Peguis First Nation will soon welcome home a piece of its history after the Manitoba Museum approved a request to return a horsehead pipe bowl that belonged to the community’s namesake leader. Chief Dr. Stan Bird shared the news in a social media post on June 17, 2026, calling it a major step in reclaiming the First Nation’s cultural heritage.
The pipe bowl, carved from black pipestone in the shape of a horse’s head, was rediscovered by the museum in 2021 while preparing for the 200th anniversary of the Selkirk Settlement. Records show it was originally bought from Charles Prince of St. Peter’s, a great-grandson of Chief Peguis, by William Flett on behalf of the Hudson’s Bay Company. The artifact has been in the Hudson’s Bay Company collection for more than 80 years, and more recently part of the Manitoba Museum’s holdings.
Chief Peguis led his Saulteaux people to what is now southern Manitoba in the 1790s and later signed the 1817 Selkirk Treaty, helping early settlers survive tough years. Today, Peguis First Nation is the largest First Nations community in Manitoba with about 12,045 members.
Chief Bird said a celebration and community gathering will be planned to mark the artifact’s return, calling it a “living symbol of peace, responsibility and the enduring spirit” of the First Nation. The repatriation comes as the Manitoba Museum has stepped up efforts to return cultural items, including a formal apology in May 2025 for colonial-era practices and the return of 19 cultural items belonging to Chief Piapot to Piapot First Nation in September 2024.
Details on when the pipe bowl will officially come home and what events are planned are still to come, but community members can expect more information from the Peguis Band Council in the weeks ahead.
