Matonabbee

Matonabbee (c. 1737–1782) was a Chipewyan hunter and leader. He was also a trader and a Chipewyan representative at Fort Prince of Wales. He travelled with Chief Akaitcho's older brother, Keskarrah.[1] After his father died, Matonabbee spent some time living at Prince of Wales Fort where he learned to speak English.

He acted as a guide for Samuel Hearne during his exploration from 1770 to 1772. On July 14, 1771, while on an Arctic overland journey, he, his followers, and a group of Yellowknives, Dene known as Copper Indians, who had joined them at Clowey,[2] massacred a group of over 20 unsuspecting Inuit (Eskimo); this would be known as the Bloody Falls massacre.

After the death of many Chipewyans during a smallpox epidemic of 1782 and the defeat of Fort Prince of Wales by the French, Matonabbee became depressed after the destruction of the Churchill Factory 1782, which had been the primary source of his fortune and fame. He had been the main middleman between the various tribes of the Cree and the Hudson's Bay Company. He then committed suicide by hanging himself, thus being the earliest record of a northern First Nations to kill himself.

Literature
  • Strother Roberts: The life and death of Matonabbee: fur trade and leadership among the Chipewyan, 1736-1782, Manitoba Historical Society 2007.
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References
  1. Crowe, Keith J. (1991). A history of the original peoples of northern Canada (2 ed.). McGill-Queen's Press. p. 79. ISBN 0-7735-0880-5.
  2. Hearne, Samuel. (1745-1792) A Journey to the Northern Ocean: The Adventures of Samuel Hearne. Surrey, BC:TouchWood Editions.


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