Albert Lacombe, known as Father Lacombe, was a French-Canadian Roman Catholic missionary who travelled among and evangelized the Cree and also visited the Blackfoot First Nations of northwestern Canada. He is now remembered for having brokered a peace between the Cree and Blackfoot, negotiating construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway through Blackfoot territory, and securing a promise from the Blackfoot leader Crowfoot to refrain from joining the North-West Rebellion of 1885.
Father Albert Lacombe circa 1913
Telegram from Lacombe to Macdonald assuring Crowfoot's loyalty
Statue commemorating Father Lacombe in St. Albert, Alberta
The North-West Rebellion, also known as the North-West Resistance, was an armed resistance movement by the Métis under Louis Riel and an associated uprising by Cree and Assiniboine of the District of Saskatchewan, North-West Territories, against the Canadian government. Many Métis felt that Canada was not protecting their rights, their land, and their survival as a distinct people. Fighting broke out in late March, and the conflict ended in June. About 91 people were killed in the fighting that occurred that spring before the conflict ended with the capture of Batoche in May 1885.
Top: Battle of Batoche Bottom: Battle of Cut Knife
Image: Battle of Batoche Print by Seargent Grundy
The federal government's violation of its treaties with the Cree spurred Big Bear, a Cree chief, to embark on a diplomatic campaign to renegotiate the terms of the treaties.
In March 1885, a skirmish broke out between the Canadian Militia, the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP), and Métis and aboriginal warriors.
