Poundmaker

Poundmaker (c. 1842 – 4 July 1886), also known as pîhtokahânapiwiyin (Cree: ᐲᐦᑐᑲᐦᐋᓇᐱᐏᔨᐣ), was a Plains Cree chief known as a peacemaker and defender of his people, the Poundmaker Cree Nation. His name denotes his special craft at leading buffalo into buffalo pounds (enclosures) for harvest.

In 1885, during the North-West Rebellion, his band was attacked by Canadian troops and a battle ensued. After the rebellion was suppressed, he surrendered and was convicted of treason and imprisoned. He died of illness soon after his release. In May 2019, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau exonerated the chief and apologized to the Poundmaker Cree Nation.

According to Cree tradition, or oral history, pîhtokahânapiwiyin, known to English speakers as Chief Poundmaker, gained his name for his special ability to attract buffalo into pounds. A buffalo pound resembled a huge corral with walls covered by the leaves of thick bushes. Usually herds of buffalo were stampeded into this trap. But sometimes buffalo were drawn in by a person such as Poundmaker, who according to tradition was gifted by spirit helpers, singing and drumming a special song to entice a lead buffalo cow to lead her herd into the enclosure.

Poundmaker was born in Rupert's Land, near present-day Battleford; the child of Sikakwayan (sikâkwayân), an Assiniboine medicine man, and a mixed-blood Cree woman, the sister of Chief Mistawasis (mistawâsis). Following the death of his parents, Poundmaker, his brother (Yellow Mud Blanket, osâwasiskîwakohp), and his younger sister, were all raised by their mother's Cree community, led by Chief Wuttunee (wataniy), later known as the Red Pheasant Band. In his adult life, Poundmaker gained prominence during the 1876 negotiations of Treaty 6 and split off to form his own band. In 1881, the band settled on a reserve about 40 km northwest of Fort Battleford. Poundmaker was not opposed to the idea of a treaty, but became critical of the Canadian government's failures to live up to its promises.

In 1873, Crowfoot, chief of the Blackfoot First Nation, had adopted Poundmaker thereby increasing the latter's influence. This move also cemented the ties between the Blackfoot and the Cree, which successfully stopped the struggling over the now very scarce buffalo.

The shortage of bison left Poundmaker's people desperately famished, and in 1885, they travelled south to Battleford. Oral history accounts suggest Poundmaker went to the fort to speak with the Indian agent, Rae, and reaffirm his loyalty to the Queen after a murder at the nearby Mosquito Reserve; however, the people of Battleford and some of the settlers in the surrounding area, hearing reports of large numbers of Cree and Assiniboine leaving reserves and making their way to Battleford, feared for their safety. On the night of 30 March 1885, the townspeople began to abandon the town and seek shelter in the North-West Mounted Police Fort Battleford. When Poundmaker and his party reached the town, the Indian agent refused to come out of the fort to meet with them. He kept them waiting for two days. Telegrams sent by those barricaded in the fort indicated they believed it was an attack, but Peter Ballantyne exited the fort and, acting as a spy, checked Poundmaker's plans and found his intentions peaceful.

Looting of the abandoned buildings of the town took place, but the identity of the looters is disputed. Some reports claimed Poundmaker's people were responsible, but one observer alleged that most of the looting had already been done by whites. White witness oral history suggests daily looting by Indians. Native tradition suggests the looting was done by Nakoda people, and that Poundmaker did his best to stop it. Either way, Poundmaker's people left the next day, to establish an encampment at Cut Knife Hill.

On 2 May 1885, a military force of 332 Canadian troops, led by Lieutenant-Colonel William Dillon Otter, crossed Cut Knife Creek and attacked Poundmaker's camp on Cut Knife Hill. Lieutenant R.S. Cassels, attached to the command of the "C" School, a military division of the troops under Otter, stated the following: