'Frog Lake' is a small 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]
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. Led by
Wandering Spirit, young Cree warriors attacked the small town near
Frog Lake, Alberta in
April 2,
1885.
Angered by what seemed to be unfair treaties by the
Canadian government and the dwindling
buffalo population, their main source of food,
Big Bear and his Cree decided to rebel after the successful
Métis victory at
Duck Lake. 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.
The massacre 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]
:''See the account of the massacre by the only white man who survived it, in 'Cameron, W.B. The war trail of Big Bear.'''.
[4]
Band
★ Frog Lake Indian Band
★ Frog Lake, Alberta, Canada. T0A 1M0
Reference
1. eip&lang=eng Frog Lake population
2. W. Stewart WALLACE, ed., - The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. II, Toronto, University Associates of Canada, 1948, 411p., pp. 401-402.
3. Canadian Encyclopedia - Wandering Spirit
4. Cameron, W.B. - The war trail of Big Bear. Toronto. 1926
External links
★
Frog Lake Settlement
★
Frog Lake Map