Eric Tootoosis shared the history of the 1885 mass hangings that occurred in Battleford. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

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Those who endured and survived some of Canada’s darkest moments in history came together for the start of a two-day conference in North Battleford.

The Battlefords Agency Tribal Chiefs Inc. (BATC) and the Acahkos Awasisak–Star Children project invited a number of guest speakers to attend the conference taking place at the Western Development Museum this week.

On Wednesday, Eric Tootoosis, of Poundmaker Cree Nation, shared the history of the Battle of Cut Knife Hill and the tragic hangings of eight Indigenous leaders that occurred at Fort Battleford in 1885, the largest mass hanging in Canadian history.

Each year a ceremony is held at the gravesite of the eight fallen warriors: Kah – Paypamahchukways (Wandering Spirit), Pah Pah-Me-Kee-Sick (Walking the Sky), Manchoose (Bad Arrow), Kit-Ahwah-Ke-Ni (Miserable Man), Nahpase (Iron Body), A-Pis-Chas-Koos (Little Bear), Itka (Crooked Leg), and Waywahnitch (Man Without Blood), to honour their spirits.

“When you look at the population of the 10 reserves in this area, we are all survivors,” Eric said. “These are the people that made a difference that were on the front lines, that made this a better place to live, and planned the future for the unborn. We were the unborn. It’s our duty to do right to our history, to be proud of it, to be proud that we’re still alive today, as tribal people… We all have that unique history, a unique blood that’s still in our veins. We can still have a good outcome of whatever we plan, because we’re the ones that carry the truth.”

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A child lays flowers at the gravesite of the eight Indigenous warriors who were hanged on Nov. 27, 1885. (Submitted photo/Rose Rogers)

During his presentation, Eric Tootoosis also related the historical account of the May 2, 1885, Battle of Cut Knife Hill, when First Nations warriors forced the Canadian army to retreat. Eric said at the time the Canadian forces were reported to have been the victors. But he noted that was a lie manufactured by the Canadian army to save face, and ultimately attempt to alter the historical record. Eric hopes people hear the truth, to set the record straight.

For Indigenous people to hear the truth, “it’s a healing process,… and also [it heals] their generational ancestors,” he told battlefordsNOW. “For me, my father, his father, and Yellow Mud Blanket [brother of
Chief Poundmaker and great grandfather of Eric Tootoosis].”

Eric said the true story will be part of schools’ curriculum in Canada, so it will carry on into the future and more people know the history as it really happened.

University of Saskatchewan instructor Mylan Tootoosis, from Poundmaker Cree Nation, at Wednesday’s presentation in North Battleford. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

Also during Wednesday’s presentations, University of Saskatchewan instructor Mylan Tootoosis, from Poundmaker Cree Nation, discussed intergenerational trauma and the impact from residential schools on not only survivors, but also on their families, and future generations.

“One of the things I realized and observed in my understanding of history and my own research was that when non Indigenous society came here to our continent, when they came here to North America they saw and they witnessed how much we loved and we cared for our families. How much we loved and we cared for our children. How much we loved and we cared for our grandchildren,” he said.

Mylan noted the colonists worked to destroy Indigenous generations by trying to break apart families, through the use of residential schools, to “try to erase the love we had.”

Some of the inter-generational impacts of residential schools, he said, can include depression and suicide in young people, and young adults being “hyper-vigilant” and feeling like they are “walking on eggshells” from intergenerational trauma.

Mylan said those who attended residential school were denied love and couldn’t express their affection. Later, when they became parents, they didn’t know how to be a parent and support their children. And their children would grow up with struggles from not being loved enough.

“Young people are angry and mad, and struggling, because they aren’t being supported,” he said.

But Mylan hopes things can change, with work, with changing the tone in communicating in family dynamics as a start.

“We have to disrupt this concept… These toxic belief systems are often passed down. We have to begin to push back against that…,” he said. “We need to be able to come together and maintain our family systems in a healthy way.”

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angela.brown@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @battlefordsNOW