Unit 2

How Can Someone Make a Difference?

Student Example       

Sitting Bull and John Walsh

The new grass was green. The buffalo were many. It was June 1877 when five thousand Lakota Sioux arrived in Cypress Hills, Saskatchewan. The Lakota refugees were followers of Sitting Bull. They had “suffered much from treachery and raids”. They had not slept peacefully in a year. But they arrived in Canada expecting fairness.

Sitting Bull, born in 1831, was a strong, intelligent leader. At age fourteen he knocked a Crow warrior from his horse. This earned him the name Sitting Bull. Like his name, he was firm in his purpose throughout his life. “I will remain what I am until I die, a hunter...And when there is no buffalo or other game, I will send my children to hunt prairie mice.” Sitting Bull became the key leader of his Nation. He hoped for peace, but American government ordered the Lakota to live on reservations. This was because Americans had discovered gold in South Dakota Indian territory. Because the United States did not have laws to protect Indigenous rights, this led to war.

At Little Big Horn, Montana, the Lakota fought for freedom. They won a major battle against General Custer. However, when his warriors began to lose the war to the Americans, Sitting Bull had one option left: to flee to Canada. He “refused to live shut up in a corral”.  When he crossed the ‘Big Road’ (the border between the United States and Canada) Sitting Bull knew the American “Long Knives” could not chase him. From Canada, he hoped to make raids on the Americans.

Sitting Bull was met in Canada by RCMP officer James Walsh. With Walsh was six-foot-tall Metis scout Louis Lavallie. There were also five other men who met the Lakota travellers. First, they asked if the Lakota knew they were on British soil. Sitting Bull laughed. It seemed ridiculous for seven men to set limits on one thousand warriors. But, he and his men listened as Walsh said, “You must know there are laws here and everybody [of any race, skin colour, or nationality] must obey. There is no place here for lawless men who think it is fun to shoot and kill Indians...Canadian law will be enforced [fairly] for all races. If you are prepared to obey these laws, the police will protect you. If you cannot obey, you can expect to be jailed or forced to leave the country.”

Sitting Bull liked the idea of fairness for all. But, he did not like to be prevented from raiding Americans. Sitting Bull asked for safety. He argued that treaties (agreements) were broken by Americans. There were attacks on Lakota women and children. The Lakota were hunted like wild animals. He claimed the Sioux were both Canadian and American because both sides of the border were Lakota hunting grounds. Furthermore, the Sioux had been loyal to Britain. As proof, Sitting Bull displayed medals given to his grandfather by George III for his support in the American War of Independence.

Walsh told the Lakota, “The laws are made with the consent of the ...people. They govern the conduct of every person who is on [this] soil and every ... citizen defends them with their life. What they demand of you is that you will not kill either man, women or child no matter what their [skin] colour or tribe might be. You will not steal...You will do no [harm] of any kind to either persons or property...The person of a woman or female child must not be hurt. This above all our laws is the most sacred....If you obey these laws, you and your families can sleep soundly here. You are as safe as if walled by 10,000 warriors but if you cannot [obey] these laws, return...for you cannot live [here] any more than a fish can live out of water.” Sitting Bull wanted to live under the fairness of Canadian law. He hoped to gain Canadian land. He agreed to live peacefully in Canada.

Walsh also kept his word and did not lie. He treated everyone fairly. For example, when American Assiniboine Chief Broken Arm hurt Canadian Salteaux Chief Little Child, Little Child asked the police for help. Twenty-five Mounties snuck into the Assiniboine camp. Early in the morning, fifteen policemen captured Broken Arm and thirteen of his men. Broken Arm stood trial and spent six months in jail. “The rights of man, no matter what his colour are sacred....Our law demands that people should live as brothers, as one family....Under that law everyone is free and safe,” said Walsh.

Unfortunately, by 1879, the buffalo were no longer. When the buffalo disappeared, the Indigenous people could no longer keep their independence. The Canadian government refused to provide the Lakota with land, food or support. The people had to return to the United States. Sitting Bull said as he returned to the United States, “Once I was strong and brave, and my people had hearts of iron. But now, I will fight no more forever.”  No more would thousands of horses feed on the green spring grass while warriors sat in groups on hilltops. No more would children play with bows and arrows. No more would women arrange their tipis while old men sat in the shade.

“Sitting Bull asked for nothing but justice,” said James Walsh.

Based on Grant MacEwan’s book “Sitting Bull: The Years in Canada” https://www.historicacanada.ca/content/heritage-minutes/sitting-bull