Following the July 17, 1812, attack on Fort Mackinac, one of the first battles of the War of 1812, the British awarded fifty-seven Dakota men with silver peace medals featuring a relief of King George III. These medals marked the diplomatic relationship and military alliance between the Dakota and the British, and they continue to hold sacred significance for the Dakota today. When they presented the medals, the British also made a promise to protect the Dakota from the U.S. Army if necessary. Over the following five decades, the Dakota people passed these silver medals down through each successive generation.

After the U.S.–Dakota War of 1862 in Minnesota, the Dakota wore British peace medals from the War of 1812 around their necks to remind the British of their past alliance. As they sought safety at Fort Garry, in present-day Winnipeg, Manitoba, the Dakota hoped these medals would encourage the British to negotiate with them. The British authorities honored their promises of protection. Officials at Fort Garry provided the Dakota with provisions and eventually granted them reservation lands. This post will introduce readers to a Dakota community that moved west from Fort Garry and displayed the British peace medal in the 1870s at Wood Mountain in Saskatchewan. This story demonstrates the continuity between the War of 1812 and Dakota experiences in Canada sixty-two years later.

Portrait of White Cap by Valentine Rowe, 1874. Watercolor. Photograph courtesy of Boissevain Community Archives, Boissevain, Manitoba, No. MG1/B3.

Peace medals are diplomatic objects, and artists have underscored their significance by depicting Dakota people wearing them. One such depiction is an illustrated coloring of Onpakasca, or White Cap, completed in 1874 by Lieutenant Valentine Rowe, an artist and surveyor for the International Boundary Commission in Canada. The piece shows White Cap adorned with items he held in high regard: an eagle feather war bonnet on his head, a red pipestone pipe in his left hand, regalia, and face painting that indicated his position in his Dakota community. One item that stands out is a large silver Indian peace medal around his neck. Twelve years after the Dakota had moved from the United States into British territory, White Cap still wore the peace medal proudly.

White Cap, a Sioux Chief, Showing a Feather Fan, Sketch by Sydney Prior, 1881, Library Archives Canada, Ottawa, Canada, Box No. A909-01/X1, 2838967.

Indigenous people have always worn important objects, cultural items, or clothing in photographs and artwork because of their meaning for them and their communities. Wendy Red Star’s annotated photography project on the 1880s Crow Peace Delegation, for example, shows how white photographers and artists often overlooked Indigenous cultural markers or critical context about the person being photographed.  White Cap’s peace medal in his illustration was a tangible artifact of a key moment of Dakota transnational diplomacy in which the Dakota people strove to secure their survival across generations. This is particularly evident with the Whitecap Dakota, who in 2023 became the first Dakota community to sign a treaty with the Canadian government. In 2024, the Canadian government apologized to all Dakota for treating them as “second-class First Nations” and “refugees,” recognizing their alliance during the War of 1812.^[1] These events highlight that promises made by the British over 200 years ago still have significance today. However, despite the apology and changes in language, questions remain about how Canada views Dakota sovereignty. The term “allies” still challenges the Dakota from fully claiming Canada as part of their homeland.

Endnotes

^[1] Julia Peterson, “Whitecap Dakota First Nation signs self-government treaty with Canada,” Saskatoon StarPhoenix, May 3, 2023; Jenna Kunze, “Canada Apologies for Labeling Dakota and Lakota as Refugees for Decades,” Native News Online, July 16, 2024.