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The Poundmaker Cree Nation (Cree: ᐲᐦᑐᑲᐦᐊᓇᐱᐏᔨᐣ, pîhtikwahânapiwiyin[1]) is a Cree First Nations band government, whose reserve community is located near Cut Knife, Saskatchewan. It is a Treaty 6 nation, started by the famous Cree Chief Poundmaker, also known as Pitikwahanapiwiyin.
The Poundmaker Cree Nation, a First Nations reserve, is located northwest of North Battleford and Saskatoon near the community of Cut Knife. It is a Treaty 6 Nation, started by the famous Cree Chief Pitikwahanapiwiyin in 1876.
- Early Life
- Treaty 6
- Cree Gathering, 1884
- North-West Resistance
- Attack on Battleford Village
- Battle of Cut Knife
- Battle of Batoche
- Trial and Imprisonment
- Death
- Reclamation of Artifacts
Pitikwahanapiwiyin was born to a Métis woman and a Stoney shaman named Sikakwayan. His family lived among the Plains Cree peoples in what is now Saskatchewan, under the leadership of his uncle, Chief Mistawasis (Big Child). (See also Plains Indigenous Peoples in Canada.) Pitikwahanapiwiyin’s status in his community was heightened after a battle bet...
In August 1876, Pitikwahanapiwiyin was a Cree band leader or minor chief and was present at the negotiations of Treaty 6 in Fort Carlton. (See also Numbered Treaties.) Pitikwahanapiwiyin did not believe that the terms of the treaty were favourable to his people and therefore was opposed to signing the agreement. He questioned how the government, by...
Life on the reserve was difficult; rations of food and supplies promised by the government in the treaty were inconsistent or insufficient. This led to unrest among some of Pitikwahanapiwiyin’s people, particularly the young warriors. Seeking to come up with a plan of action, Pitikwahanapiwiyin and his fellow Cree leaders, such as Chief Mistahimask...
Discontent with settler-colonists was spreading across the Prairies, particularly among young First Nations and Métispeoples. By 1885, on the eve of the North-West Resistance, the population of Pitikwahanapiwiyin’s band had grown to accommodate some of these warriors. While Pitikwahanapiwiyin himself always advocated for peace, some members of his ...
After the Métis won the Battle of Duck Lake on 26 March 1885, most of the white settlers sought shelter in NWMP camps near Battleford. Pitikwahanapiwiyin travelled there to meet with the local Indian agent, seeking to collect rations he was owed. However, the agent refused to help him because he was afraid to leave the police-protected area. This a...
Lieutenant-Colonel William Dillon Otter’s force of 325 armed men arrived at Battleford to exact revenge on Pitikwahanapiwiyin’s band. The plan was to attack their camp near Cut Knife Hill. However, having received news of their arrival, Cree and Stoney warriors set out to defend their camp against Otter’s men. The battle lasted approximately seven ...
Though Pitikwahanapiwiyin was against it, his warriors planned to join Louis Riel’s Métis forces at Batoche. On route, they captured a wagon train carrying supplies for Colonel Otter’s forces. The warriors took the men from the supply train as prisoners. Not wanting bloodshed, Pitikwahanapiwiyin intervened to ensure that the prisoners were not harm...
Put on trial in Regina in July 1885, Pitikwahanapiwiyin protested his innocence, telling the court that he did “everything [he] could do… to stop bloodshed.” However, the court still found him guilty of treason and sentenced him to three years in prison. He served one year in Stony Mountain Penitentiary in Manitobabefore he was released.
Poor in health and broken in spirit, Pitikwahanapiwiyin went to visit his adopted father, Isapo-Muxika (Crowfoot), on the Siksika reserve after his release from prison. Shortly thereafter, Pitikwahanapiwiyin died of unknown causes. Some say that he died of a lung hemorrhage, possibly due to complications with tuberculosis, which he may have contrac...
Following the North-West Resistance in 1885, many of Pitikwahanapiwiyin’s possessions were housed in museums across Saskatchewan, as well as abroad, such as in London, England. In July 2017, the federal government loaned some of Pitikwahanapiwiyin's belongings, including a ceremonial war club, to the Poundmaker Cree Nation museum, located on the Po...
Poundmaker (c.1842 – 4 July 1886), also known as Pîhtokahanapiwiyin (Cree: ᐲᐦᑐᑲᐦᐊᓇᐱᐏᔨᐣ), 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.
Poundmaker (born c. 1842, near Battleford, North-Western Territory [now in Saskatchewan, Canada]—died July 4, 1886, near Gleichen, Alberta, North-West Territories, Canada) was a chief of the Cree people of the western plains of Canada who took part in the 1885 Riel Rebellion —an uprising of First Nations people and Métis (persons of mixed ...
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Jul 4, 2020 · He was buried at Blackfoot Crossing, where his remains were kept until 1967 when they were reburied at Poundmaker Reserve in Saskatchewan. On May 23, 2019, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau travelled to Poundmaker Cree Nation and officially exonerated Poundmaker and cleared his name.
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Poundmaker received his name because of his expertise in building and utilizing pounds for hunting buffalo. Shortly after signing Treaty 6 he became chief of 182 people, who settled on a reserve about forty miles west of Battleford.
