Ahtakahkoop (Star Blanket)

Ahtahkahkoop (Star Blanket) was born around 1815-16 and was an influential Cree chief in the Fort Carlton area. In his early days, Ahtahkahkoop provided buffalo meat to the Hudson Bay Company traders at Fort Carlton and he also worked on York boats, taking supplies and furs to York Factory.

Ahtahkahkoop and his people settled at Sandy Lake, where they began to farm in 1875. In the summer of 1875, Ahtahkahkoop and Mistawasis sent a group of telegraphers back east stating that they needed permission to be on Cree land. As a result of this incident, the government decided to negotiate with the Cree of modern day Saskatchewan.

When the Treaty 6 negotiations took place at Fort Carlton, Ahtahkahkoop was one of the strongest proponents of the Treaty, as long as the Treaty provided assurances that the Cree would be able to make a living. Ahtahkahkoop believed that the Treaties would provide his children with the necessary tools by which to make the transition from buffalo hunting to a sedentary, farming life. Ahtahkahkoop agreed to Treaty 6 on August 23, 1876. Even though Ahtahkahkoop believed in the Treaties, he still participated in a Cree council that was held at Duck Lake in 1884 to draw up a petition of Cree grievances in relation to the Treaty.

In 1886, Ahtahkahkoop, along with Mistawasis, was invited to Ottawa in order to meet Prime Minister John A. Macdonald, as well as to participate in the unveiling of a monument that honored the great Mohawk chief Joseph Brant. Ahtahkahkoop died on December 4, 1896.

Sources - Deanna Christensen. Ahtahkahkoop: The Epic Account of a Plains Cree Head Chief, His People and Their Struggle for Survival, 1816-1896. Shell Lake: Ahtahkahkoop Publishing, 2000.