Guide to Powwow Country: Portraits of Saskatchewan Indian leaders - Assiniboine Gallery, Regina

Portraits of Saskatchewan Indian leaders
Assiniboine Gallery, Legislative Building, Regina

The 15 pastel portraits of Saskachewan’s Indian leaders are back on the walls of the Legislature after having received new preservation quality matte boards. Edmund Morris was commissioned in 1909 by Saskatchewan’s first premier, Walter Scott, to do the work. Morris’ father, Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories Alexander Morris, was responsible for negotiating land settlement treaties with the Indian peoples. Morris drew many of the portraits while visiting reserves, but some were done posthumously from photographs. Morris completed and delivered the portraits in 1911. “They are not only a valuable historical record of our province but a collection of some of the finest portraits in Canada. These pieces are truly a highlight of the Legislative Building Art Collection,” says Provincial Secretary Wayne Elhard. The portraits were first displayed at Government House in Regina, because the construction of the Legislative Building was not yet complete. Former Premier Roy Romanow and Chief Roland Crowe of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations officially opened the renovated gallery in 1991.