Now, did he, at any time, counsel or advise the continuance of the outrages that he is charged with? My learned friend has tried to throw some doubt upon the evidence of young Simpson, because he thinks he has a bias against the prisoner. Is that good reason, because he has a bias against the prisoner and the Indians generally? Who kept him in confinement for such a long time, who at one time was in deadly peril of his life, and the hardships he suffered while a prisoner have brought him nearly to death’s door since? Is there any reason why he should not have a bias? But is that any reason why he should not come into the box and tell truthfully all he knew about the circumstances during the time he was imprisoned with them? I think my learned friend endeavored to convey to you the impression that that was the only evidence of any intention on the part of Big Bear to act against the Government in any way; but my learned friend has forgotten the evidence of a certain man named Pritchard. Pritchard’s evidence is not attacked in any way. My learned friend has not said anything about it. You will remember what Pritchard said as to what Big Bear said he had done with regard to a certain other Indian chief of his acquaintance, that he had written up to him or was about to write to him to tell him to come at once and join his band, and if he didn’t, better get a fast horse and leave the country, and then asked
Montour to write a letter to some friend of his at Lac la Biche, and Montour asked Big Bear, shall I say a certain thing, shall I write to him and tell him to come, the Indians would rob him anyway. My learned friend has also tried to impress upon you the fact that he could not be charged with anything in connection with the fight at Frenchman’s Butte, because he was not fighting himself. I have yet to learn that an Indian of his age goes into a fight. My impression from all I have heard of the Indian character generally, is that it is the young braves who fight and the old men who counsel and remain in the camp, and it could not be expected this old man would go out and join in the fray; his place would be in the council advising the young men as to what steps they should take, and having been with them at that time in the camp shows conclusively that he was counselling; and it is strange too, that during all the councils that have been held from the time the prisoners were first taken till they were released we find Big Bear in that council. He was not treated with like an old woman, some of his advice and opinions may have been resisted by some of the other Indians, but he was there always giving his opinion as far as we have heard, he was always giving his advice.Mr. Robertson. - That was not what the witnesses said, it is really too bad to state such things so broadly as that.
Court. - You should not interrupt.
Mr. Scott. - He was always in the council as far as we know; it is possible that I may have overstretched the thing a little, but I remember Mr. Cameron stating that the council that he saw he was taking part in it, and Stanley Simpson said in the council he heard that he was taking part in it, and Maclean said that at a meeting of the chiefs he was one of the four chiefs that came out to meet him at Fort Pitt, and although he does not remember the prisoner saying anything at that meeting, yet he appeared there as one of the head men of the combined party.
Mr. Robertson. - Did he say come out to meet him?
Mr. Scott. - If I understand what I did say, I said that when Mr. Maclean came out to meet the chiefs, he was one of the party.
Mr. Robertson. - He found him there, that was in the Indian camp.
Mr. Scott. - Now, gentlemen, I have just one more thing to call your attention to, and that is that at the time of the separation of the Wood Cree from the prisoner and his band, Mr. Maclean tells us that it was the intention of the prisoner and his band to work their way down from that place to Duck Lake. That shows what his intention was at that time. It may not be that there was any evidence of his going down to Duck Lake, but there is evidence that my learned friend has put in that a request came up from Poundmaker’s camp, a letter written by a man named Norbert Delorme, and the band was asked to go down to join them. My learned friend lays great stress upon the fact that the prisoner was instrumental or sided with them in their efforts not to get the band to remain with him, but the solution of that is very simple. We have seen from the evidence, and it has been shown to us that Maclean had a very strong influence over this man, he succeeded in convincing this man by some argument, and the prisoner and Maclean together succeeded in convincing the rest of the band, that was the only reason, as appears from the evidence why they did not go down there, and for anything we have heard in the evidence, that is the reason why the prisoner did not want to go down.
