Crowfoot: Chief of the Blackfeet by Hugh A. Dempsey (review)

REVIEWS 447 protection,rifles and governmentgoodies.Even Lord Lansdowne,who fancied himselfasanarm-chairstrategist, passed hisideasoverto Caron,althoughhe had nothingasoriginalto offer asLieutenantColonelW.R. Oswaldof the Montreal GarrisonArtillery,whosuggested thatthe militiabe providedwith rockets -'they wouldsendtheIndiansskying' (p.262). In 1886the Northwestcampaign telegrams wereassembled and copied,apparentlywithaviewto theirpublication shouldParliamentaskfor them.Whennoone everdemandedthem.Caronsimplykeptthemamonghispersonal papers.Whatis curiousaboutthiscollection isthe factthat it wasnowbowdlerized,despitethe fact thatpublication of allthetelegrams in 1886wouldhaveprovedasembarrassing to someof thesenders astheirpublication in 1972isfascinating totheirreaders.The editorsfounddifficultyin understanding some of thecopies, perhaps because they weretranscribed byclerkswritingin hasteandwithoutan adequateknowledge of French;perhaps because theoriginalcoded messages wereinaccurately transmitted overthetelegraph wires.Fortunately, Professors MortonandRoyhavebeenableto checkthe transcripts against the originals to correcterrorsandclarifymeanings. Today'sreaders will haveno difficultywhatsoever in following thecourse of the campaign, asAdolpheCaronsawit in Ottawa,simplybyreadingthe dayto day exchange of telegrams. The bookmaintains thehighstandard ofbinding,printing,andindexing thatwe havecometoexpect fromtheChamplain Society. The editorialnotes arethorough, andasfar asI candetermine,accurate. The proof-readingwasalsogood;I found fewerrorsand thosewereonlyof a minornature,suchasthe slipin datein the footnote onpage63.The mapsareadequate, thoughnomorethanthat. GEORGE F.G. STANLEY Canadian Studies, MountAllisonUniversity Crowjbot: ChiefoftheBlackjget. I•VgHA.r•E•PSE¾. Edmonton,Hurtig, •972. PP.xx, 226,illus.$8.95. Everyhistorianwhosechildhood wasenrichedwithJamesWillard Schultz's books aboutthe Blackfeet will welcome thisbiographyof thattribe'smostfamouschief. Hugh Dempsey haswrittena verygoodbook- thescholarly yetromanticstoryof Crowfoot,whose lifetime(• 83o-9o ) enclosed thecriticalepochin the historyof his people. Theauthorhasskilfully related Crowfoot's progress fromhisboyhood asan adoptedBloodto thechieftainship, firstof a Blackfoot band,thenthetribe,and finallytotheposition of primaryspokesman for theentireconfederacy. Aschief, Crowfootdirectedthemovements of theBlackfeet; asspokesman, hewasprimarily responsible forthegathering oftheconfederacy andthenegotiation andratification of TreatyNo Sevenin 1877.Fromthishighpointin thecivilization of hispeople, CrowfootledtheBlackfeet bytortuous pathstothebeef-turnip-and-potato culture thatawaitedthemon thereservation in •88•. In the uncertainyearsthat followed, thoughrelationsbetweenthe Indiansand Canadianofficials worsened, Crowfoot remainedtruetotheinterests ofhispeople -and thereforeloyaltothequeenduring theclimactic daysof •885. 448 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW Dempsey's book ismore than biography. It reveals much about thehistor• ofthe West andthemenwhofashioned itsdestiny. Particularly fascinating was theaccount ofCrowfoot, asamanandasachief: thewarmth andtragedy ofhisfamily relations; thecareful development andmanagement of hishorse herds; hisrisetopolitical prominence throughpersonal acts of bravery, martialskills, andgrowing connections with various traders, missionaries,and membersof the North West Mounted Police. Manifestly hewas notthefaithless fellowSamSteele thought himtobe;nor washe simplyanotherone of Father Lacombe's Indians.He washis own man; andin thisstoryof hislife, thewesternhistorian will discover he mustre-evaluate someearlierconceptions. Lacombe's larger-than-life imagewill necessarily be reduced . Hispartinpacifying theBlackfeet in x885nowseems quitesecondary tothat playedbythe Indiancommissioner, EdgarDewdney, andhisspecial agent,Cecil Denny. Intriguing, too, are the glimpses of other westernpersonalities. Jean L'Heureux,theunstable imposter-priest, seems tohavefulfilledamoremeaningful roleinBlackfeet-Canadian relations thanthelegendary Lacombe. Inspector Francis J. Dickens andSuperintendent L.N.F.Crozier,bytheirineptactions in x882,gave dramatic foreshadowing of theirtragicfailuresin x885.Indeed,thewholeassociationbetween thepolice andthechiefs isprecisely portrayed. Eachforcesuccessfully sustained theotheruntilthebuffalobegan rapidlytodisappear; then,astheauthorityofthechiefs diminished, sodidthepowerofthepolice. Notuntilthelastbuffalo hadbeenkilledandtheBlackfeet drivenontotheirreservation didthejointforces of policepowerandtribalauthoritybeginslowly andpainfullytoreassert themselves. Despitethe sparseand often tenuoussources availableto him, Dempseyhas composed asolidandsatisfying work.To themoreobvious research materials, hehas judiciously added'oraltradition'-recorded interviews withelderlyBlackfeet in x939 and x94•, conducted bytwoanthropologists, andin •957byDempsey himselfand hisBlackfoot-speaking father-in-law. Thesesources providedadynamic dimension, animatingthebiography andgivingitpremierposition amongtheIndianhistories of Canada's West. ALVIN C. GLUEK, JR Erindale College, University ofToronto Cinquante ans d'action ouvrikre: les mdmoires d'Alfred Charpentier. ALFRED CHARPENTIER. With anintroduction byG/mARD mON.Qu(•bcc, LcsPrcsscs dcl'Univcrsit(• Laval, •97•. PP.xiv,54o.$7.oo. AlfredCharpentier was oneofthirteen children bornintoabricklayer's family in Montreal. Hisfatherwas amilitant intheUnion des Briqueteurs andthePartiOuvrier. Alfred turnedawayfrom international unionism and the socialism of the Parti Ouvrier andgotcaught upinthenationaliste movement inspired byHenriBourassa. His'conversion' to Catholic syndicalism cannot beseparated fromthedefensive nationalism of FrenchCanadians duringthe FirstWorldWar. He decided to be 'canadien etcatholique' butdidn'tcease tobeeitheraworkeror atradeunionist. He rose steadily intheranks ofthecTccafter1921andbecame itspresident in •935,a position hehelduntilGfirard Picard defeated himatthe•946convention. ...