By Canadian Press

Parks Canada returns Chief Poundmaker’s staff to family at Saskatchewan ceremony

May 4, 2022 | 2:52 PM

BATTLEFORD, Sask. — An artifact believed to have belonged to a Plains Cree leader who played an important role in treaty talks has been returned to his descendants.

Parks Canada has transferred a staff ascribed to Chief Poundmaker from a collection of historical objects under the agency’s care.

Poundmaker’s family members are striving to bring home his personal belongings, which they say were taken from him under duress.

The return of the staff during a private ceremony Wednesday at the Fort Battleford National Historic Site is part of a healing journey his family says will help Poundmaker’s spirit rest.

Poundmaker is considered one of the great Indigenous leaders of the 19th century and was key in negotiations that led to Treaty 6, which covers the west-central portions of present-day Alberta and Saskatchewan.

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He is remembered as a peacekeeper during the North-West Resistance of 1885 and, in 2019, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau exonerated the chief, who had been convicted of treason for leading his warriors in battle against Canadian forces.

Pauline Poundmaker, a great-great-granddaughter, had asked Parks Canada to return the staff.

“Repatriation of sacred artifacts and objects is a spiritual journey, and we would like to acknowledge Parks Canada for taking the lead in recognizing and understanding the significance of transferring ownership of Chief Poundmaker’s staff to our family,” Poundmaker said in a statement.

Ron Hallman, CEO of Parks Canada, said it is an honour to return the staff.

“Parks Canada is committed to advancing reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples and to … consider repatriation requests in keeping with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which affirms the rights of Indigenous Peoples to manage and control ceremonial items and ancestral remains,” Hallman said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 4, 2022.

The Canadian Press