Mistahi-maskwa (Big Bear) National Historic Person

Fort Pitt Provincial Park, Saskatchewan
Portrait of Mistahi-maskwa (Big Bear) © Library and Archives Canada / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, C-001873
Portrait of Mistahi-maskwa
© Library and Archives Canada / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, C-001873
Photo by O.B. Buell showing Mistahi-maskwa (Big Bear) trading at Fort Pitt, 1884. © Library and Archives Canada / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, PA-118768Portrait of Mistahi-maskwa (Big Bear) © Library and Archives Canada / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, C-001873
Address : Fort Pitt Provincial Park, Saskatchewan

Recognition Statute: Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date: 1971-05-27
Life Date: 1825 to 1888

Other Name(s):
  • Mistahi-maskwa (Big Bear)  (Designation Name)
  • Misto-ha-a-Musqua  (Other Name)
Research Report Number: 1971-008

Importance: This designation has been identified for review

Plaque(s)


Existing plaque:  Fort Pitt Provincial Park, Saskatchewan

Big Bear, noted warrior and hunter, was one of the foremost champions of the northern plains Indians. As a leader of the Plains Cree he refused to sign Treaty No. 6 and, after 1884, was with Poundmaker the focus of attempts to unite the treaty bands in the Battle River-Fort Pitt area. Notwithstanding his attempts to restrain his followers at Frog Lake and Fort Pitt in 1885, he was imprisoned following the Rebellion. Released in 1887, he died the following winter on the Little Pine reservation. *Note: This designation has been identified for review. A review can be triggered for one of the following reasons - outdated language or terminology, absence of a significant layer of history, factual errors, controversial beliefs and behaviour, or significant new knowledge.