Manitou Stone Restoration Project
Background
Canada’s largest intact meteorite, and the area around where it landed (near today’s Hardisty, Alberta), became deeply embedded into Indigenous spirituality, healing, education, prosperity, and peace for numerous Plains Buffalo Tribes. It is in the oral tradition of all Nations that knowledge, trade, peace treaties, and ceremonies of all kinds were shared between all Indigenous peoples at this ancient site of worship.
The Manitou Stone, and its surrounding area, both became sacred to Indigenous culture.
In the 1860s the Sacred Rock (Manitou Asiny in Cree, Iniskim in Blackfoot and Tsa Xani in Dene) was taken from its original location by a Methodist missionary. This act of removing and taking the Sacred Rock from where the Creator had placed it reverberated across generations of Indigenous Plains Buffalo culture Nations such as the Blackfoot, Cree, Dene, Assiniboine, Ojibway, and Sioux.
It had been prophesied that if it was ever moved, great hardship and calamity would befall the Indigenous peoples of the plains.
Within ten years of its removal, the buffalo disappeared from the prairies, smallpox wiped out over half the population and a deadly war broke out between the Cree and Blackfoot.
After a relatively short sojourn at Alberta's mission site, Iniskim made a long journey from the Alberta plains to Victoria Methodist College in Coburg, Ontario. This school was eventually folded into the larger institution of the University of Toronto. Almost 100 years later, Manitou Asiny was loaned by the University to the Royal Alberta Museum (RAM) in Edmonton, Alberta in the 1970’s. It remains there to this day. The last decade unveiled an emerging consensus and growing impatience among all of the traditional Elders of Plains Buffalo culture Nations for the Iniskim to be returned to its original location. This is a challenging situation for all stakeholders to address in a way that promotes unity, healing and reconciliation.
Manitou Asiny - Cree
Iniskim - Blackfoot
Tsa Xani - Dene
Sacred Stone Names
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Today
In early 2021, a group of individuals met to put together a plan to repatriate Manitou Asiny. For the first time in 150 years, during the summer of 2021, a common sharing of ceremony at the Manitou Stone Hill was renewed between Spiritual leaders and Elders of the Cree, Blackfoot, and Dene Nations.
To date, all stakeholder groups have pledged support to returning the Iniskim, building a secure Sacred Lodge to house it, and building an Interpretive Centre dedicated to unity, connection and sacred ceremonies.
Gathering will see all Plains Nations renew their ancient ties of ceremony through original languages and traditions, and serve as a modern place of healing. The primary stakeholder groups who have come to consensus are the Indigenous nations of Alberta and Saskatchewan, the current landowners, the Christian community, and the governments of Alberta and Canada. Resolutions of support have been received from the Chiefs of Saskatchewan and Alberta, various churches, and government bodies. A memorandum of understanding is being created with the current landowners. The Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton has also been gracious and collaborative regarding their stewardship position to change the housing of Manitou Asiny.
"The return of this object is for EVERYONE" - Leonard Weaseltraveller (Bastien)
Spiritual leaders and Elders from the various Nations continue to go to sacred ceremonies together with each other, inviting all non-Indigenous and immigrant community partners. This is promoting unity and healing among all.
The esteemed Indigenous Canadian architect, Douglas Cardinal, presented his visions and drawings for the Sacred Lodge to the Chiefs of Alberta during their regular gathering hosted by the Indigenous Knowledge and Wisdom Centre (IKWC). Mr. Cardinal’s visions were met with approval from these leaders.
At the Blackfoot Confederacy Chiefs meeting on September 22, 2022, the current government of Alberta pledged to support the request for the Sacred Rock to be housed in a new facility on the original lands.
The project is currently shifting from the informal team to a formal foundation and not for profit society headed by a lead team of the original volunteers and new leaders including Rick Timlick, Leonard Weaseltraveller (Bastien), Blaine Favel, Chandra Mannix, Kelly McDonald, Clayton Kootenay, Maureen Kewley and Rob Cardinal. The new legal entities will steward donations to the project, oversee operation of the facilities, implement strategic planning and work actively to create transparency and accountability to all peoples for this initiative. This work is sensitive and fragile, requiring all partner groups to work together respectfully while finding common ground regarding the goals for both the project and all stakeholders.
There is still much to be done.
This repatriation will invigorate many other repatriation efforts far and wide.
All communities in Canada can support relational awareness for the work of reconciliation and the repatriation of the Sacred Rock. Formal encouragement for new ways of partnership that engage listening, speaking truth, and following Indigenous leaders will promote hope and healing.
Communication that authentically promotes understanding, support and respect between Indigenous communities and immigrant communities will produce meaningful participation in the repatriation of Tsa Xani. Entering these conversations mindfully will generate a deeper awareness of the significance of Sacred Rock / Manitou Asiny / Iniskim / Tsa Xani for all people of Canada, and forge a new path forward expressing the ways we can follow Indigenous leaders in a collaborative effort to respect the original impact location, build facilities to continue its original purpose by the Creator, honour its spiritual significance, educate the public on our shared history and invite all peoples into healing relationships.
The Rick Timlick Group of Companies
As a leader in effective communication, human resource optimization, long-term visioning, operational efficacy and complex project implementation, Rick Timlick is uniquely positioned to advance the goals of the Manitou Stone Restoration Project. Together with his partner, Chandra Mannix, they have continued to facilitate the visions of Indigenous Elders to return Manitou Asiny / Iniskim / Tsa Xani to its Sacred home.
They are both deeply grateful for their ongoing participation in the lead team and the continued healing process of restoration.