Pitikwahanapiwiyin

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Pitikwahanapiwiyin (c. 1842 – 4 July 1886), commonly known as Poundmaker, was a Plains Cree chief known as a peacemaker and defender of his people. He got his name because he had a special ability to attract buffalo into pounds. A pound resembled a huge corral. Sometimes a herd of buffalo were stampeded into this trap. On other occasions, the buffalo were drawn in quietly by a person like Poundmaker. He would dress in a buffalo robe and use a bell to capture the herd's curiosity. One time, it is said that Poundmaker lured 500 buffalo into his pound.

In 1873, Crowfoot, chief of the Blackfoot First Nation, adopted Poundmaker thereby increasing the latter’s influence. In 1876 Poundmaker accepted Treaty 6 after opposing it for a time. Two years after this he was recognized as a chief.

During the North-West Rebellion, Poundmaker's followers are alleged to have laid siege to Fort Battleford. Although telegrams sent by those barricaded in the fort indicated they believed it was an attack, Poundmaker went to the fort to reaffirm his loyalty to the Queen after a murder at the nearby Mosquito Reserve. A European spy named Peter Ballantyne checked Poundmaker's plans and found his intentions peaceful^[1]. Most of the looting alleged to Poundmaker's tribe was done by whites, according to an observer at the time^[2]. A military force led by Colonel William Dillon Otter attacked Poundmaker's camp near Cut Knife Hill, but was forced to retreat. Poundmaker, who had not taken part in the fight, prevented the warriors from pursuing the soldiers.

On the basis of a letter written by Louis Riel bearing his name, Poundmaker was convicted of treason in 1885 and sentenced to 3 years in Stony Mountain Penitentiary^[3]. At his trial, he is reported to have said:

Everything that is bad has been laid against me this summer, there is nothing of it true.^[4]

He was released after serving a year, weak in spirit and in poor health. He died of a lung hemorrhage at Blackfoot Crossing, Alberta on July 4, 1886, four months after his release.

References:

1. ^ Stonechild, Readings in Canadian History, Volume 2, 66
2. ^ Robert Jefferson, Fifty Years on the Saskatchewan, 127
3. ^ Stonechild, Readings in Canadian History, Volume 2, 70
4. ^ Canada, Sessional Papers, 1886, No. 52, 336

[edit] External links

• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online