A professor from Saskatchewan has uncovered a significant artifact from the province’s past within the holdings of the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. This piece is now set to return home.
Andrew Miller, who teaches Indigenous studies at the First Nations University of Canada, was examining the Smithsonian’s inventory while researching birds when he came across a teepee cover that had been taken from the Kawacatoose First Nation nearly a hundred years ago.
The cover was removed during the 1920s, but the family has kept its legacy alive by passing down its story through the years.
“I remembered a student saying, ‘Oh, yes, we have items that are in major museums in the United States,'” Miller recalled.
As he was reviewing the catalogue, that comment resurfaced when he noticed the teepee cover, marked as “Dustyhorn—File Hills” with a date of acquisition listed as 1926.
Aware of the Dustyhorns residing near Touchwood, Sask, he contacted Cory Dustyhorn, the current chief of Kawacatoose First Nation, to share his discovery.
Dustyhorn was already familiar with the tale of his great-great-grandfather Sîpiskwêsîkan’s teepee being taken long ago. Although Sîpiskwêsîkan was promised compensation for the cover, he never received it.
This historical image shows the teepee cover when it was first acquired by the Smithsonian. (Submitted by Andrew Miller)
Miller and Dustyhorn reached out to the museum, where Miller noted that the Smithsonian was very receptive throughout the entire process.
“They acknowledge that some items in their collection should not be there, as they were taken during a time when the understanding and respect among cultures was not as it is now,” Miller stated.
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The museum was receptive to Dustyhorn’s account and agreed to the repatriation of the teepee cover, confirming it was essential for it to go to the correct community.
“I shared a story that has been passed down in our family, about how someone began collecting artifacts in Alaska, then traveled to Saskatchewan, where they took our teepee,” Dustyhorn explained.
He mentioned that museum officials interrupted him at that point, as the individual who obtained the teepee in 1926 did originate his journey in Alaska, thus validating the oral tradition.
A picture of the teepee the Smithsonian Institute had on its online catalogue. (Submitted by Andrew Miller)
In an official statement, the Smithsonian acknowledged that some artifacts in its collection were obtained unethically. During that period, the Indian Agent served as a liaison between Indigenous owners and buyers.
In 2022, the museum implemented a policy for shared stewardship and ethical returns to amend some of its historical wrongdoings.
“The policy recognizes that ethical standards and professional practices in collecting have evolved, and that the Smithsonian currently holds items that it would not have acquired under today’s norms,” the statement indicated.
Now, a century after its removal, the teepee is set to make its way back to its rightful community.
Dustyhorn expressed that this return would enhance the bond between him, his family, and his community with his ancestor.
Plans are in place to establish a museum at Kawacatoose to exhibit the teepee, although for the time being, it will be housed at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Regina.
