Canada: The Story of Us

The warrior with the most horses will become the master of the Plains

Nakoda warrior Chat Ka plans a raid on a trading companies' horses.

Nakoda warrior Chat Ka plans a raid on a trading companies' horses.

Chat Ka's Raid

8 years ago
Duration 1:18
Nakoda warrior Chat Ka steals a horse from the North West Company in a raid.

1802, Great Plains (modern day Alberta).

The Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company establish trading posts at Rocky Mountain House and keep close watch on their horses, a prized commodity.

Horses are revolutionary to the buffalo hunt. The transport of buffalo carcasses that used to take days now only takes hours. And Chat Ka, a Nakoda warrior, knows that the warrior with the most horses will become the master of the Plains. 

So as a symbol of his nation's dominance, Chat Ka plans a raid on the companies' horses in broad daylight. 

According to Indigenous art scholar Gerald McMaster, "the idea wasn't so much to kill your opponent but rather to somehow get the best of your opponent without shedding any blood."

Chat Ka and the Nakoda become some of the most prosperous traders on the Plains and key leaders in the buffalo hunt.

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