Matonabbee (–1782) was a

Chipewyan The Chipewyan ( , also called ''Denésoliné'' or ''Dënesųłı̨né'' or ''Dënë Sųłınë́'', meaning "the original/real people") are a Dene group of Indigenous Canadian people belonging to the Athabaskan language family, whose ancest ...

hunter and leader. He was also a trader and a Chipewyan representative at the Prince of Wales Fort. He travelled with Chief Akaitcho's older brother, Keskarrah. 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 Samuel Hearne (February 1745 – November 1792) was an English explorer, fur-trader, author and naturalist. He was the first European to make an overland excursion across northern Canada to the Arctic Ocean, specifically to Coronation Gulf, vi ...

during his exploration from 1770 to 1772, together they travelled more than . On July 14, 1771, while on an

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

overland journey, he, his followers, and a group of

Yellowknives The Yellowknives, Yellow Knives, Copper Indians, Red Knives or T'atsaot'ine (Wíílíídeh dialect: ''Tetsǫ́t'ınę'') are indigenous peoples in Canada, indigenous peoples of Canada, one of the five main groups of the First Nations in Canada, F ...

Dene The Dene people () are an Indigenous group of First Nations who inhabit the northern boreal, subarctic and Arctic regions of Canada. The Dene speak Northern Athabaskan languages and it is the common Athabaskan word for "people". The term ...

Suline, also known as Chepewyan, who had joined them at Clowey Lake,Hearne, Samuel. (1745–1792) A Journey to the Northern Ocean: The Adventures of Samuel Hearne. Surrey, BC: TouchWood Editions. massacred a group of over 20 unsuspecting Inuinnait, also known as Copper Inuit; this would be known as the Bloody Falls massacre. A combination of the deaths of many Chipewyans during a smallpox epidemic of 1782, and the defeat of Fort Prince of Wales by the French in the same year, caused Matonabbee to become depressed. Fort Prince of Wales had been the primary source of his fortune and fame and he had been the main middleman between the various tribes of the

Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...

and the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

. He then committed suicide by hanging himself, thus being the earliest record of a northern

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

to kill himself.

Literature

References

External links

Samuel Hearne's account of Matonabbee
* * {{cite DCB , first=Beryl C. , last=Gillespie , title=Matonabbee , volume=4 , url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/matonabbee_4E.html 1730s births 1782 deaths 18th-century indigenous people of the Americas Dene people Canadian explorers Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Suicides by hanging in Canada 18th-century suicides