Chief Crowfoot

My Hero Chief Crowfoot by Kellan

¨Take courage¨ -Chief Crowfoot¨

Chief CrowfootKellanI chose Chief Crowfoot as my hero because he was a great leader who chose peace, instead of bloodshed, most of the time. The book I chose, ¨The Canadians, Chief Crowfoot,¨  was a biography. This book was written in 1999. My book was 61 pages long and covered the beginning of Crowfoot´s life in 1830 to the end of his life in 1890. The author Carlotta Hacker, was born on April 6th 1931 and wrote more than 20 books including ¨Canadian Heros¨, ¨E.cora Hind¨ , ¨Jazz¨ , ¨The Arts¨ , and ¨History¨.

Chief CrowfootPortrait of Chief Crowfoot from the Glenbow archivesThe Blackfoot tribe was one of many Confederacy´s. Crowfoot was born in the Blood tribe which is right outside Cardston on Treaty 7 land. He was born in 1830. At the age of 5, Crowfoot’s father Packs-a-knife was murdered in a raid. His mother Attacked Towards Home married a Blackfoot warrior and they left the Blood tribe, leaving Crowfoot with his grandfather. Crowfoot ran away from home to follow his mother. He tracked them and caught up to them. His mother returned Crowfoot to his grandpa, but this time they all left together to join the Blackfoot tribe. Crowfoot had many names throughout his life. As a child he was called Shot-Close, when he was a boy he was called Bear Ghost, then he took his father’s name Packs-a-Knife and later Crow Bigfoot. Crowfoot had 10 wives throughout his life, no more than 3 or 4 at one time. He had many children but only 4 made it to be adults. He had one younger brother and one older brother who unfortunately passed away leaving the family inheritance to Crowfoot. Chief Crowfoot was taught by his Blackfoot step father. He enjoyed hunting buffalo  with his friends, riding horse, and raiding enemy camps.

Original picture, Crowfoot and the hunters KellanOne of the many challenges Crowfoot faced was the coming of the Red Coats. Settlers began  coming into Blackfoot territory and they had liquor with them. They started trading liquor to all the first nation people, even the Blackfoot. They started getting drunk and almost 88 people died in fights in one year. To overcome this challenge, Chief Crowfoot called a peace Treaty with Mr McDougall and the Queen. He said they could build on Blackfoot territory if all the Blackfoot were treated the same. One of the qualities Crowfoot displayed was his dedication to his people. He demonstrated this by choosing peace and prosperity over war and bloodshed. Chief Crowfoot was very brave. He showed this by slaying a Black Bear, and fighting in over 19 battles. He also was an effective communicator. He demonstrated this by negotiating the Treaty 7. The people that supported Chief Crowfoot were his fellow Blackfoot warriors. They were always there for him and he was always there for them. Sadly Chief Crowfoots’ son died in a Scree war, he was furious and enraged. Crowfoot had a fiery temper. For example, when his son died he was mad and he wanted revenge. Chief Crowfoot was recognized by the North American Railway Hall of Fame for his contribution to the railway industry.  Chief Crowfoot had a bullet lodged into his leg and it was never removed.

I learned that almost all of Chief Crowfoot´s children died. If I was able to meet him I would ask how he hunted buffalo. How he was such an effective leader and how did he feel as one of history's many leaders? I wouldn't want to be Chief Crowfoot´s son because only one of them made it to adulthood. I liked my book (The Canadians by Carlotta Hacker) although I wish it was a little bit bigger and more informative. I learned that Chief Crowfoot was from the Blood tribe. A lesson I learned is to control your anger and only fight when necessary. I think this book is nice but you might not like it if you are not interested in History. I am happy that I chose Chief Crowfoot because I like learning about the first nations because they are a large part of Canada's history. I think Chief Crowfoot is someone you can look up to as a hero because he was peaceful and only fought when necessary.

Reference Links:

• The Canadian Encyclopedia -Chief Crowfoot: https://WWW.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/crowfoot

• Wikipedia.org

https://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowfoot

• Biography.ca

          https://WWW.biography.ca/en/bio/isapo_muxika_11E.HTML

• Britannica.Com       

         https://WWW.Britannica.Com/biography/Crowfoot

• Plainshumanities.un.edu      

         https://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.na.02

• Native-languages.org

         https://WWW.native-languages.org/definitions/crowfoot.htm