Incarceration

Pihtikwahanapiwiyin (Poundmaker) was brought to Regina for the trial in July 1885. He declared himself innocent, claiming he had done everything to stop the violence. However, the court wrongfully sentenced him to three years in prison. He has since been exonerated by the Federal Government for the wrongful conviction, and has gone from being viewed in Canadian society as a "trouble-maker" in the North-West Resistance to the great leader and protector he was. 

Mistahimaskwa and fourteen of his companions were prosecuted in Regina for treason-felony. He did not participate in the conflict and tried to stop hostilities. However, according to the judge, Mistahimaskwa should have left his band at the beginning of the violence. The judge Hugh Richardson sentenced him to three years.

In the 90s and early 2000s, the Saskatoon Police Service faced public and legal scrutiny for practicing what became colloquially known as the "Starlight Tours." In summary, a Starlight Tour happens when an Indigenous person, frequently Indigenous men, is picked up by the police at night and abandoned outside of the city limits in subzero termpatures. An egregious abuse of power, tours were carried out in winter, and the men were left to freeze. This practice came to public eye after one man, Darryl Night, survived an attempted tour and filed a complaint against the SPS officers.

It was only after Darryl Night came forward that the deaths of Neil Stonechild, Rodney Naistus, and Lawrence Wegner were deemed suspicious. Because of existing prejudice and racism within the police force, it was assumed that these men had 'gotten drunk' and wandered off into the night. When Darryl Night came forward with his complaint, it triggered a demand for an independent inquiry into the deaths of Stonechild, Naistus, and Wegner. The two officers implicated in the Darryl Night case were found guilty of unlawful confinement and were fired from the police force and sent to jail for a minimum sentence. The Wright Inquiry into the death of Neil Stonechild implicated the Saskatoon Police Service in the death of Stonechild. It found that their initial investigation was superficial and completely inadequate. Justice Wright also determined that Stonechild was in the care of the police the night of his murder and they were ultimately at fault for his death, though no officers have ever been formally charged. The inquiries into the deaths of Naistus and Wegner made no conclusive statements, but it is imperative to acknowledge they are victims of Starlight Tours as well. 

The North-West Mounted Police was established in 1873 by the government of John A. MacDonald. The Cypress Hills massacre as well as the increasing number of conflicts on the U.S border due to alcohol smuggling are often cited as the main reasons the MacDonald government passed the bill creating the new military-style police force. However, most historians agree that the primary reason for establishing the force was to control First Nations and Métis populations, as the government sought to populate the West with settlers. Under the central authority of Ottawa, the NWMP marched West in 1874. The NWMP served as an arm of colonial control for politicians and lawmakers in Ottawa. For Indigenous communities in the Northwest, it represented an additional source of repression. The newly formed para-military style force was entrusted with wide-ranging powers and duties. Officers acted as Justices of the Peace, able to apprehend and sentence offenders, as well as impose Indian Act polices such as the Pass System. Since western courthouses did not exist at the time on the Prairies, NWMP barracks were often used for court proceedings and as temporary prisons. The NWMP assisted Indian Agents with the ration system, as well as enforcing laws obliging Indigenous students to attend residential schools. Government policies such as the Residential School system, the Sixties Scoop and gender discrimination in the Indian Act subjected Indigenous families to violence, cultural dislocation and land dispossession. The NWMP was successful in instituting a system of surveillance and curtailment, restricting Indigenous people to their reserves, regulating their land use and criminalizing livestock theft to benefit settler farmers and ranchers.

Not all Indigenous children were required to attend the Indian Residential School in Lebret - in "Relevant Resources" (listed below), James Tyman serves as an example of a visibly Indigenous Metis boy who was subjected to continual racism from his peers at the public elementary school in Lebret.

Member of Parliament, Mr. Paterson, recommended a provision to the legislation which criminalized First Nations from purchasing or consuming alcohol. This was to be enforced by settlers who were given the authority to report a First Nations person who allegedly broke this new, egregious law, to the Superintendent of Indian Affairs. They could provide the names of witnesses to be called, but were not required to testify themselves, so as to avoid the possibility of being harassed by the accused. This provision was agreed to by the House of Commons.

In 1952, the ritual consumption of peyote related to the activities of the Native American Church was reported among members of the Cree band led by Louis Sunchild. Sunchild, an Alberta First Nation leader, was stopped at the Montana-Alberta border carrying peyote. RCMP took him into custody, and although he was released, the peyote was retained and the report and images of his peyote stash were circulated to Indian Agents across Western Canada.

Tapassing, a member of the Fishing Lake band, was arrested in January of 1904 for dancing. However, once the NWMP discovered that he was over ninety years old and nearly blind, he was released.