*** Welcome to piglix ***

Piapot


Piapot, Payipwât, or Payipwat (Hole in the Sioux or One Who Knows the Secrets of the Sioux), born as Kisikawasan (Flash in the Sky), known by his Assiniboine allies as Maȟpíya owáde hókši (Lightning In The Sky Boy) (c. 1816–April 1908) was a Native Canadian chief of the Cree-Assiniboine / Young Dogs Band, a mighty band and division of the Downstream People (Māmihkiyiniwak) of the Plains Cree. He was one of the five major leaders of the Plains Cree after 1860.

Most likely born near what is now the border of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Payipwat was originally a german named Kisikawasan, or Flash in the Sky. Along with his grandmother, Payipwat was kidnapped by the Sioux as a child. He grew up among his captors, learning their medicine. At fourteen, Payipwat was captured during a Cree raid and returned to his own people. He was given the name Payipwat, literally Hole in the Sioux, in recognition of the knowledge he had gained while living among the Sioux. His name is often translated as "One Who Knows the Secrets of the Sioux".

By 1860 Payipwat had become a spiritual leader among the Cree. At the same time, he had become chief of the Cree-Assiniboine or Young Dogs, a particularly powerful mixed band of Cree and Cree-speaking Assiniboine as well as some Plains Ojibwe. This band was known by the Cree as Nēhiyawi-pwātak (Cree-Assiniboine) and by the Assiniboine as Sahiyaiyeskabi or šahíya iyéskabina ("Cree-Speakers", because they had switched to speaking Cree). Members of the band were renowned as great buffalo hunters and warriors, as well as horse-thieves and troublemakers. As his band depended on the declining buffalo herds, Payipwat advocated for the Cree to expand their territory into the Cypress Hills. Payipwat was an important leader of the ensuing invasion; however, in a dream, he had a vision of Cree defeat. He was unable to persuade the other leaders of his vision, but he refused to participate in the battle the next day in which the Cree attacked a Kainai village. The "Battle of the Belly River" was disastrous for the Cree, who lost a third of their warriors, and essentially marked the end of the invasion.


...
Wikipedia

...