Mistahimaskwa (Big Bear)

Mistahimaskwa (Big Bear) was born near Jackfish Lake around 1825. Big Bear was a famed and well respected leader of a group of Plains Cree that camped near Fort Pitt and he rose to prominence over his attempts to get Cree grievances over the Treaties met.

In 1875, when the Rev. George McDougall came to inform the Cree that the federal government wanted to talk with them about Treaties, Big Bear refused the presents McDougall offered him stating that they would not accept the governments trap - Big Bear wanted face-to-face meetings with government representatives. When the Indian Commissioner Alexander Morris came to Fort Pitt to negotiate Treaty 6, Big Bear did not arrive until September 13; one day after the Treaty was negotiated. Big Bear wanted assurances from the government that they would enact legislation to protect the buffalo and that the Cree would not be susceptible to Canadian law. Big Bear was not satisfied with what Morris offered him and as a result he did not take Treaty in 1876. Big Bear continued to follow and hunt the buffalo, until it stopped migrating north to Canada in the winter of 1878-79.

The remainder of Big Bear's life was dedicated to unifying the Cree's voice and their reserves so that the government would have no choice but to alter the Treaties and give the First Nations better terms. Big Bear refused Treaty until 1882 and as a result, he lost many of his followers who went to camp with other chiefs, such as Little Pine and Thunderchild, who had taken Treaty when headmen of Big Bear's Band. Finally, with his people starving and the buffalo gone from the prairies, Big Bear adhered to Treaty 6 at Fort Walsh on December 8, 1882.

Big Bear was essential in the planning of a Cree and Blackfoot council that was to be held in 1885 at the Blackfoot Crossing. This meeting was planned by Big Bear, Little Pine and Crowfoot to address First Nations grievances to the Treaties and how they were being implemented. This meeting never came to fruition however, as the North-West Resistance of 1885 broke out before the meeting was to take place. During the 1885 Resistance, Wandering Spirit, Big Bear's war chief, led attacks on white settlers at Frog Lake and Fort Pitt. Even though Big Bear had spoken out against these attacks, he was still considered a rebel by the Canadian government and as a result he gave himself up to Canadian forces on July 2, 1885 at Fort Carlton.

Big Bear was convicted of treason and was sentenced to three years at Stoney Mountain Penitentiary. On March 4, 1887, Big Bear was released from prison and he moved to Poundmaker's reserve, where he died on January 17, 1888.

Sources - Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Volume XI, pp. 597-600.