Kahkewistahaw’s father, Le Sonnant (Mähsette Kuiuab), was a leader of the Rabbit Skin people (Wāpošwayānak). Le Sonnant, a medicine man and warrior, was one of the signatories of the 1817 Selkirk Treaty.

In September of 1874 Kahkewistahaw himself signed Treaty 4, which established reserves for each signatory tribe. In 1881, the tribe’s reserve was surveyed. It was situated on the south side of the Qu’Appelle Valley, between Round Lake and Crooked Lake. Once the reserve was established, many, including Kahkewistahaw, gave up their traditional buffalo hunting and adopted farming and raising cattle. The reserve’s land proved fertile, and the proximity of the Canadian Pacific Railway to the south further increased its value. Periodically the chief came under pressure to sell or surrender part of his territory to white settlers, but Kahkewistahaw steadfastly refused.