List of 150 Alberta Historical People
) Chief David Crowchild,Great Humanitarian, Tsuut'ina Fist Nation
Download 0.5 Mb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- 18) Chief Masketoon- The Cree Peacemaker
- 19) Chief Red Crow- Famous Chief from the Kainai First Nation
17) Chief David Crowchild,Great Humanitarian, Tsuut'ina Fist NationChief David Crowchild (1899 – 1982) is known for his work on reconciliation between First Nations and non-Natives. At the opening of Crowchild Trail in Calgary on Sept. 6, 1968, he said “I have never been a warrior, but all my life I have tried to stand up for what was right and just – not only for my own people, but for those just conditions and laws with affect us all.” Crowchild was born on the Tsuut’ina (Sarcee) Indian Reserve. He grew up in a difficult time, when the Tsuut’ina were affected by tuberculosis. By the time he was 25, the population of the Reserve had dropped from 400-450 to just 160 people. Like most children on the Reserve, he was sent to St. Barnabas Indian Residential School until he was 17. In 1923, Crowchild competed in his first Calgary Stampede and the rodeo became his life. He rode broncs and raced wild horses, but he was best known as a chuckwagon driver. He competed in the races for over 20 years. He had a tipi at the Indian Village, where he shared his culture with visitors. Crowchild was committed to helping his people. He was a founding member of the Indian Association of Alberta. In 1947, he became Chief of the Tsuut’ina, and he represented his people before a joint committee of the Senate and House of Commons when it was revising the Indian Act. It was the first time that the federal government had consulted with Indigenous people about the Act. He also convinced the provincial government to allow Treaty Indians access to Old Age Assistance benefits. At home, he started a successful farm for the Reserve, and encouraged youth in education, and sports such as baseball and hockey. A sculpture of a tipi in Calgary’s City Hall pays tribute to Crowchild’s values of honesty, purity, unselfishness and love. Each year, the Chief David Crowchild Award recognizes someone who has built bridges of understanding between Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultures. By Joan Lawrence
Chief Maskepetoon's band of Plains Cree travelled in a wide area that stretched from central Alberta to southern Saskatchewan and northern Manitoba. The Chief's remarkable ability to forgive was very well known: when the Chief met the Blackfoot man who had killed his father, he invited the man into his lodge, forgave him and presented him with a chief's costume. In the early 1840s, Chief Maskepetoon met Methodist Reverend Robert Rundle. The two men made plans to travel south together to promote peace among the First Nation tribes. Although the tour never took place, the idea of peace was planted for Chief Maskepetoon and he continued his relationship with the Methodist missionaries. In 1865, Reverend Thomas Woolsey baptized the Chief and his wife under the names Abraham and Sarah. Throughout the years, Chief Maskepetoon acted as a guide for the Hudson’s Bay Company. He even travelled on the HBC ship Beaver (1841) and claimed that his people would not believe that a large ship could move on the ocean under its own power. In 1869, when hostilities broke out between the Crees, the Blood, Blackfoot, and Peigan tribes, Chief Maskepetoon entered a Blackfoot camp alone and unarmed to negotiate peace. He was met and killed by a war chief, Big Swan. Though Chief Maskepetoon was thought of as a “martyr of peace” and an example of a man dying for his Christian faith by the Methodists, some Crees believe his actions were not those of a peacemaker, but of a warrior who demonstrated his bravery and scorn by entering an enemy camp unarmed. Few Aboriginal people enjoy as much recognition in the non-Aboriginal world as Chief Maskepetoon. In 1957 Maskepetoon Park, a wildlife sanctuary near Red Deer, Alberta, was dedicated to the memory of the Aboriginal peacemaker. Alberta author and historian Grant MacEwan even called him "the Ghandi of the Prairies". By Charlotte Jacobson 19) Chief Red Crow- Famous Chief from the Kainai First NationRed Crow, or Mekasto, was a Blood Indian who was born about 1830, the son of Black Bear, head chief of the tribe. In his youth Red Crow gained a great reputation as a warrior by participating, unscathed, in thirty-three raids in Alberta, Montana, Idaho, and Saskatchewan. His first raid occurred while he was still a teenager and was made against the Crees. Two summers late he had his first real victory. “I led a mounted party of seven to Cypress Hills,” he recalled. One day while on the north side of the hills, we turned loose our horses near a spring, and while a man on a butte kept watch, the rest of us took our meal below. While we were eating, our lookout called to us: ‘Here comes a ride quite close.’ We all galloped out, surrounded him and captured him. I took his gun and told him he could go unhurt. So he went at once. I guess he is still rustling grub somewhere.” In 1870 Red Crow succeeded his father as chief. Realizing that the buffalo were rapidly being exterminated, he co-operated with the North-West Mounted Police to bring peace to his warlike and nomadic tribe. He signed Treaty Seven in 1877 and in 1880 settled his people in southern Alberta on a reserve that is still the largest in Canada. He persuaded them to give up intertribal conflicts in favour of an agricultural life. Refusing to join the Crees on the outbreak of the North-West Rebellion of 1885, he offered his support to the Mounted Police and dissuaded Blackfoot chief Crowfoot from joining the rebels. He was rewarded with a trip to Ottawa for his loyalty. Red Crow built the first house on the reserve, planted the first crop, and bought in the first cattle. He also was the first to use oxen and have his log home properly furnished. Also, his wives Singing First and Spear Woman were the first Bloods to bake yeast bread. Red Crow died while crossing the St. Mary River on August 28, 1900. By Hugh Dempsey Download 0.5 Mb. Share with your friends:
|