Ka-Kiwistahaw

Kakiwistahaw was a Cree chief who was born around 1810. A leader of the Rabbitskin peoples, Kakiwistahaw signed Treaty Four in 1874. He took a took a reserve on the south side of the Qu'Appelle valley and his people focused on agriculture. In 1885 they upheld their Treaty promises and did not partake in the Riel Rebellion.

In 1886 the residents of Broadview, Saskatchewan, attempted to obtain a portion of the Kakiwistahaw reserve land that bordered the railway. The chief was against the surrender, and when David Laird attempted to secure the surrender in 1902 Kakiwistahaw said, "When we made Treaty at Qu'Appelle you told me to choose out land for myself and now you come to speak to me here. We were told to take this land and we are going to keep it. Did I not tell you a long time ago that you would come some time. No."

Laird did not obtain the surrender, but in 1906, only one year after Kakiwistahaw's death, 33, 271 acres of reserve land (70% of the reserve) was secured.

Sources: Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Volume XIII, pp. 536.