FFWD Weekly
Copyright © 1997. All Rights Reserved.
Loyal till Death
Indian history gives insight into self-government
By Hamish MacAulayGood history must touch the present and the issues and concerns that face us today. Bill Waiser and Blair Stonechild's book on the Prairie Indians' involvement in the 1885 Riel Rebellion, Loyal till Death (Fifth House), resonates with the themes of modern Native issues. Indian leaders trying to control the frustrations of their people while working within the system to bring an intransigent Federal government back to the bargaining table to discuss how it will fulfill its promises. In 1885 though, Louis Riel's rebellion put an end to these efforts and gave the federal government a chance to implement policies designed to assimilate the doomed Prairie Indian society.
Waiser, a history professor at the University of Saskatchewan, and Blair Stonechild, a director at the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College, came to work on the book because they felt the story of Indian involvement in Riel's 1885 rebellion had never been told properly. Waiser states, "You look at the official record, which suggests the Indians were full and committed participants in the rebellion. A number of reserves are identified as disloyal after the troubles in '85, over 50 Indians are incarcerated for rebellion related crimes, and eight warriors are executed simultaneously in the largest mass hanging in Canada. The other side of the story, you have Indian leaders throughout the Spring of 1885 coming forward and pledging their allegiance to the Crown and stating that they will remain loyal no matter what happens. That is the contradiction that drew Blair and I to the story."
The book sets the stage for the rebellion with a superb and personal description of what the 1876 treaty process meant to the Prairie Indians. Due to cultural arrogance and complete misunderstanding of the difficulties facing all prairie farmers at the time, the federal government did not keep its commitment to help the Indians establish an agricultural society. However, key Indian leaders such as Poundmaker and Big Bear had developed a diplomatic plan to bring the government back to the bargaining table. The rebellion would destroy the Indian leaders' diplomatic efforts and give Indian Affairs an excuse to force the Plains Indians into submission by refusing agricultural or other forms of assistance in complete abrogation of the terms of the treaties.
"The common understanding of the Rebellion is that Indians were full and equal participants willing to aid Riel," Waiser contends. "Our book argues the contrary and argues that the Canadian government was deliberately out to punish the First Nations people despite the fact the majority stayed out of the Rebellion. MacDonald [the Hon. John A.] and senior Indian Affairs officials in the aftermath of the rebellion were determined to use the Rebellion to bring the Indian peoples under government submission so they could control them."
Using a superb array of oral history, government documents and previously unpublished photographs, the book creates an impression of the personalities and emotions that swept across the prairies in 1885. The picture of the Rebellion it paints is one of isolated and frightened settlers, a Metis leader with little Indian support waiting for divine intervention but willing to coerce Indians in to helping him, and confused and frightened Indians concerned about showing any signs of disloyalty to the Queen.
These themes come together in the remarkable story of the Battleford siege. Concerned about any misunderstanding, Indian leaders came forward to declare their loyalty to the Queen during the early days of the Rebellion. When Poundmaker - a chief later convicted of treason for this involvement in the Rebellion - and his people came to Battleford to do this, they found the town deserted and all the settlers barricaded in the nearby fort. The local Indian agent refused to speak with Poundmaker and the Indians returned to their reserve only to be attacked several weeks later by the over-zealous military commander sent to "rescue" the town. The great siege of Battleford existed only in the minds of its white residents.
While the book has a number of drawbacks (the authors are a little heavy-handed in repeating its premise and the final third does not have the same personality and pace as the rest), it is not dry, academic or inaccessible. Waiser says this style is intentional. "Blair and I in this particular book, and myself in past books, have tried to write a history that will appeal to the general reader; will interest, entertain and inform the general reader."
In fact, the depth of research means the book has an incredible sense of time and place. Looking at the motives and reasons for Indian actions, Waiser and Stonechild uncover a scared, confused Indian society driven to the point of desperation by the federal government's unwillingness to meet its obligations and help the Indians develop an agricultural society.
In doing so they touch the present and the issue of Native self-government, providing greater insight into this complex issue.
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