The North-West Rebellion — North-West Mounted Police

We first heard some suspicious rumblings in 1884. My orderly room sergeant was on leave when he heard a Metis urging the Blackfoot to kill settlers' cattle. The country belonged to the Indigenous people according to Louis Riel, and the whites should be sent away. We tracked the man down and sent him to jail for vagrancy, with the advice to stop making such suggestions. A while later, the same man returned to meet with Crowfoot, and the Blackfoot became hostile. We marched to Crowfoot's camp and arrested the Metis once again.

After that I busied myself at the railway camps, only hearing occasionally about the discontent among the Indigenous people and the Metis. It wasn't hard to imagine: the Plains Indian depended upon the buffalo for their food, clothing, tipis and spiritual beliefs. The last buffalo disappeared just as the railway appeared in the heart of the hunting grounds. After years of drought, the starving Indigenous people had eaten their dogs and their horses, and were turning to mice and gophers. At the same time, the government had adopted a policy not to provide any food to Indigenous people who had not signed a treaty and were not on their reserves. But even for those who had, the rations were cut. The Indian Agents believed that the Indigenous people should work for their rations, not get them free. This was totally against what had been promised with the treaties!

Once the treaties had been signed, the government established the North-West Superintendency to look after Indian Affairs. Indian Agents and farm instructors were hired and placed on the reserves. The farm instructors were hired to teach the Indigenous people to farm, however, those hired were often inexperienced themselves and were rarely issued the needed equipment, animals or seed to succeed. The Indian Agents distributed treaty payments and looked after the affairs of the reserve. They were responsible for feeding their charges during famine, but some were vindictive and distributed only partial rations, ignoring the needs of those they didn't like. Many of the Agents were despised by the Indigenous people for their cruel treatment, lies and tight purse strings. While the Indian Agents should have been the first to raise the alarm about the growing suffering and problems, their reports were often misleading. Had they taken more care of their actions and provided food as had been promised in the treaties, it is likely that fewer Indigenous people would have joined in the rebellion.

The Metis too saw their way of life changing. They had once again asked the government to meet them and negotiate their rights to the land upon which they had been living. They heard only lies and met delays. They asked Louis Riel to return to Canada and to lead them once more.

Uproar

By 1884, from Winnipeg to Edmonton, the North West was in an uproar. The railway was the symbol of everything bad that had happened to the Cree, Sioux, Assiniboine, Blackfoot and Metis in the territory. Priests, settlers, the Metis and the Mounties - everyone tried to warn the government of what was coming, but the Prime Minister didn't understand, didn't care, or couldn't act for whatever reason.

The change of location of the railway from the originally-proposed northern route (where everybody lived) to the eventual southern route was a bitter disappointment to the settlers. Farmers complained bitterly about the terrible freight rates, the CPR's monopoly, and lack of local self-government. The Crees of northern Saskatchewan, united under Big Bear, were furious at the government's betrayal: Ottawa had promised to save them from starvation, and yet, to save money, had cut their already meager rations by half. The Metis too were having a hard time adapting to the complete change of their lifestyle and the possible loss of their lands.

We felt sorry for the people of the Plains and tried to help whenever we could. We gave them food out of our own stores. Inspector Denny at Fort Calgary began to slaughter cattle - 2000 pounds of meat a day were split among the Blackfoot, Stoneys and some Metis. Yet, at the same time, we had to uphold the laws being made in Ottawa, and I admit, they didn't often favour the Indigenous people! We found that attitudes were changing, and it didn't make our job any easier.

Attitudes

Until the 1880s, the NWMP and the Indigenous people had a good relationship. The Indigenous people trusted the police to be fair in their dealings with them. The police were generally sympathetic, having seen them change from a proud people with a rich heritage to starving beggars dependent upon the generosity of the government and the settlers. However, the NWMP was an instrument of the government, and it had to enforce laws that were often inhumane and unfair. The Indigenous people saw the NWMP siding more and more with the government, and they began to mistrust the red-coated men. As the 1880s unfurled, the friendship between NWMP and the Indigenous people began to break down. Constables riding into a camp to make an arrest were beginning to meet hostility. The camps were now less likely to surrender one of their own. The Indigenous people were becoming more violent and encounters more dangerous. An observer later reporting to the House of Commons stated: "though so far the police have been able to make arrests of Indian predators in the face of overwhelming odds, the general impression is that the game of bluff is about played out, and that day when three red-coated prairie troopers, through sheer pluck and coolness can overawe a large band of Bloods, Peigan or Blackfoot is now nearly or quite passed by…." The settlers, once in awe of the Indigenous people, now felt pity. As events escalated, they also became very afraid. When the Rebellion ended, pity and fear turned to scorn.

