(L to R): Consumer Protection and Government Services Minister James Teitsma; Friends of the Peguis Selkirk Treaty Inc. Co-Chair, Bill Shead; Indigenous Reconciliation and Northern Relations Minister Eileen Clarke; Peguis First Nation Chief Glen Hudson. February 7, 2023 at the Manitoba Legislative Building. The event, organized by the Province of Manitoba, was the announcement of further progress on the Monument project and the confirmation of the Province’s $500,000 contribution.
The Committee to Commemorate the 200th Anniversary, formed for the special events of 2017, has carried on with work well after the events, including pursuing the plans to complete a Treaty Monument on the grounds of the Manitoba Legislative Building.
The Treaty Monument is intended to commemorate the Peguis Selkirk Treaty of 1817 as well as the subsequent numbered Treaties with Canada. It will also, for the first time on the Legislative Building grounds, explicitly recognize the contributions of all First Nations people in the founding and building of the Province of Manitoba. In doing so, it is intended that the Monument will make an important, symbolic and nationally-recognized contribution to the promotion of reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Manitobans and Canadians.
The 2017 Committee has incorporated as Friends of the Peguis Selkirk Treaty Inc. and the corporation has assumed responsibility for the website. The corporation is grateful to have received approval and support for the Monument project from the Province of Manitoba, including a financial contribution of $500,000. A formal announcement of progress on the project was made by the Province of Manitoba in February. The final cost of the Monument will depend upon the final design selection and a public fundraising campaign will be initiated later, if required.
The Design Competition Phase 1 Request for Qualifications issued in 2021 resulted in the identification of two qualified design teams. Both teams are led by First Nations sculptors and include casting facilities and landscape architects and designers. The subsequent Phase 2 Request for Design Proposals was issued to the two design teams in February 2023. Both teams attended site visits at the Legislative Building in March with representatives of the Friends and of the Manitoba public service, which began outdoors on the Monument site with a land acknowledgement, prayer and smudge conducted by an Indigenous Knowledge Keeper.
Planning for receipt of the design submissions, formal presentations by the two design teams, and public display of the design submissions on the website is well underway. An independent jury will be appointed to consider the design submissions and recommend the successful design. The deadline for the design submissions is June 2, 2023. The design teams’ formal presentation of their design proposals to the jury and stakeholder groups will occur on June 15. It is presently expected the selected design will be announced soon after.
The Friends of the Peguis Selkirk Treaty Inc. looks forward to keeping you updated on further progress through this website.
February 7, 2023 at the Manitoba Legislative Building. The event, organized by the Province of Manitoba, was the announcement of further progress on the Monument project and the confirmation of the Province’s $500,000 contribution.
On a very cold morning in February, 2023, the prayer and smudge on the Monument site were conducted by Indigenous Knowledge Keeper Ernie Daniels with the assistance of Friends Indigenous Co-Chair Bill Shead and Elder Jim Bear.