Crowfoot

Siksika chief

  • Born: ca. 1830
  • Birthplace: Alberta
  • Died: April 25, 1890
  • Place of death: Blackfoot Crossing, Alberta

Contribution: Crowfoot was a chief of the Siksika Nation during the nineteenth century. He was known for having fought in many battles, but he also played an important role in brokering peace among aboriginal peoples and non-aboriginal Canadians.

Early Life

Isapo-Muxika, or Crowfoot, was born sometime in the 1830s near the Belly River in present-day Alberta. His parents, Istowun-eh’pata and Axkahp-say-pi, belonged to the Kainai tribe, part of the Niitsítapi, or Blackfoot Confederacy. After Crowfoot’s father was killed in an attack on the tribe, his mother remarried Akay-nehka-simi, a member of the Siksika Nation, also a part of the Niitsítapi. At the time, Crowfoot was known as Astohkomi, but when the Siksikas adopted him, they renamed him Kyi-i-staah. He was later renamed Istowun-eh’pata, after his father.

Rise to Chief

Between the ages of thirteen and twenty, Crowfoot took part in as many as nineteen battles and was injured six times. It was after one such battle, a raid on a Siksika camp, that he was ultimately given the name Isapo-Muxika (which translates to “Crow Indian’s Big Foot,” from which his nickname was derived). He is most remembered, however, as a negotiator and peacemaker. He became a minor chief of the tribe in 1865 and was made one of three head chiefs in 1870.

Crowfoot had a prominent role in negotiations among tribes, including making peace with the Crees and with non-aboriginal Canadians. He represented the Siksikas in the 1877 negotiations over Treaty Number 7, one of the Numbered Treaties, which outlined the terms of agreement over land concessions from the tribe to the Canadian government, and he convinced his fellow chiefs to support it. Crowfoot also rescued Father Albert Lacombe, a French Canadian missionary, from a Cree raid at Three Ponds in 1865 and established warm relations with fur traders, including Charles Hardisty from the Hudson’s Bay Company.

Crowfoot was instrumental in making peace with Sitting Bull and the Lakotas when they arrived in Canada following their confrontation with the US Army at the Battle of Little Big Horn. Despite considerable pressure from his tribe and family, Crowfoot did not join the North-West Rebellion of 1885, a brief, failed attempt by the Métis to break away from the Canadian government. Though he had worked with the government on several occasions, including an attempt with the North-West Mounted Police in 1874 to quash the whiskey trade, Crowfoot’s reluctance to participate stemmed from his belief that the revolt would not succeed.

Personal Life

It is not known precisely how many children Crowfoot had, but several died or were killed, and only three daughters and a son survived to adulthood. Crowfoot died from tuberculosis in April 1890, on the Siksika reserve at Blackfoot Crossing.

A celebrated short film about his life, The Ballad of Crowfoot, tells the story of aboriginal North Americans through Crowfoot’s biography. The ten-minute documentary was one of the first movies produced by the National Film Board of Canada’s Indian Film Crew. The film is often used to teach about aboriginal peoples, especially in Canadian schools.

Bibliography

The Ballad of Crowfoot. Dir. Willie Dunn. Prod. Barrie Howells. National Film Board, 1968. NFB. Web. 29 July 2013.

“Crowfoot.” Britannica Biographies (2012): n. pag. Canadian Reference Centre. Web. 29 July 2013.

Dempsey, Hugh A. “Crowfoot.” Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica-Dominion, 2012. Web. 29 July 2013.

Dempsey, Hugh A. Crowfoot, Chief of the Blackfeet. Norman: U of Oklahoma P, 1972. Print.

“An Uneasy Encounter.” Canada’s History 91.6 (2011): 14. Print.

Werner, Hans. “The Great March West.” Toronto Star 26 Dec. 2010: E15. Print.