Sweet Grass believed that working alongside the government was one of the only solutions to the daily hardship the Cree were faced with.

Sweet Grass was born with the name Okimasis (okimâsis), which has been translated as He-who-has-no-name, but more accurately as Little Chief, which was related to his small size.

Later that year, Sweet Grass was converted to Roman Catholicism by Father Albert Lacombe and was baptized with the Christian name Abraham.

[6] Due to the fact that Sweet Grass' Mother was captured by a Cree tribe, it is unknown if she partook in the established birthing and naming traditions.

Sweet Grass during the signing of the treaty was one of the most well-regarded plains Cree chiefs and was given a position of importance during negotiations.

An example of this would be when Sweet Grass and Big Bear assembled 18 Cree warriors that attempted to raid Blackfoot hunting territory.

[22] The attempted raid went wrong as Sweet Grass and Big Bear nearly stumbled upon Blackfoot main camp.

[24] In 1870, there were hundreds of thousands, which provided an immense amount of resources for the Cree to a point where they were able to only take the choice parts of the Buffalo.

[24] Additionally, as the Hudson's Bay Company moved into the prairies, the fur trade offered an extremely important source of income and goods for the Cree.

Both of these issues became an extremely important topic discussed in treaty negotiations which Sweet Grass was heavily involved in.

[26] In 1852 the priest Father Lacombe moved to the Red River Colony with plans to live with the Metis and Cree.

[28] Throughout the 19th century, it appeared as though the federal government of Canada, situated in Ottawa, worked very hard to increase the dependency that aboriginal people had on it.

The overall goal that Sweet Grass wanted to achieve was an end to factionalism that had been plaguing the Plains Cree for years.

Sweet Grass had also requested that the government provide supplies as needed so that they may sustain themselves when traditional hunting was not an option.

Signed in 1876, Treaty 6 was the agreement between the government of Canada and the Indigenous people living in parts of modern-day Saskatchewan and Alberta.

[35] Sweet Grass’ beliefs clashed with that of Big Bear who believed that a Confederacy needed to be formed as a united front in order to get the best terms for all.

[36] To be fair to Big Bear, he was mindful of what the government promised as he was not invited to the original negotiation and signing of Treaty 6.

[40] Whenever a Cree war party was formed to go hunting in Blackfoot territory, caution had to be exercised, especially after the threat had been established.

[3] Sweet Grass and Big Bear had formed a war party for this exact purpose as stated previously.

Sweet Grass himself killed a Blackfoot Chief who had been using a hollow tree as a shield by shooting through it and piercing his heart.

Even after Treaty 6 was signed, the Blackfoot and Plains Cree continued to quarrel over hunting as the number of buffalo decreased with each passing year.

With encroaching settlers and other indigenous groups, the dwindling of traditional hunting,[45] and disease rampant,[46] Sweet Grass and his band of Cree were desperate for support.

When Treaty 6 was put forward by the Canadian government in 1876, Sweetgrass was profoundly influential in bringing the Plains Cree into the agreement.

While the signing of the treaty can be seen as selling away indigenous rights, it did bring much-needed medication and food to the Cree who had insufficient options.

Big Bear resisted signing of the treaty, hoping that he could hold out for a better deal with the Canadian government.

Using this discontent, Chief Wandering Spirit gathered support and began to purses more aggressive policies towards settlers.

When the Metis under Louis Riel started the Northwest-Rebellion in 1885, Wandering Spirit would lead a group of Cree to raid the Frog Lake Settlement.

At this point, Young Sweet Grass would lead a fragment of the band to join with other Cree, who had signed Treaty 6.

[55] Young Sweet Grass would eventually become chief and would name the new group the Sweetgrass First Nation in honour of his father.

After resisting sending children into the Canadian school system, the Cree living on the reserve received no food rations, until they capitulated.