A professor in Saskatchewan uncovered a significant piece of the province’s history at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., and is facilitating its return. Andrew Miller, who specializes in Indigenous studies at the First Nations University of Canada, stumbled upon a teepee cover belonging to the Kawacatoose First Nation that had been stolen around a century ago while researching birds using the Smithsonian’s holdings catalog.
Despite the cover being taken in the 1920s, the family continued to pass down its story through the generations. Miller, recalling a student’s mention of belongings in prominent U.S. museums, noticed the teepee cover labeled “Dustyhorn—File Hills” with an acquisition date of 1926 during his catalogue review. He promptly contacted Cory Dustyhorn, the current chief of Kawacatoose First Nation, to share his discovery.
Dustyhorn confirmed the story of his great-great-grandfather Sîpiskwêsîkan’s stolen teepee, where promises of payment were unfulfilled. Miller and Dustyhorn engaged with the museum, with Miller praising the Smithsonian for their understanding and willingness to repatriate the teepee cover.
Acknowledging historical wrongs, the museum expressed a commitment to correct past unethical practices, adopting a shared stewardship and ethical returns policy in 2022. This policy recognizes changing ethical standards in collecting practices and aims to rectify past injustices. The teepee cover, after a century, is finally returning to its rightful community, strengthening ancestral ties and heritage connections.
Plans are in place to establish a museum at Kawacatoose to showcase the teepee cover in the future, but for now, it will be housed at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Regina.