believe Chief Crowfoot had no part in the North-West Rebellion, he did in fact participate to an extent due to his son's connection to the conflict.

[7] Crowfoot worked hard to build relations between the Blackfoot and the agents of different organizations that came into their lands, such as the Hudson’s Bay Company and the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP).

This effort by Crowfoot sometimes led him to come into conflict with other members of his nation, such as when he stopped a group of Blackfoot warriors from raiding a Hudson’s Bay caravan.

[8] Late in 1866 he prevented a number of Blackfoot warriors from looting a train of Hudson’s Bay Company carts and killing its Métis drivers.

When the Blackfoot arrived in Sioux territory, Sitting Bull invited Crowfoot to combine their strength and fight against both the United States and the NWMP.

Crowfoot refused this offer, understanding that his people and the Sioux together were not strong enough to stand for long against the strength of the United States military and the Canadian government.

Eventually, Crowfoot led the Blackfoot back into Canadian territory, leaving on bad terms with Sitting Bull.

When the Sioux came into Canada, fleeing pursuing American forces, Crowfoot made peace with Sitting Bull and his tribe.

At one point Crowfoot had a son that showed potential as a warrior and leader but he was killed in his early teenage years in a battle against the Cree.

During the raid, the Blackfoot captured a young Cree man, who bore a resemblance to Crowfoot's dead son.

These rebels hoped to gain the support of the powerful Blackfoot nation to defeat the settlers and the coming Canadian Militia.

He knew that the rebel fighters were fighting a losing battle, but on the other hand his adopted son Poundmaker was deeply involved in the conflict.

[citation needed] While the rebellion was ongoing, agents from both sides of the conflict sought to gain the support of the Blackfoot nation.

The refusal by Crowfoot to provide aid to the rebellion made the Canadian government regard him as a potentially useful ally for negotiating treaties with the Blackfoot and other First Nations.

The main purpose of the treaty from the perspective of the Canadian government was to gain control of the western prairie land and to prevent themselves from being antagonized.

[20] Crowfoot thus had a greater reputation as a diplomat than these chiefs and though he always made sure they were consulted in making decisions, he did not feel at all uncomfortable playing the role of supreme commander.

[21] Commissioner David Laird promised rations of flour, tea, sugar, tobacco and beef to be provided during negotiations, but Crowfoot, skeptical of their intentions, refused them until he had all the terms of the treaty.

[24] Before making his executive decision, Crowfoot wanted to talk with Red Crow, leader of the Kainai Nation, who was not yet at the negotiations.

They all expect me to speak now for them, and I trust the Great Spirit will put into their breasts to be a good people – into the minds of the men, women and children, and their future generations.

During the fall of 1881, government employees from I. G. Baker Company, who were in charge of supplying the Blackfoot with food, began reducing rations.

[29] On another occasion in January 1882, Crowfoot intervened to defend a secondary chief named Bull Elk, who was being wrongly arrested for stealing a steer head from I.G.

Crowfoot was also furious, and led these men to confront Superintendent Leif Newry Fitzroy Crozier, the commanding NWMP officer for this area.

He knew that vengeance would be only a temporary satisfaction that would soon turn to despair as the Canadians would return in greater numbers looking to spill blood, just as they done to the Métis under Louis Riel.

He oversaw the resignation of Norman Macleod, the agent in charge of the tribes of Treaty 7, and replaced him with Cecil Denny, an NWMP officer stationed at Fort Walsh.

He made certain that food supplies were adequate, prohibited the sale of animal parts and meat, and commissioned for farm tools and implements to be brought in and the ploughing of fields once spring came.

The failure of this program was a disaster for the native communities of the plains as it increased their decline as a population due to famine and disease.

In 2014 at the Blackfoot Historical Crossing Park, a project brought back several artifacts of Chief Crowfoot’s including a deerskin jacket, bow and arrow and pipe.

[33] The artifacts were in England at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter and were brought back to Calgary to complete the Crowfoot exhibit.

[35] The film explores the situation of aboriginal people in North America through the story of Crowfoot, featuring a montage of archival photographs, etchings, and newspaper clippings, set against a ballad by Dunn, a Mi'kmaq singer and songwriter.