In May 2019, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau exonerated the chief and apologized to the Poundmaker Cree Nation.

[1] According to Cree tradition, or oral history, pîhtokahânapiwiyin, known to English speakers as Chief Poundmaker, gained his name for his special ability to attract buffalo into pounds.

[2] Poundmaker was born in Rupert's Land, near present-day Battleford; the child of Sikakwayan (sikâkwayân), an Assiniboine medicine man, and a mixed-blood Cree woman, the sister of Chief Mistawasis (mistawâsis).

[3] 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.

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.

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.

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

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.

[3] He was buried at Blackfoot Crossing near Gleichen, Alberta, but his remains were exhumed in 1967, and reburied on the Poundmaker Reserve, Saskatchewan.

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.

Poundmaker appears as the leader of the Cree in Sid Meier's Civilization VI, having bonuses related to trade and diplomacy.