Voices from our past: Crowfoot valued land more than gov't money

Page 35

Indian chiefs who negotiated with the government before the signing of the treaties were very wise leaders. These leaders were sincere in their requests and were concerned not only with themselves and the present but also with the future and what it held for their descedants.

The following story shows the wisdom and sincerity of one such leader. His name was Crowfoot, chief of the Blackfoot Confederacy.

The story took place during the negotiations preceding Treaty 7 when Chief Crowfoot met with a government spokesman.

The government spokesman spread some dollar bills on the ground and then said, "This is what the whiteman trades with, this is his buffalo robe. Just as you trade with skins, we trade with these pieces of paper."

Chief Crowfoot took a handful of clay and made a ball out of it and put it on the fire. It baked but it did not crack. He turned to the government representative and said, "Now put your money on the fire and see if it will last as long as the clay."

The government spokesman was embarrassed and quickly replied, "No, I cannot do that because my money will burn."

With a gleam in his piercing grey eyes, Chief Crowfoot said, "Your money is not as good as our land is it? The wind will blow it away, fire will burn it and water will rot it but nothing can destroy our land. You don't make a very good trade."

The chief then picked up a handful of sand from the riverbank. He poured the sand into the palm of the government spokesman's and said, "You count the grains of sand in that while I count the money you have offered to me."

The government representative looked at the handful of sand and quietly replied, "I might not live long enough to count the grains in this sand." Obviously, the money could be counted in a few minutes.

The wise old chief spoke, "Our land is more valuable than your money. It will last forever. It will not perish as long as the sun shines and the rivers flow, and through all of the years, it will give life to men and beasts.

"We cannot sell the lives of men and animals, and so, we cannot sell the land. It was put here by the Great Spirit and we cannot sell it because it does not really belong to us.

"You can count your money and burn it with the nod of a buffalo's head but only the Great Spirit can count the grains of sand and the blades of grass on these plains. As a present to you, we will give you anything we have that you can take with you, the land we cannot give."

This short account of Crowfoot and the government representative, once again, demonstrates the quality of leadership, it shows that our forefathers had insight and recognized the value of lands.

This demonstrates that the government's inability to comprehend the depth of knowledge and wisdom the Aboriginal leaders had during the treaty negotiations.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Story taken in part from The Saskatchewan Indian Magazine.