Treasured robe returned to Blood

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Tradition was the order of the day Sept. 22, when a painted buffalo robe was returned by the RCMP Museum in Regina to the Blood Tribe in southern Alberta.

The robe dates from the 1880s and once belonged to the famous Chief Crop Eared Wolf, great grandfather of current Blood Chief Roy Fox.

Speaking at ceremonies witnessing the robe's repatriation, Dorothy Day Chief, also a descendant of Crop Eared Wolf, said she first saw the robe in Regina. After meeting with Fox, she contacted the RCMP about its return but was told they would only give a copy of the original to the Blood people.

"We continued to pursue the matter because we felt it was important to our youth to learn their history from Crop Eared Wolf's robe," she said.

Fox himself commented that the robe was a legacy of the tribe's warriors and a symbol of the importance of retaining their land and spiritual traditions.

"I'm very proud to be a descendant of Chief Crop Eared Wolf," he added. "He was one of our great warriors and political and spiritual leaders."