Whose magnificent orations were never written down in his richly metaphorical languages, who spoke no English, and whose profound, extended images exist only in bits of translation—often made by incompetent translators—that were recorded largely by his enemies? To try to write Big Bear’s story, I researched beyond the standard, accepted facts of White Canadian history and considered carefully the complex Plains Cree culture and the enormous physical landscape in which Big Bear lived. His known actions speak to his character and wisdom, his constant spiritual beliefs. The most reliable written records of his words are the few he dictated in Cree to the English speakers he could (or had to) trust. Some of his more sympathetic recorders (e.g., William Cameron, William McLean) understood minimal Cree, and some of his most prejudiced (e.g., PG. Laurie, David Laird) knew none whatever, so I have relied most heavily on the sparse testimony of fluent Cree speakers (e.g., James Simpson, Peter Erasmus, Henry Halpin).
