apr. •885 89 Ibid. 9ø PAC,RG •O, vol. 3697, file •5,446, entire file; vol. 3598, file •4• •, entirefile; vol. 7768, file 2•o9-2; vol. 3794, file 46,584 9 •VAC,Mg 27IC4, vol.7, letters,Dewdney to White,Mar.-Apr. •885. This correspondencereveals that in earlyApr. Dewdneybelieved that he hadto dealwith an Indian uprising.However, he did admit that thisimpression was based on scantyand often faulty or falseinformation. By mid-Apr., Dewdneymakes clear to White,the NWMPComptroller, that he did not believethat he wasdealing with either an Indian uprisingor a rebellion. ${protocol}://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/CHR-064-04-04 - Tuesday, June 25, 2019 11:21:10 AM University of Saskatchewan IP Address:128.233.10.173 546 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

open negotiationsended in failure becausethere wasno way to get a messageto Poundmaker,and after ColonelOtter's attack on the Cree campany thought of negotiationswas dropped? PubliclyDewdney proclaimed that the Cree were part of the Metis uprising.He issueda proclamationthat any Indian wholeft hisreserve wasto be regarded as a rebel?• As well, to intimidatePiapot and the Treaty 4 Cree, Dewdneystationed troops on their reserves.To prevent an allianceof Blackfootand Cree, Dewdney announcedthat he was stationingtroops at Swift Current and Medicine Hat. Dewdneytook thesesteps, as he confided to Macdonald,because he feared that the Cree might still attemptto take actionon their own cause,and he was concernedbecause in the previousyear the Cree had attemptedto enlist the Blackfoot in the movement to revise the treaties? 4 The military commanderin the North-West,General F.D. Middle- ton, was not as concernedabout the problemswith the Cree. He wantedto concentratehis attention on the Metis.Although he did send troopsunder Colonel William Otter to Swift Current, he refusedto order them to Battlefordto lift the allegedsiege until he receivedword of the Frog Lake massacre.Otter wasthen ordered to lift the 'siege'and protect Battleford from Indian attack, but he was not to take the offensive.At the sametime GeneralThomas Strange was ordered to bring Big Bear under control. Otter reached Battleford without seeingan Indian. He was upset that he and his troopswould not seeaction. He thereforeproposed that he attackthe Indian campat Poundmaker'sReserve. Middleton vetoed the plan,but Dewdneywelcomed it asa meansto bringthe Creeunder governmentcontrol. Taking the Lieutenant-Governor'sapproval to be paramount to Middleton's veto, Otter launched his attack. The engagement,known as the Battle of Cut Knife Hill, almostended in 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's troopsfrom total annihilation?5 The tale of the subsequentmilitary campaignsagainst the Cree by Strangeand Middleton and the voluntarysurrenders of Poundmaker and Big Bear is found in detail in Stanley'sBirth of WesternCanada and Desmond Morton's The Last War Drum. With Big Bear and Pound- maker in custody,Dewdney prepared to usethe courtsin the manner

92 PAC,MG 27•C4, vol. •, Dewdneyto Begg,3 May 1885;vol. 4, Dewdneyto Middleton,3 ø Mar. •885. RC;-10,vol. 3584, file xx3 o, Dewdneyto Ray,7 May x885. Jefferson, Fifty Yearson theSaskatchewan, • 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, TheLast WarDrum 96-• •o ${protocol}://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/CHR-064-04-04 - Tuesday, June 25, 2019 11:21:10 AM University of Saskatchewan IP Address:128.233.10.173 CANADA'S SUBJUGATION OF THE PLAINS CREE 547