The Indigenous people were becoming more agitated. Our men were called to arrest a man who had hit the Indian Agent with an axe handle. It took Superintendent Crozier from Battleford, Inspector Antrobus, Sergeant Bagley and 25 men to make the arrest. Amid war-whoops and rifles shot into the air, the Superintendent and his men captured The-Man-Who-Speaks-Our-Languages. Our interpreter was captured and one of our men had his jacket, rifle and pistol taken away. When the Superintendent offered food to the mob, things quieted down. The interpreter was later released unharmed and everything returned.

For Crozier, this event was a warning. He reported to the Commissioner his fear that this was only the beginning, and worse was to come. He couldn't have been more right.

Crozier also felt that the Indigenous people would join the Metis if they should start a rebellion. The Metis also expected the Indigenous people to side with them and had already been speaking to some of the chiefs. Louis Riel was back and Gabriel Dumont was one of his captains.

Members of the North-West Mounted Police at the Craig Incident, 1884

Supt Lief Newbury Fitzroy Crozier
285 Insp William Denny Antrobus
Surg Robert Miller
27 Sgt Major Michael John Kirk
367 S/Sgt Alexander Brian Mackay
507 S/Sgt Stephen Warden
247 Sgt Frederick Augustus Bagley
318 Sgt William Alfonse Brooks
301 Sgt Henry Keenan
264 Cpl Charles Chasse
492 Cpl John Edward James McDougall McNeill
565 Cpl Ralph Bateman Sleigh
619 Const Charles Allen
615 Const William Anderson
620 Const Samuel D Armour
517 Const Godfrey Casault
642 Const Archibald Cole
646 Const Charles Cole
605 Const Colin Campbell Colebrook
521 Const John Jack Collins
802 Const Wilfred Cookson
813 Const Jacob Cicero DeGear
324 Const Arthur Dorion
525 Const Richard Dowsley
657 Const Ovila Dufresne
652 Const John A Duncan
484 Const Louis Fontaine
467 Const Frederick Fowler
966 Const George Fraser
672 Const Frederick Holtby Garton
1247 Const George M Grahame
679 Const Charles Grogan
1008 Const John Guthrie
682 Const William Theodore Halbhaus
869 Const Murray Henry Edward Hayne
538 Const Robert Hobbs
995 Const John (2) Hynes
695 Const Robert Ince
887 Const Warren Kerr
999 Const Charles Knight
707 Const Ferriol Leduc
925 Const Clarence McLean Loasby
542 Const Henry Clifton Loscombe
710 Const William W Lunnin
303 Const Joseph Audustin MacDermot
37 Const John A MacDonald
544 Const Thomas McAlister
724 Const William McQuarrie
429 Const Malcolm Tanner Millar
717 Const Thomas Millward
487 Const Albert Ernest Garland Montgomery
993 Const Edward Morrow
425 Const Arthur Thomas Murray
733 Const William Murray
744 Const George Pembridge
747 Const William Henry Potter
863 Const Frederick Edward Prior
1004 Const Thomas John Redmond
884 Const John Jones Roberts
763 Const John Rummerfield
762 Const Richard Rutledge
764 Const David Scott
768 Const James Arthur Simons
769 Const Percy William Simons
568 Const Odilon St. Denis
779 Const George Vicars Stevenson
776 Const John Harold Storer
994 Const William Straton
766 Const Daniel Sullivan
841 Const William P Williams
391 Const John Hibbert Wilmot
788 Const Orlando Worthington
610 Const John Yelland
864 Const Campbell Young
Interp Louis Laronde
Civ. Rory Finlayson