Treaty 6 Medal Repatriation
In 1885, Chief Red Pheasant’s Treaty Medal was stolen from his deceased body. It was eventually sold to an English collector, and finally made its way back to Canada as part of the Hudson Bay Collection which was then donated to the Manitoba Museum. In 2019, we brought the medal back home to Treaty 6 Territory. We had a private ceremony at the gravesite of Chief Red Pheasant, and then a public ceremony adjacent to our pow wow arbor. This ceremony brought home Red Pheasant Dignitaries like Dr. Winston Wuttunee, Past Member of the Canadian Parliament Robert Falcon-Ouellette, and Dr. Gerald McMaster.
We also welcomed Mayors of Battleford and North Battleford, Ames Leslie and Ryan Bater, fellow Chiefs from surrounding communities, representatives from the Manitoba Museum and members of the media. The medal currently sits on display at the Saskatchewan Indigenous Cultural Centre in Saskatoon.
Our goal is to build our own Heritage and Cultural Centre on our land where we can proudly display this and other artifacts in a museum quality building for our members and the public to enjoy. This goal includes paintings from world renowned Cree artist Allen Sapp who was a band member and family member to Red Pheasant. We will tell the story of Alex Decoteau, track and field athlete representing Canada at the 1912 Summer Olympics, first Indigenous Edmonton Police Officer in 1911, and soldier in the second Battle of Passchendaele during World War 1 where he paid the ultimate price, was also a descendent of the Red Pheasant family. We want to bring all these artifact’s home and house them in our own facilities.
