THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
A collection of First Nation Blackfoot Tribe Regalia including a decorated deerskin shirt and leggings that belonged to Chief Crowfoot – an important late nineteenth-century Blackfoot leader – are being returned to the Siksika Nation in Canada.
The regalia and other belongings, which also include a knife with feather bundle, two beaded bags and a horsewhip, have been housed in the Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery in Exeter since 1878.
It is thought to have passed into the possession of Cecil Denny, a senior officer in Canada's North-West Mounted Police around the time of the 1877 signing of the Blackfoot Treaty, also known as Treaty 7, in what today is a Siksika Nation reserve 62 miles east of Calgary in Alberta.
Their original owner, Chief Crowfoot, played a key role in the treaty signing, which he believed would help protect the lands of the Siksikai'tsitapi – Blackfoot People – and preserve their traditional ways of life in the face of dwindling Buffalo populations, the coming of the railways and the incursions of European settlers.
But like most land treaties with indigenous people at the time, the terms, scope and ramifications were not favourable or even fully explained to the Nations who were signing them. Most agree that the treaty was effectively broken by the Canadian administration and as a result Blackfoot people have suffered economically and socially ever since. Talks between them and the Canadian government continue.
The regalia were loaned to RAMM by Cecil Denny's sister in 1878 and purchased for £10 by the Museum in 1904.
In April 2020, Exeter City Councillors voted unanimously to return the regalia but Covid travel restrictions have meant that it is only now possible to complete the repatriation.
Now, after 118 years in the Devon city's museum, modern day Siksika Nation leader, Chief Ouray Crowfoot and a delegation from Canada took possession of the sacred regalia in a handover on May 19 2022.
“Bringing these items back home to Siksika is a historic event,” said Chief Ouray Crowfoot. “Many items left Siksika and other Nations and were scattered across the globe. Now the tides are turning and these items are finding their way back home. Crowfoot's entire essence is in and around Blackfoot territory and this is where his belongings should be housed.”
Following a blessing at the museum, the regalia is now returning to Canada, where it will be redisplayed in the Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park, a complex of historic sites on the Siksika 146 Indian reserve in Alberta with a museum focusing on Siksika cultural heritage and the preservation of their way of life.
The Siksika Nation will lend Chief Crowfoot's belongings to Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park for display and the education of all peoples around their significance as part of world history, together with an explanation of their journey to the UK and their return to the Chief's traditional homelands.
