Rewriting history

Page 9

REVIEW

Loyal Until Death, Indians in the North-West Rebellion

By Blair Stonechild

$18.95

308 pages (pb)

Fifth House Publishers, Calgary

Indian involvement in the North-West Rebellion was based on the agenda of the colonial government and since history is controlled by those with the pen, it has long been said that the Indians were full and willing participants with Louis Riel.

And, since that was not the truth about what happened back in 1885, "it ate away at the insides of a lot of Indian people," said Blair Stonechild, executive director of Planning and Development for the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College in Regina. Stonechild recently co-authored Loyal Until Death, Indians in the North-West Rebellion.

"In school when we were kids," remembers Stonechild, a member of the Muscowpetung band, who grew up in Lebret, "what we learned about how our ancestors behaved made me feel bad, because I would look around at my friends and family and I knew they weren't like the books said - bloodthirsty, lazy - they were honest, hardworking people."

"Up north, around Battleford," he said, "a lot of hostility carried over from the North-West Rebellion." History books told us the Indians were rebellious murderers who joined with Louis Riel, killed settlers, government officials and priests in murderous rampages and then some of them were arrested and eventually hanged with Riel as traitors.

"Our Indian kids had to listen to this. It had a negative effect on their identity as First Nations people and especially hurt the Elders, who knew the real story but were afraid to come forward. They talked about it amongst themselves, on the reserves, and eventually, they talked to me," said Stonechild. The oral history held the truth about Poundmaker, Big Bear and other bands in Treaty 4 and Treaty 6. They were used by Riel, reluctantly involved in the rebellion and sometimes forced by the Metis to take part in the battles.

Stonechild first started documenting his findings from on-reserve interviews in 1985, around the time of the 100th anniversary of the rebellion, for his university thesis. He later produced two case studies on Chiefs Poundmaker and Big Bear. Stonechild says he was lucky to get some pretty interesting history and lots of material that had been ignored. "We found evidence to support what the Elders were telling us, buried in the archives and government records, documentation taken from the mouths of non-Indian witnesses to the rebellion and supported by government officials."

His first clue that history was tainted came when he talked to the Elders about the Duck Lake Battle. "They said the Indians had nothing to do with that."

Loyal Until Death points out that the soldiers literally ran into the Metis as they both crossed Beardy's reserve. At the Battle of Cut Knife Hill, the Indians did not attack the soldiers.

Poundmaker did everything in his power to counsel restraint and to avoid any entanglement with Riel. And at the so-called Siege of Battleford, the government thought Poundmaker came to attack Fort Battleford when in fact, he only wanted supplies.

Stonechild wrote the book in partnership with Bill Waiser, head of the History Department of the University of Saskatchewan.

"Bill was really good at the archival/government part, searching out the records. I think he learned a lot about the First Nations cultures."

When Loyal Until Death was released by Fifth House Publishers, Calgary, in 1997, it was one of five books nominated for the top literary acknowledgement in Canada, the Governor General's award and won the Saskatchewan Book Award. The first printing of 3,000 sold out within six months and it is currently into the second printing.

The newspapers and the government of the day held the agenda when creating the history of the North-West Rebellion.

"When we started out on the research, I had basically no preconceived notions of Riel other than what I had heard about his commitment to both the Indins and the Metis people. With the translation of Riel's diaries, it became clear that he really looked down on the Indians as inferior beings. They were pawns in a much larger picture. Riel identified, not with his Indian ancestry, but with the French Canadian elite philosophy that was bent on setting up a new-world order where Indians would cease to be. Riel never spent any time living with Indians and he acted without a deep understanding of First Nations ways," said Stonechild.

"Despite Riel's attitude to Indians, I believe he was a larger-than-life man. He stood out in his time as a very capable leader, he's just given more credit in terms of what he did for First Nations people than what he deserves."

The City of Regina is considering renaming Ring Road (which circles the perimeter of the city) in recognition of the Metis leader.

"I would support the move to call Ring Road, Riel Road, in fact I think it would be a good thing because it's a start for the general public to take a closer look at the treatment of Aboriginal people in general."