Collection search - Mistahi maskwa (Big Bear ca. 1825-1888), a Plains Cree chief

Sessional Papers credits photographer as "Prof. Buell"
Cree chiefs who were involved in North West Rebellion of 1885, in leg irons, photographed outside the North-West Mounted Police barracks, Regina, Sask., 1885
Described by the RECON project.
Mistahimaskwa (Big Bear, or Gros Ours in French) was a Plains Cree chief born about 1825, probably near Fort Carlton (Sask.). He signed Treaty 6 in order to obtain minimal food supplies for his people from the Canadian government. Big Bear and his supporters played a role in the 1885 insurgency. He died January 17, 1888 on the Poundmaker Reserve (Sask.).
The North-West Rebellion (or North-West Resistance) was a five-month insurgency against the Canadian government, fought mainly by the Métis and their First Nations allies.
"Mistahi maskwa (Big Bear), a Plains Cree Chief" (Caption title, Canadian History Hall)

A reproduction of this photograph was made for Canadian History Hall, 2017.07.01--

Exhibition Title: Aboriginal Portraits. Curator: Edward Tompkins, Jeffrey Thomas; National Archives of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario: 1996.06.18 - 1996.11.01

No. 6 Big Bear