In Search of Almighty Voice: Resistance and Reconciliation

by Bill Waiser

In May 1897, Almighty Voice, a member of the One Arrow Willow Cree, died violently when Canada's North-West Mounted Police shelled the fugitive's hiding place. Since then, his violent death has spawned a succession of conflicting stories -- from newspaper features, magazine articles and pulp fiction to plays and film. Almighty Voice has been maligned, misunderstood, romanticized, celebrated, and invented. Indeed, there have been many Almighty Voices over the years. What these stories have in common is that the Willow Cree man mattered. Understanding why he mattered has a direct bearing on reconciliation efforts today. Historian Bill Waiser offers a fresh account of the incident -- a difficult task because of the conflicting source material about the man and the need to separate facts from fiction, truth from rumor. In Search of Almighty Voice also examines how the story has been told and revised over the past 120 years through newspaper columns, magazine articles, poetry, plays and more. Waiser reveals the truth behind the Willow Cree man in the stories and popular material.

Genres: Indigenous

274 pages, Paperback

Published December 17, 2020

Reviews

[Amanda Borys]

An interesting read that looked at the mythology of the death of Almighty Voice, a Willow Cree who's initial crime of killing a cow lead to the death of a number of men. Including Sgt Colebrook of the NWMP. The author does a good job of laying out the details of Almighty Voice's last 19 months of life, as well as the racism of society and gross ineptitude of the Department of Indian Affairs.

I feel this book could have benefited from a stronger editor. While the author did an amazing amount of research, he needed someone to tell him when the details were getting too much and to rein in his tendency to give step by step descriptions of movies and plays about Almighty Voice.

The sad fact is that Almighty Voice's voice has been silenced and, no matter how hard we try, there is no one left alive that knows what life was like when he was a young man. However, he should be remembered for who and what he was, not caricatures of various Indian stereotypes or typecasts for dramatic sake.

[Shalen]

Known for killing a government cow and shooting a Mountie. No one cared to understand WHY he shot the cow. His ppl were starving and Indian Agent wasn’t providing and forced to be on the reserve. Perspective and worldview ❤️❤️

[Leslie Amundson]

Superbly researched and accessible history.