Red River Ancestry

Good day relatives!

I represent the Bears from southern Saskatchewan, registered to the Ochapowace First Nation. I am a decendant of Thomas Bear/Meskaneepowit. In our oral family history, Jacob Bear (wife is Nancy Bear) and siblings migrated to Saskatchewan. Jacob Bear headed west to spread Christianity and made it to Crooked Lake and was there at the time of the signing of Treaty 4, accepted onto the First Nation reserve of Ochapowace.

Some of the siblings made it to northern Saskatchewan, Muskoday First Nation and area.

There are Facebook groups that go into depth with the Red River Settlement and also Philip Turner/Turnor if anyone is interested.

Lastly, I was able to confirm that "Wapusk" translates to "Polar Bear" in Swampy Cree. I often wondered if the "White Bear" was translated from a language and meant polar bear as there are polar bears located in the north at York Factory. Once I find out what "Meskaneeposit" translates to, I will report it.

Thank you for adding your part of the Bear family history. I descend from White Bear's daughter Sally who married HBC man Donald Sutherland. My g.grandmother was Isabella, the youngest of their four children. Isabella married John Weir, a Scotsman. They migrated to Australia where I live. If anyone has written the history of White Bear's family, I would love to buy a copy. You can contact me via this forum. Pam Jarrett (nee Weir)