Offensive term dropped by Parks Canada

Parks Canada officials have decided to stop using the word ‘siege’ in describing their annual re-enactment of 1885 events at Fort Battleford.

“Parks Canada and I have made a mutual commitment to pursue a collaborative approach to retelling the events of 1885 at North Battleford,” stated Poundmaker band member Tyrone Tootoosis, who originally voiced protest against the term he deemed offensive to First Nations.
This wording implied that a group of Cree led by Poundmaker went to take over the fort, which is historically inaccurate, Tootoosis said.

Tootosis told Sage that a few years ago he received a poster via a mass email from the ‘Trails of 1885’ coordinator Colleen Norrish advertising the re-enactment of the “Siege of Fort Battleford”. The wording immediately prompted him to hit “reply all” and shed some history as told from Cree Elders, including his late father Wilfred Tootoosis, and his late grandfather John B. Tootoosis and many other Cree Elders on the 1885 events.

He was unaware that media sources were attached to the email and before he knew it, the Globe and Mail contacted him for an interview about the information he provided. This prompted other media outlets to start contacting Tootoosis to explain the situation, he said.
Initially, when Tootoosis began lobbying for the name to be changed, there was little support from the community. But Tootoosis knew that the knowledge and information of the Elders needed to be included in the proper telling of the events that occurred in Fort Battleford in 1885.
“It appears that Parks Canada has opened up to utilizing the oral history and knowledge of the Elders and community members with this inclusion,” Tootoosis said. “Visitors to the fort will be impacted with historically accurate information, but only time will tell, whether this will actually happen,” he added.

The changing of this wording is quite significant because the First Nation perspective will be included, so that a more thorough and accurate portrayal of this event can be re-enacted, Tootoosis said.

“Parks Canada has a responsibility to educate the public with historical facts based on our oral history in tandem with recorded accounts and not merely to entertain its visitors with a one-sided story,” he said.

What this collaborative approach will look like remains to be seen, but Tootoosis said oral history from the Cree Elders has gone through the process of being recorded in and around 1885 by Dr. Blair Stonechild and Dr. Bill Waiser, who have gathered oral history from Elders and have written it in a book entitled Loyal Till Death.

Tootoosis has recommended action on making the re-enactment pursue a dual perspective.

“One suggestion I have posed to Parks Canada is to have a class of First Nations students from North Battleford high school Sakewew to work with a class of non-First Nation high school students from North Battleford and together come up with a script for the 2011 re-enactment,” he said.

Tootoosis has even agreed to assist and coordinate this process if need be. As well, First Nations people should definitely have input in what word will be replacing ‘siege’, he added.