Jerry Potts 1840-1896
Potts was born at Fort McKenzie, Montana. He was the only child of his Aboriginal mother Namo-pisi (Crooked Back) and Andrew R. Potts, a Scottish fur trader.
For all his ability to get along with white men Potts was very much an Indian. He never fully understood the white man's reasoning. During his teens Potts passed all the Indian rites of passage including the final agony of the Sun Dance wherein the fledgling brave is tied to a pole by thongs threaded through his chest muscles.
Assistant Commissioner James Macleod of the Northwest Mounted Police hired Potts in 1874 to act as a guide and interpreter. Jerry Potts continued to play an important role in maintaining good relations with the Blackfeet. In 1877 he contributed to the success of negotiations on Treaty No. 7 and at the time of the North-West rebellion in 1885 he was influential in securing Blackfoot neutrality. Jerry Potts was accepted by the Indians and the whites alike. He remained in the service of the Mounties until his death in 1896.
The city of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, east of Fort MacLeod, has named a boulevard in Jerry Potts' honour.
Source (text and photos): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Potts,
http://www.telusplanet.net/public/mtoll/jpotts.htm,
http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?BioId=40494
For all his ability to get along with white men Potts was very much an Indian. He never fully understood the white man's reasoning. During his teens Potts passed all the Indian rites of passage including the final agony of the Sun Dance wherein the fledgling brave is tied to a pole by thongs threaded through his chest muscles.
Assistant Commissioner James Macleod of the Northwest Mounted Police hired Potts in 1874 to act as a guide and interpreter. Jerry Potts continued to play an important role in maintaining good relations with the Blackfeet. In 1877 he contributed to the success of negotiations on Treaty No. 7 and at the time of the North-West rebellion in 1885 he was influential in securing Blackfoot neutrality. Jerry Potts was accepted by the Indians and the whites alike. He remained in the service of the Mounties until his death in 1896.
The city of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, east of Fort MacLeod, has named a boulevard in Jerry Potts' honour.
Source (text and photos): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Potts,
http://www.telusplanet.net/public/mtoll/jpotts.htm,
http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?BioId=40494