Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Métis leader's stolen sword back where it belongs
PHOTO COURTESY MÉTIS NATION -- SASKATCHEWAN AND KYMBER PALIDWAR PHOTOGRAPHY Enlarge Image
Louis Riel’s sword was stolen during Saskatchewan’s Back to Batoche festival last week.
Manitoba-raised collector Henry Hall couldn't have hoped for better news when he got the call Sunday telling him Louis Riel's stolen sword had been found.
"When I got the call... I was in tears... It was a huge relief," said the artifact collector who is a distant relative of Riel.
Hall had been showing the steel sword stamped with the initials L. R. and other pieces at Saskatchewan's Back to Batoche festival last week.
The sword, believed to have belonged to the famed Métis leader, was taken Wednesday from the festival's Métis Nation British Columbia (MNBC) pavilion.
"We had no idea who had taken it," said Hall, who is now the MNBC's director for the Lower Mainland. Hall, who had stepped away from the busy pavilion, said there was no more than 20 minutes between when the sword was last seen and when it was noticed missing.
"I was just sick to my stomach. It was heart-wrenching.
"I felt just so disgraced and so upset with myself because I wasn't there to protect it... I felt I had let Mr. Riel down," said Hall, who is currently visiting his father in the Interlake village of Petersfield.
"I'm just happy the sword is back," said Robert Doucette, president of the Métis Nation of Saskatchewan, which hosted the festival.
"It really was a twist and turn to the whole celebration, but what started well, ended well."
Doucette said a man from One Arrow First Nation handed the sword in to festival security staff.
Hall said the sword was seized by police who are now investigating whether the man who turned it in stole it or found two children playing with it, as he claimed.
The advertised reward of $500 has not been handed out, pending the investigation.
Hall tours Canada with his extensive collection of artifacts owned by Riel. He considers himself the keeper, not the owner, of the pieces.
They belong to Riel, Hall said. He said he feels it's his job to share them with Canadians so they can learn about the historical leader considered a founder of Manitoba.
"People are always interested. It brings him alive again when people see his stuff." Hall said.
"It just shows that he's big as life. He's not a myth."
But Hall stressed Riel's story isn't just for Manitobans.
"Riel, he's not just a Manitoba icon. He's a world icon for the Métis people."
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 27, 2010 A2
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