Editing Poundmaker (section)

==Biography==
Poundmaker was born in [[Rupert's Land]], near present-day [[Battleford]]; the child of Sikakwayan (''sikâkwayân''), an [[Assiniboine people|Assiniboine]] medicine man, and a mixed-blood [[Cree]] woman, the sister of Chief [[Mistawasis]] (''mistawâsis'').<ref name="es-pdmkr">{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/poundmaker_c_1842-86.html |title=Poundmaker |first=Christian |last=Thompson |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan |publisher=[[University of Regina]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019004729/http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/poundmaker_c_1842-86.html |archive-date=19 October 2017 |access-date=2 July 2018 }}</ref> Following the death of his parents, Poundmaker, his brother (Yellow Mud Blanket, ''osâwasiskîwakohp''), and his younger sister, were all raised by their mother's Cree community, led by Chief Wuttunee (''wataniy''), later known as the [[Red Pheasant Band]]. In his adult life, Poundmaker gained prominence during the 1876 negotiations of [[Treaty 6]] and split off to form his own band. In 1881, the band settled on a reserve about 40&nbsp;km northwest of [[Fort Battleford]].<ref name="es-pdmkr"/> Poundmaker was not opposed to the idea of a treaty, but became critical of the Canadian government's failures to live up to its promises.<ref name="es-pdmkr"/>

In 1873, [[Crowfoot]], chief of the [[Blackfoot]] [[First Nations in Canada|First Nation]], had adopted Poundmaker thereby increasing the latter's influence. This move also cemented the ties between the Blackfoot and the Cree, which successfully stopped the struggling over the now very scarce buffalo.

===North-West Rebellion===
{{main|North-West Rebellion|Battle of Cut Knife}}
The shortage of bison left Poundmaker's people desperately famished, and in 1885, they travelled south to [[Battleford]]. Oral history accounts suggest Poundmaker went to the fort to speak with the Indian agent, Rae, and reaffirm his loyalty to the Queen after a murder at the nearby Mosquito Reserve; however, the people of Battleford and some of the settlers in the surrounding area, hearing reports of large numbers of Cree and Assiniboine leaving reserves and making their way to Battleford, feared for their safety. On the night of 30 March 1885, the townspeople began to abandon the town and seek shelter in the North-West Mounted Police [[Fort Battleford]]. When Poundmaker and his party reached the town, the Indian agent refused to come out of the fort to meet with them. He kept them waiting for two days. Telegrams sent by those barricaded in the fort indicated they believed it was an attack, but Peter Ballantyne exited the fort and, acting as a spy, checked Poundmaker's plans and found his intentions peaceful.<ref>Stonechild, ''Readings in Canadian History'', Volume 2, 66</ref>

[[Looting of Battleford|Looting of the abandoned buildings of the town]] took place, but the identity of the looters is disputed. Some reports claimed Poundmaker's people were responsible, but one observer alleged that most of the looting had already been done by whites.<ref>Robert Jefferson, Fifty Years on the Saskatchewan, 127</ref> White witness oral history suggests daily looting by Indians. Native tradition suggests the looting was done by [[Nakoda (people)|Nakoda people]], and that Poundmaker did his best to stop it.<ref>Stonechild, Blair. "An Indian View of the 1885 Uprising" in ''Sweet Promises: A Reader on Indian White Relations in Canada'', J. R. Miller (ed)</ref> Either way, Poundmaker's people left the next day, to establish an encampment at Cut Knife Hill.

On 2 May 1885, a military force of 332 Canadian troops, led by Lieutenant-Colonel [[William Dillon Otter]], crossed [[Cut Knife Creek]] and attacked Poundmaker's camp on Cut Knife Hill.<ref name="es-pdmkr"/> Lieutenant R.S. Cassels, attached to the command of the "C" School, a military division of the troops under Otter, stated the following:

