Big Bear (Mistahimaskwa)

Big Bear (Mistahimaskwa)
Name	Mistahimaskwa
Birth date	c. 1825
Birth place	near Saskatchewan River region
Death date	1888
Death place	Saskatoon, Northwest Territories
Nationality	Cree
Other names	Big Bear
Known for	Indigenous leadership, Treaty 6 negotiations, resistance during North-West Rebellion

Big Bear (Mistahimaskwa) was a prominent nineteenth‑century leader of the Cree peoples in the northern Plains, known for his principled resistance to colonial encroachment, his role in the negotiations of Treaty 6, and his cautious stance during the North-West Rebellion. He sought to protect traditional Plains lifeways amid the expansion of Hudson's Bay Company influence, the settlement policies of the Province of Canada, and the federal policies of the Dominion of Canada. His life intersected with many figures and events of the period, including interactions with Poundmaker (Pitikwahanapiwiyin), Louis Riel, and representatives of the Department of Indian Affairs.

Early life and background

Mistahimaskwa was born circa 1825 in the region of the Saskatchewan River and raised within Cree communities influenced by the fur trade networks of the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company. His youth overlapped with the aftermath of the Pemmican War, the consolidation after the Merger of the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company, and the movement of peoples across the Northern Plains. He witnessed increasing contact with traders from Fort Pitt, missionaries from Methodist and Catholic missions, and the spread of Smallpox epidemics that affected Indigenous demography alongside contemporary events such as the Red River Rebellion.

Rise to leadership

Mistahimaskwa rose to prominence as a speaker and headman among northern Cree bands, building influence through diplomacy, hunting leadership, and intertribal alliances with groups including the Assiniboine, Saulteaux, and Blackfoot. He engaged with traders from Fort Carlton and councils involving representatives of the Hudson's Bay Company and agents of the Crown. His authority was recognized in gatherings that also involved leaders such as Chief Poundmaker, Big River, and others who navigated relations with the Province of Manitoba and settlers arriving via the Canadian Pacific Railway route planning.

Treaty 6 and negotiations

In the 1870s Mistahimaskwa participated in negotiations that culminated in Treaty 6 between Indigenous signatories and the Canadian Crown represented by Department of Indian Affairs officials and commissioners. He articulated concerns about the impacts of settler agricultural colonization promoted by figures associated with the Department of Indian Affairs, the prospects of declining bison herds, and promises tied to annuities and reserve lands discussed alongside delegates from Ottawa and officials from the Territories (Northwest). He pressed for provisions addressing famine relief akin to later controversies over the medicine chest clause and compensation for losses linked to policies enacted under Prime Minister John A. Macdonald and successive ministers.

Role in the North-West Rebellion

During the events surrounding the North-West Rebellion of 1885 Mistahimaskwa maintained a cautious and resistant posture, refusing outright alliance with Louis Riel's Métis provisional movement while criticizing federal neglect and colonial expansion led by entities like the Canadian Pacific Railway. His band debated engagements with militia forces mobilized by Saskatchewan settlers, North-West Mounted Police, and militia units such as those commanded by Frederick Middleton. He engaged in local councils with leaders including Poundmaker (Pitikwahanapiwiyin) and others, and faced pressures as battles such as the Battle of Duck Lake and the Battle of Fish Creek shifted regional dynamics. While not a primary battlefield commander, his political stance influenced alignments during the crisis and shaped subsequent federal responses.

Exile, arrest, and imprisonment

Following the suppression of the North-West Rebellion, Mistahimaskwa was arrested amid the Canadian government’s punitive measures that included trials and imprisonments of Indigenous and Métis leaders prosecuted under orders from Ottawa and supervised by figures such as John A. Macdonald and officials of the Department of Justice. He, like other detained leaders such as Big Bear's contemporaries, endured detention at facilities used for political prisoners in the aftermath that also held figures from the Red River Rebellion era. Legal processes of the period involved debates in Parliament of Canada and among legal authorities confronting questions raised by the Canadian legal system about the treatment of Indigenous leaders.

Later life, legacy, and cultural significance

After release Mistahimaskwa returned to his people and continued advocacy for Cree rights in the face of settler expansion, railway construction by the Canadian Pacific Railway, and policies from Ottawa that included reserve enforcement and the residential school system later administered by institutions like residential schools and churches such as Catholic and Methodist missions. His legacy endures in historical studies, commemorations by communities in Saskatchewan, and scholarship across disciplines represented in archives in Library and Archives Canada and provincial museums like the Royal Saskatchewan Museum. Contemporary recognition appears in interpretive centers near sites such as Fort Carlton and in dialogues about Indigenous rights in Canada, Treaty rights, and reconciliation pursued by entities including the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. His life continues to inform discussions involving leaders like Poundmaker (Pitikwahanapiwiyin), scholars of Indigenous studies, and activists engaging with the history of the Northwest Territories and the modern provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Category:Cree people Category:Indigenous leaders in Canada Category:19th-century Canadian people