Born: 1842
Died: 1886 Place of Birth: Battleford Region, Western Saskatchewan
Major Notes:
Little is known about Poundmaker's life as he grew from a youngster to an adult.
His parents died when he was young and Chief Crowfoot of the Blackfoot tribe, a few years later, adopted Poundmaker.
Poundmaker was not primarily a warrior or a hunter but developed skill in using his gifted speaking abilities.
The white people in the area were very much impressed by his wit and his passion in defending his beliefs.
Poundmaker disliked the idea of white men taking control of Indian lands and giving the Indians only small reservations to live on.
In 1876, Poundmaker became involved in negotiations with the Government of Canada in what was called "Treaty Six."
In his view, Canada was giving back, on a small scale, land that already was owned by the Indians.
Poundmaker sought a good treaty for the Indians and wanted food to be included in cases of famine since their buffalo had been killed off.
Under the terms of the treaty, the Indians would be encouraged to become farmers and grow crops.
By 1882 Poundmaker and another chief, Big Bear, agreed to a treaty with Canada.
Things turned bad as the dry land at the time did not lend itself to being successfully farmed.
The Indians faced starvation again and the whites in the area were disgruntled because the Government of Canada had
chosen to run the new railway over a route further south by a hundred miles.
The Metis, led by Louis Riel, were upset with Canada for not helping the settlers become farmers and for not
upholding land rights the Metis believed they had.
Riel declared a provisional government but the dispute resulted in death on both sides with several Mounties, Metis, and militiamen being killed.
Poundmaker organized a group of people including women and children to march to voice their concerns with the Indian agent in Battleford.
The agent, however, refused to meet with Poundmaker after hearing about the problems with Riel and believed Poundmaker had come to make war.
Later, a force of military men led by William Otter was instructed to punish those involved in uprisings.
It became apparent to Poundmaker that the Otter force would suffer heavy casualties and he persuaded the Indians not to continue the fight.
Poundmaker was later arrested for taking a role in the uprisings and sentenced to three year in prison.
Chief Poundmaker only served seven months in prison and died shortly after being released.
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