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NATIVE BUT FOREIGN
Indigenous Immigrants and Refugees in the North American Borderlands by Brenden W. Rensink, Texas A&M Press, 2018

Chapter 9, Note 64 (pages 194 and 268)

News also circulated that Rocky Boy would preside over the joint group, with Little Bear to succeed him upon his death. While the tribe would eventually take Rocky Boy’s name, not Little Bear’s, it is unclear if this leadership arrangement ever materialized. (p. 194)

Chapter 9, Note 64 . . . for sources and discussion of the debated leadership roles of Rocky Boy and Little Bear in the joint group. (p. 268)

In correspondence with the Indian Office, Little Bear had been calling himself a “sub-chief” of the Rocky Boy band. In late 1914, the Helena Record referred to him as “first assistant to Rocky Boy” and “bi-chief” of the tribe. The cohabitation of his Crees with Rocky Boy’s band at Fort Assiniboine helped evolve the nominal integration of the bands to a physical one.

Sources:

  • Little Bear to Cato Sells, April 24, 1914, RG 75, RB Files, NARA-DC, Part 5.
  • “Old Indian Leader Said to be Dying and the Children in the Tribe Starving,” Helena Record, December 25, 1914.
  • Cut Bank Pioneer Press, January 1, 1915, p 1.