Frog Lake is a small Cree community about a two and half hour drive east of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Frog Lake has 2,454 band members as of August, 2007. Frog Lake has a reserve population of approximately 1,000 residing on-reserve.[1]
[edit] Massacre
It was the scene of the Frog Lake Massacre of which nine white men were killed by Cree Aboriginals on April 2, 1885 in the course of the North West Rebellion.[2]
The Frog Lake Massacre was a Cree uprising during the North-West Rebellion. Frustrated by their mistreatment and continued lies about treaty negotiations and food rationing from the Canadian government, a young group of Plains Cree led by Wandering Spirit, attacked the small town near Frog Lake, Alberta in April 2, 1885. This had been spurred on by the Metis success at the Battle of Duck Lake.
Angered by the unfair treaties and continuous mistreatment by the Canadian government and the dwindling buffalo population, their main source of food, a number of young Cree warriors in Big Bear's band, decided to raid the white settlement in Frog Lake. Despite their leader's plead to negotiate with words rather than war, the Cree head chief lost his authority when his War Chief Wandering Spirit took over. They gathered all the white settlers in the area into the local church. Thomas Quinn, the town's Indian Agent, was killed after a disagreement broke out. The Cree then shot at the settlers. Nine people were killed and three were taken as captives.
This rebellion took place as a result of growing unrest and mistreatment of the Aboriginal peoples of Western Canada. The massacre unsurprisingly prompted the Canadian government to take notice of the growing unrest in Western Canada. The rebellion was eventually put down, and Wandering Spirit, the war chief responsible for the Frog Lake Massacre, was hanged.[3]
- Frog Lake First Nation
- Frog Lake, Alberta, Canada. T0A 1M0
[edit] References
[edit] External links
Coordinates: 53°49′53.53″N 110°24′06.83″W / 53.8315361°N 110.4018972°W / 53.8315361; -110.4018972 (Frog Lake)
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