MAY 30, 1897

CREE KITCHI-MANITO-WAYA (JEAN-BAPTISTE) KILLED BY MOUNTIES AFTER 19-MONTH SEARCH

Born near Duck Lake, Saskatchewan (SK), in 1875, Jean-Baptiste’s Cree name meant “Almighty Voice.”  He grew up on the One Arrow Reserve near Batoche, SK. His grandfather signed Treaty 6 in 1876 and his father took part in the North-West Rebellion of 1885. On October 22, 1895, Almighty Voice was arrested for butchering a government steer. When a jailor at Duck Lake jokingly told him that the penalty for the offense was hanging, he escaped and fled to his reserve. On October 29, as North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) attempted arrest, Almighty Voice killed an NWMP officer and a $500 bounty was put on his capture. On May 27, 1897, he & 2 relatives shot and wounded a local Métis scout near Duck Lake. The following day, the NWMP cornered Almighty Voice near his reserve. The ensuing fight left 1 NWMP officer, a constable, and a postmaster dead, and 2 NWMP officers wounded. On May 30, a force of nearly 100 NWMP officers bombarded his location killing Almighty Voice and his relatives.

Source: “Almighty Voice,” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 7/19/2016.  Retrieved 11/8/2021, Almighty Voice | The Canadian Encyclopedia
Photo: Frank Anderson, circa 1892-94.  Courtesy of the Glenbow Western Research Centre, University of Calgary, Item No. NA-2302-1.