{{quote|About 4 P.M. the column starts.  Our force is eight scouts; sixty Mounted Police under Captain Neale; "B" Battery, eighty men under Major Short; "C" School, forty-five men under Lieutenant Wadmore, No. 1 Company, Queen's Own Rifles, under Captain Brown, fifty-five men; Battleford Rifles, under Captain Nash, forty men; twenty men of the Guards under Lieutenant Gray and Queen’s Own Rifles Ambulance Corps; Surgeon Lesslie; Sergeant Fere and eight men; Colonel Otter in command; and Colonel Herchmer, Surgeon Strange, Captain Mutton and Lieutenant Sears on the Staff.  Hume Cronyn, E. C. Acheson, and Blakely of "K", McLennan and Prior of "T", Farin Wallace and Grierson of "H", Fraser and A. J. Boyd of "F" is attached to No. 1.<ref>Mcleod, R. C. (Ed.) (1983). ''Reminiscences of a Bungle by One of the Bunglers: And Two Other Northwest Rebellion Diaries''. Edmonton: The University of Alberta Press, 150.</ref>}}

After six hours of inconclusive skirmishing and suffering casualties, Otter ordered the withdrawal. As his force retreated, Poundmaker, who had not taken part in the fight, coaxed his band's fighters not to pursue the soldiers. Likely, his actions prevented the loss of many lives on both sides as the active pursuit of the fleeing force would have prolonged the conflict as serious countermeasures would have been put into use to cover the retreat, and the Cree would likely have killed many as the soldiers made their retreat.<ref>Light, Douglas W. ''Footprints in the Dust''. Turner-Warwick Publications, 1987.</ref>

A few weeks later, after [[Louis Riel]]'s defeat at [[Battle of Batoche|Batoche]], Poundmaker and his starving band went to Battleford to make peace with Major-General Middleton.

===Surrender, trial and death===
[[File:Poundmaker with woman.jpg|thumb|upright|Poundmaker and his wife]]
With the news of Riel's actions and defeat at Batoche, Poundmaker surrendered on May 26.

On the basis of a letter written by [[Louis Riel]] bearing his name, Poundmaker was convicted of [[treason]] in 1885 and sentenced to three years in [[Stony Mountain Penitentiary]]. He said to Riel, "You did not catch me, I gave myself up. I wanted peace."<ref>Stonechild, ''Readings in Canadian History'', Volume 2, 70</ref>

At his trial, he is reported to have said:
{{quote|Everything that is bad has been laid against me this summer, there is nothing of it true<ref>Canada, Sessional Papers, 1886, No. 52, 336</ref> ... Had I wanted war, I would not be here now. I should be on the prairie. You did not catch me. I gave myself up. You have got me because I wanted justice.<ref>{{cite web | author=Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online | title=Poundmaker| year=2000 | url=http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=5783| access-date=8 January 2007}}</ref>}}

Because of the power of his adopted father, [[Crowfoot]], Poundmaker's hair was not cut in prison, and he served only seven months. Nonetheless, his stay there devastated his health and led to his death (from a lung [[hemorrhage]]) in 1886, at the age of 44.<ref name="es-pdmkr"/>

He was buried at Blackfoot Crossing near [[Gleichen, Alberta]], but his remains were exhumed in 1967, and reburied on the Poundmaker Reserve, [[Saskatchewan]]. Pictures from the [[exhumation]] and reburial were donated to the Allen Sapp museum in [[North Battleford]].

===Exoneration===
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke to members of the Poundmaker Cree Nation and others gathered at Cut Knife Hill, on 23 May 2019 to exonerate Poundmaker and clear his memory.

In part he said: "The Government of Canada recognizes that Chief Poundmaker was not a criminal, but someone who worked tirelessly to ensure the survival of his people, and hold the Crown accountable to its obligations as laid out in Treaty 6. We recognize that the unjust conviction and imprisonment of Chief Poundmaker had, and continues to have, a profound impact on the Poundmaker Cree Nation."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://pm.gc.ca/en/news/speeches/2019/05/23/statement-exoneration-chief-poundmaker |type=speech transcript |agency=Prime Minister Justin Trudeau |title=Statement of Exoneration for Chief Poundmaker |date=23 May 2019 |access-date=4 April 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/chief-poundmaker-exoneration-1.5126471 |title=Chief Poundmaker, wrongly convicted of treason-felony in 1885, to be exonerated by Trudeau |date=7 May 2019 |publisher=CBC |access-date=8 May 2019 |quote=Trudeau's statement of exoneration is being co-developed with Poundmaker Cree Nation.}}</ref>