he had planned before the Riel Rebellion. Both Cree leaderswere chargedwith treason-felony,despite Dewdney's knowledge that neither man had engagedin an act of rebellion.Eyewitnesses to the eventsat Fort Pitt, Frog Lake, and Battleford all made clear that neither chief wasinvolved in the murders and looting that had occurred.In fact, manyof thesepeople served as 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. '97 Ballendine's reports indicated that there were no plansfor violence,that the Cree were not involvedwith the Metis,and that they plannedno rebellion.Dewdney believed that the Cree had not 'even thought, intended or wishedthat the uprising wouldreach the proportion it has...Things just got out of control.'98 As Dewdneyrelated to the Prime Minister,had the peopleliving in the regionnot been new settlersfrom the East,and had they not fled in panic,much of the 'raiding'and lootingwould not haveoccurred. In regionswhere people had not abandonedtheir homesno raiding occurred.99 Therefore, the chargesagainst Big Bearand Poundmaker were designedto remove the leadershipof the Cree movementfor revisionof the treaties.They were chargedto elicit prisonsentences that wouldhave the effectof coercingthe Cree to acceptgovernment control. The trials were conducted to have the desired result, and both Big Bear and Poundmakerwere convictedand sentencedto three yearsin StoneyMountain Penitentiary. Xøø Neither man servedhis full 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 havingtroops stationed on his reserve.Dewdney had deprivedthe Creeof their principalleaders and of their autonomy.He 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,deposed Cree leaders,and

96 Cameron,Blood Red the Sun, x95-eo4. SandraEstlin Bingman, 'The Trials of Poundmakerand Big Bear,'Saskatchewan Hi•tory, xxwII (x975),8 x-95, givesan accountof the conductof the trialsand raisesquestions about their conduct, particularlythe trial of Big Bear.However, Bingman apparently was unaware of Dewdneyand Macdonald'sefforts to usethe courtsand whateverother means possibleto removeCree leaders. 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 ${protocol}://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/CHR-064-04-04 - Tuesday, June 25, 2019 11:21:10 AM University of Saskatchewan IP Address:128.233.10.173 548 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

forbadeany Indian to be off his reservewithout permissionfrom the Indian Agent.•ø• By x89o, through vigorousimplementation of the Indian Act, Dewdneyand his successor,Hayter Reed,had begunthe processof makingthe Cree an administeredpeople. The recordof the Canadiangovernment in dealingwith the Creeis thus not one of honourable fair-mindednessand justice as the traditionalinterpretation portrays. As Dewdneyadmitted in x885, the treaties'promises and provisionswere not beingfulfilled, and Dewdney himself had taken stepsto assureCanadian control over the Cree, which were themselvesviolations of the treaties. Thus, he had refused to grant the Cree the reservesites they selected;he had refusedto distributethe ammunition and twine the treatiesrequired. His plans for dealingwith the Cree leaderswere based on a politicaluse of the legaland judicial system,and ultimatelyhe madeuse of the military, the police,and the courtsin a politicalmanner to achievehis goals of subjugatingthe Cree.Only by ignoringthese facts can one continue to perpetuatethe myth of Canada'sjust and honourableIndian policy from x87o to x885.

•o• A very goodaccount of Dewdney'sactions to bring the Cree under government controlafter • 885 is to be found in Jean Lamour,'Edgar Dewdney and the Aftermathof the Rebellion,'Saskatchewan History, xxuI (• 97o), • o5- • 6. For a discussionof the useof the Indian Act asa meansof destroyingIndian culturalautonomy see John L. Tobias,'Protection, Civilization, Assimilation: An Outline Historyof Canada'sIndian Policy,'The Western Canadian Journal of Anthropology,vI (• 976). For a discussionof specificuse of thispolicy against the Cree,and howthe Cree reactedsee John L. Tobias,'Indian Reservesin Western Canada:Indian Homelandsor Devicesfor Assimilation,'in ApproachestoNative Historyin Canada:Papers of a Conferenceheld at theNational Museum of Man, October, •975, D.A. Muise, ed. (Ottawa •977), 89-xo3 ß ${protocol}://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/CHR-064-04-04 - Tuesday, June 25, 2019 11:21:10 AM University of Saskatchewan IP Address:128.233.10.173