Cree Warrior Burial Site
Photo added by Barb

Cree Warrior Burial Site

Battleford, Battleford Census Division, Saskatchewan, Canada

Add cemetery photos

About

  • Get directions Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada
    Coordinates: 52.73173, -108.29493
  • Cemetery ID:

Members have Contributed

Advertisement

Photos

Following the suppression of the Métis and Cree uprising known as the North-West Resistance (or Rebellion), the government of Canada arrested the leaders (including Louis Riel, Chief Big Bear and Chief Poundmaker) and dozens of the warriors. The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) fort at Battleford served as the prison and trial location for the warriors and war chiefs. Of the 54 people brought to trial at Battleford, seven received prison terms, and eight were sentenced to death. Six of the eight were Cree warriors and two where Assiniboine warriors. All of the accused had no lawyers or translators and the sentences dealt are now considered to be swift and arbitrary.

Execution of the eight condemned warriors was carried out simultaneously on 27 November 1885, shortly after 8 am on a scaffold erected in the square of the NWMP fort. All of the children from the Battleford Indian Industrial School across the river from the fort were brought over to view the executions; the message to them was clear. The condemned were given a final chance to speak and the death sentences were then carried out. The bodies of the eight warriors were placed in simple wooden boxes and buried in a mass grave on the hillside facing the North Saskatchewan River, not far from Fort Battleford. The burial site was overgrown with vegetation for many years but is now marked by a teepee ring and poles and a stone monument. It is managed as part of the Fort Battleford National Historic Site.

Following the suppression of the Métis and Cree uprising known as the North-West Resistance (or Rebellion), the government of Canada arrested the leaders (including Louis Riel, Chief Big Bear and Chief Poundmaker) and dozens of the warriors. The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) fort at Battleford served as the prison and trial location for the warriors and war chiefs. Of the 54 people brought to trial at Battleford, seven received prison terms, and eight were sentenced to death. Six of the eight were Cree warriors and two where Assiniboine warriors. All of the accused had no lawyers or translators and the sentences dealt are now considered to be swift and arbitrary.

Execution of the eight condemned warriors was carried out simultaneously on 27 November 1885, shortly after 8 am on a scaffold erected in the square of the NWMP fort. All of the children from the Battleford Indian Industrial School across the river from the fort were brought over to view the executions; the message to them was clear. The condemned were given a final chance to speak and the death sentences were then carried out. The bodies of the eight warriors were placed in simple wooden boxes and buried in a mass grave on the hillside facing the North Saskatchewan River, not far from Fort Battleford. The burial site was overgrown with vegetation for many years but is now marked by a teepee ring and poles and a stone monument. It is managed as part of the Fort Battleford National Historic Site.

Nearby cemeteries

Northwest Mounted Police Cemetery

Battleford, Battleford Census Division, Saskatchewan, Canada

  • 47
  • 85%
  • 0%
0.3 mi
Saskatchewan Mental Hospital Cemetery

North Battleford, North Battleford Census Division, Saskatchewan, Canada

  • 60
  • 43%
  • 25%
1.5 mi
Saint Charles Oblate Cemetery

Battleford, Battleford Census Division, Saskatchewan, Canada

  • 127
  • 99%
  • 99%
1.6 mi
Battleford Indian Industrial School Cemetery

Battleford, Battleford Census Division, Saskatchewan, Canada

  • 23
  • 100%
  • 9%
1.9 mi
  • Added: 13 Oct 2015
  • Find a Grave Cemetery ID: 2592984