"Talk to us as men," Poundmaker appealed to the white governors of his native country, "not as ignorant children." But his plea went unheeded, and the result was tragic for both victor and vanquished in the bloody struggle which followed.
Poundmaker, Chief of the Battleford area Crees, renowned among his people as an orator and peacemaker, seemed destined for greatness. Born in 1842 near Edmonton in the North West Territories, Poundmaker saw his mission in life: to establish peace among the Indian Tribes of the north-west and protect his Indian brothers from the white man, who was threatening their way of life and perhaps even their hopes for survival.
...Tension between the Indians and the government of Canada came to a head with the North West Rebellion of 1885. While he refused to join forces with the insurgent Louis Riel and his Metis followers, Poundmaker successfully resisted an attack by government troops at Cut Knife Hill in Saskatchewan. Although Poundmaker was considered a dangerous rebel and a traitor by government officials, his own people regarded him as the one man capable of winning freedom and justice for them from the white powers in Ottawa.
...The rebellion proved unsuccessful and Poundmaker was tried at Regina and sentenced to three years in Stony Mountain Penitentiary. He died, in his forty-fourth year, among the Blackfoot people at their reserve near Gleichen, Alberta.
Poundmaker`s story tells of a proud man who could not be content with second-class citizenship either for himself or for his people.