LATE 1840s
Big Bear marries Sayos. Their daughter Nowakich and son Twin Wolverine are born.
1850–1870
The Horse Wars intensify into the Buffalo Wars between the Plains Cree–Saulteaux allies and the Blackfoot Confederacy.
1851
Big Bear’s son Imasees is born. In Canada, the Baldwin-LaFontaine “Great Ministry” achieves responsible government.
1856
John A. Macdonald becomes joint premier of the Province of Canada.
1864–65
Severe measles epidemics strike the Cree. Scarlet fever breaks out among Blackfoot.
1864
The Charlottetown Conference begins the process of Canadian Confederation.
1865
Big Bear’s father, Chief Black Powder, dies. Big Bear is chosen chief of his band.
1866
The Iron Stone, “Old Man Buffalo,” is stolen from a hilltop near the Battle River.
1867
On July 1, the Confederation of four provinces creates Canada. John A. Macdonald becomes the first prime minister.
1869
On November 19, Canada “buys” Rupert’s Land from the Hudson’s Bay Company for $1.5 million.
On December 8, Louis Riel declares a provisional government at Red River.
1869–70
Smallpox devastates the prairie People. Maskepetoon is killed by the Blackfoot.
1870
On May 12, Canada declares Manitoba a province. Canadian militia force Riel to flee to the United States.
In October, the last, and largest, battle between Plains Cree and Blackfoot is fought on the Oldman River.
1871
The Plains Cree chiefs, including Big Bear, write a letter to Canada from Fort Edmonton: “We heard our lands were sold and we did not like it.…”
1871–77
Canada concludes seven treaties with all Aboriginal Peoples from Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains.
1873
A confrontation takes place between Big Bear and Métis Gabriel Dumont over buffalo hunting.
1873
Macdonald resigns due to the Pacific Scandal. Alexander Mackenzie becomes prime minister.
1874
The North West Mounted Police march west from Red River and build Fort Macleod on the Oldman River.
1875
Reverend George McDougall carries treaty messages to the prairie Cree. He reports that Big Bear is “a most troublesome fellow.”
1875
The North West Mounted Police build Fort Calgary on the Bow River.
1876
The Cree and Lieutenant-Governor Morris sign Treaty Six at Fort Carlton and Fort Pitt; Big Bear, who was not invited, arrives late and refuses to sign without more consultation.
1877
No government official comes to discuss Treaty Six with Big Bear. The Blackfoot Confederacy signs Treaty Seven at Blackfoot Crossing.
1878
Big Bear tells Lieutenant-Governor Laird that he will live by the hunt for four years while he observes how Canada treats treaty People living on reserves.
1878
Macdonald is re-elected. He will remain prime minister and head of Indian Affairs until his death in 1891.
1879
The last buffalo vanish from the Canadian prairie.
Macdonald names Edgar Dewdney Indian Commissioner of the North-West Territories.
1879–82
Big Bear’s band—grown to more than two thousand members—hunt the last buffalo in Montana. In Canada, treaty People try to learn farming, but scattered reserve life is a starvation disaster.
1881
Macdonald names Edgar Dewdney Lieutenant-Governor as well as Indian commissioner.
1882
Harassed by the U.S. Army, Big Bear’s huge band returns to Canada. On December 8, he signs his adhesion to Treaty Six at Fort Walsh.
1883
Big Bear’s reduced band is forced to live in the Fort Pitt-Frog Lake area.
1884
In June, Big Bear gives a Thirst Dance. A face-off with the police almost explodes into killing.
In July, Gabriel Dumont brings Louis Riel back from Montana to Batoche.
In August, Big Bear convinces the Cree chiefs to speak “with one voice” to the government.
1884–85
While wintering at Frog Lake, Big Bear plans negotiations with the government for one huge reserve for all the Plains People.
1885
On March 19, Riel declares the Métis Provisional Government of the Saskatchewan at Batoche.
On March 29, the Battle of Duck Lake takes place between Métis and the North West Mounted Police.
On April 2, warriors from Big Bear’s band kill nine White men at Frog Lake.
On April 15, the Frog Lake Cree capture and sack Fort Pitt.
On May 12, Canadian militia overrun Batoche and capture Riel; Dumont escapes.
On May 28, the Cree battle Canadian militia until both retreat at Frenchman Butte.
On June 3, Militia scatter the Cree into flight at Loon Lake Crossing.
On July 2, Big Bear surrenders to police near Carlton.
On July 20, Riel’s trial for treason begins at Regina; on August 1, he is sentenced to hang.
On September 11, Big Bear goes on trial for treason-felony. He is found guilty.
On September 25, Big Bear is sentenced to three years in Stony Mountain Penitentiary.
On November 16, Louis Riel is hanged at Regina.
On November 27, eight Aboriginal men, six from Big Bear’s band, are hanged at Battleford.
1887
In January, Big Bear is gravely ill; he is discharged from Stony Mountain Penitentiary and reaches the Little Pine Reserve in March.
1888
On January 17, Big Bear dies on the Poundmaker Reserve.
1916
Imasees (Little Bear) and his band are finally granted a reservation, at Rocky Boy, near Havre, Montana.
SOURCES
Cameron, William. The War Trail of Big Bear (Toronto: Ryerson, 1926).
Campbell, Maria. “She Who Knows the Truth of Big Bear,” Maclean’s, September 1975.
Canada. Sessional Papers (No. 52), 1886, 49 Victoria, “Queen vs. Big Bear,” pp. 172–233.
Christensen, Deanna. Ahtahkakoop (Shell Lake, SK: Ahtahkakoop Publishing, 2000).
Dempsey, Hugh. Big Bear: The End of Freedom (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1984).
Fine Day. My Cree People (Invermere, BC: Good Medicine Books, 1973).
Fraser, William. Big Bear, Indian Patriot (Calgary: Historical Society of Alberta, 1966).
Light, Douglas. Footprints in the Dust (North Battleford, SK: Turner-Warwick Publications, 1987).
Little Bear, Isabelle. “My Own Story.” Bonnyville Tribune (AB), April–May 1958.
Mandelbaum, David. The Plains Cree (New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1940).
McLean, William. Reminiscences of the Tragic Events at Frog Lake and in Fort Pitt District with Some of the Experiences of the Writer and His Family during the North-West Rebellion of 1885. Copy received from Duncan McLean, Winnipeg, 1971.
McLeod, Neal. “Rethinking Treaty Six in the Spirit of Mistahi Maskwa (Big Bear),” The Canadian Journal of Native Studies, XIX, 1 (1999): 68–89.
Morris, Alexander. The Treaties of Canada with the Indians of Manitoba and the North-West Territories (Belfords, Clarke & Co., 1880; reprint, Coles, 1971).
O-sak-do. Treaty No. 6 Centennial Commemoration Tabloid (Saddle Lake, AB: Saddle Lake Reserve, July 1976).
Saskatchewan Herald. Battleford, North-West Territories, 1878–1888.
Sluman, Norma, and Jean Goodwill. John Tootoosis (Ottawa: Golden Dog Press, 1982).
Stonechild, Blair, and Bill Waiser. Loyal till Death: Indians and the North-West Rebellion (Calgary: Fifth House, 1997).
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