Tsuu T'ina Jr. Sr. High visits the ROM

Posted: June 17, 2015 - 10:13 , by royal
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Group photo of Tsuu T'ina Jr. Sr. High School students

It came as a surprise yesterday when Marie Menard wrote that she had brought her grade nine class from Tsuu T'ina Jr. Sr. High School all the way to Toronto and would like me to meet with them at the ROM the next day. Today I had the pleasure of meeting these warm and well-mannered students. Surely the highlight of their visit to the First Peoples Gallery was viewing the buffalo robe painted in 1908 by Two Guns with the war exploits of Bull Head, the esteemed Head Chief of the Tsuu T'ina (formerly the Sarcee).  In 1877  he negotiated the treaty on behalf of that tribe and established their reserve about 14 kilometers from the center of Calgary. The visit was serendipitous as my  book, "War Paintings of the Tsuu T'ina Nation," has just been published so I was able to give a copy to school library. It warmed my heart to note how interested and thankful the students were for the book. The students asked for a photograph to be taken and they carefully posed themselves with Bull Head's robe showcase in the foreground and in the background the Chief's photograph, still a strong presence in the Tsuu T'ina community.