Mistawasis
Due to the dwindling buffalo population caused by excessive hunting, he was forced to look for new strategies to ensure the survival of his people and their culture.
[4] The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) would utilize his prowess as a provider, commonly trading for buffalo meat in exchange for other goods.
[7] This number would dwindle severely to less than 100 in the American Great Plains states by the 1880s, with between 10-15 million dying over a ten-year period.
[7] In Canada the buffalo were most commonly hunted for the purpose of acquiring their skins or for preserving the animals meat for later ingestion in the form of pemmican.
The Cree would continue to use the war as a means to venture west, in search of the buffaloes which no longer existed in their homelands.
[9] The war had caused extensive loss of life for the Cree and failed to result in the expansion of their territory to the buffalo rich areas of the west.
It was from this perspective that Mistawasis and other leaders of the Cree communities began to believe that negotiation with the Canadian Crown Authorities would be their best course of action.
[10] He perceived a European education as important to the future survival of his people and attempted to gain access to this through the Canadian government.
[10] It was due to this belief that his peoples' way of life was disappearing along with his hope of an improved future that caused him to attend the negotiations at Fort Carlton in late August 1876.
[11] Mistawasis argued for the treaty as a necessity for acquiring food by claiming that "Our way of living is gone, there are no more buffalo, we have to find a new way to feed our people.
[2] Ahtahkakoop was also quite interested in obtaining an education for his people, as well as help in gaining a better understanding of agriculture to fill the void in food left by the disappearance of the buffalo.
[5] Mistawasis countered the argument of the chiefs who shared Poundmaker's outlook by challenging them to provide a better solution that what the Canadians were offering.
[12] This meant that the Cree were entitled to: monetary compensation/assistance from the federal government, the establishment of reserve lands which were off limits to outsiders, they would be fully provided with farm equipment, and finally that their Chiefs would receive uniforms and medals befitting their positions.
[12] In response to the dwindling buffalo populations, the Cree were promised protection if they were to suffer from famine during their conversion to agriculture, in other words the Canadian Government agreed to send food relief in times of need.
[2] The other major provision added to Treaty 6 was that each Indian agent would maintain a fully stocked medicine chest to be utilized by the Cree in the event of any disease outbreaks.
He used his power to attempt to stop the flow of alcohol into his people's territory, his work in doing so was one of the reasons the Canadian Government created the Northwest Mounted Police, to help in this venture.
[1] During this visit to Ontario he met Prime Minister John A. MacDonald, and became enamored with the culture and technology of Canada.
