The Best-Selling Canadian First Nations History Books of All Time

A biography of the Plains Cree chief who challenged colonial Canadian authorities and became a warrior of legend. When Big Bear was young in the first half of the nineteenth century, he survived smallpox and other hardships and eventually followed in the footsteps of his father, Black Powder, engaging in warfare against the Blackfoot. Soon enough, he would be compelled to draw on these experiences and step into a leadership role, just as the buffalo began to disappear and his people started to suffer.

This rich historical biography explores Big Bear’s role as chief of a Plains Cree community in western Canada in the late nineteenth century, at a time of rapid transition. During the 1870s and early 1880s, Big Bear became the focal point of opposition for the Cree and Saulteaux bands that opposed treaties with Canada. During the early 1880s, he spearheaded a Plains diplomatic movement to renegotiate the treaties in favor of the Indigenous groups whose way of life had been devastated by colonialism. Although Big Bear personally favored peaceful dissent, violent acts by others during the North-West Resistance of 1885 provided the federal government with an excuse to prosecute him for treason. His story ― both political and personal ― provides fascinating insight into this era of North American history.

This fully updated third edition of a vital text on the history of indigenous peoples comes from the thorough research of a First Nations descendent. By turns revealing and deeply unsettling, the book details the brutal treatment and complete displacement of the Mi’kmaq civilization at the hands of European settlers. The author’s ongoing research casts doubt on the recorded tales of Canadian colonization and reveals that the mistreatment of First Nations peoples is not confined to the past.

The True Spirit and Original Intent of Treaty 7 is based on the testimony of over 80 elders from the five First Nations involved in Treaty 7 - the Bloods, Peigans, Siksika, Stoney, and Tsuu T'ina. Their recollections highlight the grave misconceptions and misrepresentations between the two sides, due in part to inadequate interpretation and/or deliberate attempts to mislead.

The elders consistently report that the treaty as they understood it was a peace treaty, not a surrender of land, and that they had agreed to "share" the land with the white newcomers in exchange for resources to establish new economies - education, medical assistance, and annuity payments. The book provides both a historical overview of Treaty 7 and an analysis of the literature on treaties generally and Treaty 7 specifically. It makes clear that different agendas, different languages, and different world views affected each side's interpretation of events. This review of the events and interpretations surrounding Treaty 7 takes place at a time when aboriginal and indigenous peoples all over the world are re-evaluating their relationships with imperial powers. It was undertaken in good faith in hopes that it will begin a dialogue that can alter the dominant discourse of Euro-Canadian society, which has been so damaging to aboriginal people.