Design for Peguis statue unveiled

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This article was published 24/08/2023 (777 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Chief Peguis, dressed in traditional formal vestments, holds an eagle feather in his left hand as he faces eastward to greet the rising sun and show respect for the creator.

The design for a statue of Peguis, which will be the first on the legislature grounds to honour the contributions of First Nations people to the founding and building of Manitoba, was unveiled Thursday.

The statue will depict the chief as he is imagined to have looked in his mid-30s. Wayne Stranger, owner of Stranger Bronzeworks Art Foundry in Peguis First Nation, won the competition to design the statue.

“I modelled him after his youngest son,” Stranger explained at an event on the grounds of the legislature, which was hosted by

the Friends of Peguis Selkirk Treaty, the principal organization behind the planned statue. “(In) the picture I had, he was in his 70s… I wanted to paint Peguis in his prime.”

Peguis, who was born in the Great Lakes area, was among the First Nations people who migrated west with the fur trade in the late 18th century, settling near Netley Creek.

The monument will commemorate the 1817 Peguis Selkirk Treaty, which was the first formal written agreement in Western Canada recognizing Indigenous land rights.

“He was a statesman, he was an elder… this is how I’ve tried to portray him,” Stranger said.

Jordan Stranger, the artist’s son, designed the stone platform atop which Chief Peguis will stand.

It will be emblazoned with four medallions that bear the totems of the four other Saulteaux and Cree chiefs who were signatories, Mache Whesab, Mechkaddewikonaie, Kayajieskebinoa and Ouckidoat and one medallion that bears the seal of Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, the signatory who represented the British Crown.

The totems on each medallion are the insignias that were used by the chiefs when they signed the treaty.

Both Stranger and his son Jordan believe that representing the involvement of Indigenous people in Canadian history at the legislature is an important step toward reconciliation.

“It’s important to (have representation) at the seat of government when you’re trying to work together,” Jordan said.

The winning design was chosen by a jury that included the CEO of Wag-Qaumajuq, several university professors and many First Nations chiefs, among others.

Friends of the Selkirk Peguis Treaty co-chairman John Perrin said the decision to select Stranger’s design was unanimous and that it was chosen for its artistic and cultural merits.

Perrin said the group hopes to unveil the monument on Sept. 28, 2024, the 160th anniversary of Peguis’s death and two days before Orange Shirt Day.

graham.mcdonald@freepress.mb.ca