Chief One Arrow signed Treaty #6 in 1876. He and Louis Riel had the same mission: protecting their rights and people. Chief One Arrow was charged with treason against the Canadian Government. (Information taken from an article in Eagle Feather News John Lagimodière)

Located at the Cenotaph of Chief One Arrow within St. Boniface Cemetary. Just next to Louis Riel’s Tomb, Chief One Arrow is a few steps away towards the East. Stand facing the stone memorial, about 10-15 meters away.

KAPEYAKWASKONAM
One Arrow-Une Flèche

One Arrow was the Chief of a band of Willow Cree whose reserve was the closest to the Métis community of Batoche. The son of a Hudson Bay trader named George Sutherland and his second wife Pasikuis, born circa 1815, One Arrow had been one of three Chiefs who had spoken out against the signing of Treaty #6 at Fort Carlton in 1876. At one point during the discussions, he removed his clothing and, standing before the Commissioners and two thousand others, said:

I came to the world naked; I had nothing then, I have nothing now. Before the white man came, we had buffalo that supplied us with food, clothing, tents. We had berries. We had the protection of the Great Spirit. You are taking a living away from us.

Although he did sign the Treaty several days later, he did not settle his band on the designated reserve until after a failed 1879 attempt to find bison in the Cypress Hills. In 1882, citing his age and infirmities, One Arrow attempted to resign as Chief. An official from Indian Affairs convinced him to remain. Life on the 16 square mile reserve was difficult as it wasn’t until 1884 that the band began to receive the necessary agricultural implements, livestock and instruction that had been promised under the terms of Treaty # 6. That same year, he attended a Council of Chiefs which included Big Bear to discuss non-violent actions to force the Government to fulfill their obligations. Given his band’s grievances and proximity to Batoche it was not surprising that he and members of his Band were participants in the armed resistance against the Canadian forces sent to suppress the efforts of Riel, Dumont and others to oppose Canadian authority. There is controversy as to whether One Arrow was a willing participant or had been coerced into the fight thanks to intimidation by the Métis. One version of events has it that the Farm Instructor, a Métis named Michel Dumas, had convinced the band to slaughter their cattle and join Riel’s followers in mid-March. The consensus of historians seems to support his contention of being pressured to fight. He, and members of his Band had been seen at the Battle of Duck and in and around Batoche until it’s capture on the 12th of May 1885. His descendants, however, maintain that he was a good friend of Louis Riel and a willing and active participant in the resistance.

One Arrow was tried on the charge of Treason-Felony in Regina on 13 August, 1885. Faced with an unfamiliar system of justice, charges for which he had no concept, and poor translation of the proceedings, the Chief was baffled and confused by the entire process. Part of his formal charge was that he and others “wickedly and feloniously assembled and gathered together against our Lady the Queen, her Crown and Dignity.” On hearing the translation of the accusations into Cree, he asked if the translator had been drinking. How could he have “knocked off the Queen’s bonnet and stabbed her in the behind with his sword” when he had never even met her? After being found Guilty, he argued that he had been coerced by Gabriel Dumont into leaving the reserve and joining the Métis. He had not shot anyone and had never had the intention of doing so.

Sentenced to three years imprisonment in the Stony Mountain Penitentiary in Manitoba, One Arrow became gravely ill after seven months of incarceration. Unable to even walk, he was first brought to the St. Boniface Hospital before being taken to the Archiepiscopal Palace of Bishop Alexandre Taché where he died on Easter Sunday, 25 April, 1886, two weeks after leaving Stony Mountain. Having converted to Catholicism at some point either during his imprisonment, or shortly afterwards, he was given a Catholic burial in the Cathedral Cemetery. While there may have been a marker installed, it, along with housands of others in the Cemetery disappeared with the passage of years.

For over a century, those living on the One Arrow Reserve believed that their former Chief had been buried on the Reserve itself. Finally in the mid-1990’s they secured his Certificate of Death and learned he lay in St. Boniface. In response to those who felt his remains should be repatriated, the Elders of the Reserve argued that the Great Spirit wanted him to remain where he was. An impressive tombstone memorializing One Arrow was then commissioned and installed several feet away from that of Louis Riel’s. In 2005, however, his spiritual presence began to manifest itself during sweat lodge and other ceremonies on the Reserve. Eventually a Shaking Tent ceremony was held to communicate directly with his spirit. It was determined that One Arrow wanted to be brought home. Steps were then initiated to secure permission to exhume his remains which was granted by the Province of Manitoba and Church authorities. With the help of contract researchers and an archeologist, the remains, whose location had long been unmarked, were located in late August, 2007 with the assistance of ground penetrating radar and “head bobbing” by some of the Elders participating in the search. Noteworthy is the fact that while most graves in the Cemetery lay in a north-south axis, One Arrow lay east-west in respect of indigenous traditions.

Written by Phil, revised by Steve Greyeyes, Stewart Prosper Elder on One Arrow Reseve, Dwayne and Janet.