This should be required reading for all Canadians interested in the true history of the "settling" of Canada, especially since it is not the story taught in schools. As sad a story as it is, we could learn a lot about ethical behaviour from Big Bear. ( )

This past summer, I visited Fort Battleford, Saskatchewan, one of the sites mentioned in this book. Nearly all the books in the gift shop were about the Native nations involved in the Northwest uprising. It struck me that over 100 years after the incident, finally they are being recognized as the protagonists of this story. Big Bear, Poundmaker, Riel, Crowfoot, these people acted ethically, and far more than Middleton or Dickens, acted the way modern Canadians would like to see themselves.
This book is a perfect illustration of that. Big Bear is an undeniably great figure, and I hope through this biography many more people will see his legacy. Of all the Extroardinary Canadians biographies, this one is my personal favourite. ( )

Hero of the Cree

Part of the Extraordinary Canadians series with an introduction from John Ralston Saul. Big Bear was the leader of the Cree during that crucial period of western expansion by the Dominion of Canada under John A. Macdonald. Wiebe's narrative is simple, easy to follow, and does a good job of telling a difficult story of how white Canada tricked the First Nations into signing the Numbered Treaties, and the failed attempts to settle the natives and destroy the buffalo populations. The story also covers the arrest of Big Bear following the Frog Lake massacre and Big Bear's time in a Canadian prison.

Big Bear's story is a history of Canada, a leader of the Cree who refused to submit to the unreasonable demands of white Canada. Also interesting is Wiebe's nuance of Metis/Indian relations. Traditional histories paint the two as one and the same, but as more sources become available we now know that Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont did not have the support of First Nations like the Cree.

This is a very easy to read and historically accurate narrative of one of Canada's original leaders. An excellent read for anyone interested in Aboriginal and Canadian history. ( )