Crowfoot

Who was Crowfoot?

Crowfoot or Isapo-Muxika was a chief of the Siksika First Nation. His parents, Istowun-eh'pata and Axkahp-say-pi, were Kainai. His brother Iron Shield became Chief Bull.

He was only five when Istowun-eh'pata was killed during a raid on the Crow tribe, and a year later, his mother remarried to Akay-nehka-simi of the Siksika people. The young boy was adopted by the Siksika, who gave him the name Kyi-i-staah, until he could receive his father’s name, Istowun-eh’pata.

Because of his brave performance and injury during a battle, he was finally given his adult name, Isapo-muxika, taken from a deceased relative.

Crowfoot was a warrior who fought in as many as 19 battles and sustained many injuries. Despite this, he tried to obtain peace instead of tribal warfare. When the Canadian Pacific Railway sought to build their mainline through Blackfoot territory, negotiations with Albert Lacombe convinced Crowfoot that it should be allowed.

In 1877 Colonel James Macleod and Lieutenant-Governor David Laird drew up Treaty Number 7 and persuaded Crowfoot and other chiefs to sign it. In gratitude Canadian Pacific Railway President William Van Horne gave Crowfoot a lifetime pass to ride on the CPR.