Mistawasis (, meaning "Big Child"; born Pierre Belanger) was a Chief of the Sak-kaw-wen-o-wak Plains Cree, notable for his role as the leader of his people during the signing of Treaty 6 in 1876, to which he was the first signatory. 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. He believed the only way to save his people was to negotiate with the Canadian Government. As a result of his strong influence over the Cree people, he and his close ally Ahtahkakoop were able to argue successfully for the adoption of Treaty 6 by his fellow Cree. After the treaty was signed he remained an ally of the Canadian government until his death.
Early life
The exact date of Mistawasis’ birth is disputed. It is estimated that he may have been born sometime between 1796 and 1813. He was born to a French father by the name of Bernard Belanger and a Nakoda woman, Kakakewachin. His birth name was Pierre Belanger, though in his adulthood he generally went by his Cree name, Mistawasis. He had five siblings, one of whom went by the same name as their father, Bernard Belanger. Mistawasis married Iskwesis Sitipinatowe and had at least two children. He later married Ann Awasis Mashe Nah Sho Wishk and had five children.
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) would utilize his prowess as a provider, commonly trading for buffalo meat in exchange for other goods. He also worked as a freighter for the HBC. He was known to some as Piwapiskomostos, a name meaning "Iron Buffalo". He received this name after a hunting accident where he was tossed from horseback onto the horns of one of the buffalo he was hunting, but escaped uninjured. The famous Cree chief Pitokwahanapiwiyin (Poundmaker) is his maternal nephew.
Disappearance of the Buffalo
The American buffalo's habitat once ranged in the general area from the American east coast, south-west to near Mexico, and northwards to Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories. They are the largest land mammals found on the continent of North America. The Buffalo's first contact with Europeans most likely occurred in the 1500s when they were spotted by Spanish conquistadors. Estimates suggest that at this time there was roughly 25-30 million wild buffalo living in North America. 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. 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 fur trade was especially detrimental to populations as the hunters would, more often than not, prioritize acquiring the furs of the females over that of the males. This was due to their relative lightness as well as the ability to tan the furs at a quicker rate then the males. The majority of hunts were carried out in the winter, due to the buffalo's hair growing thicker in this time of the year. Winter happened to coincide with the buffalo's breeding season, meaning that many of the buffalo killed had a high possibility of being in some stage of pregnancy at the time. Being that buffalo only have one calf per year, the removal of large numbers of pregnant buffalo significantly weakened the animal's ability to naturally replenish its population.
Significance of Buffalo to Cree
One of the most important features of the Cree's way of life was the buffalo. It was a resource which was used extensively by the Cree for many different purposes. Its meat was used as food for personal sustenance as well as for trade with the Hudson's Bay Company. Its skin was used in the construction of living quarters. It was also used by the various indigenous groups of the region to make clothing, amounting to roughly two buffalo skins per person per year to be dedicated to the production of new clothing. The animal's bones were often used to create most of the tools used by the Cree people. Buffalo were important for trade with the Hudson's Bay Company as this trade was the only possible way for the Cree to acquire such useful goods as guns, as well as the ammunition needed to use the weapons. The Cree would hunt buffalo often without horses, to over come the difficulties associated with this they would often herd the animals into corrals so they could then kill them in a more manageable way.