‘Where's the Beef?‘: Cattle Killing, Rations Policy and First Nations ‘Criminality’ in Southern Alberta, 1892–1895

Abstract This paper analyzes cattle killing by First Nations in Southern Alberta in the 1890s in light of different theoretical approaches to the issue of First Nations crime. This paper suggests that this form of criminal behaviour was not a result of cultural differences or cultural misunderstandings between First Nations and Europeans. Rather, this type of First Nations criminality was rooted in material circumstances characterized by extreme hunger, and was reflective of a process of resistance to state policies. The crime of cattle killing was, in part, a political act that was part of Treaty Seven First Nations efforts to oppose and change the Department of Indian Affairs rations policy.