‘Art needs to have a purpose’: Red Pheasant Cree Nation artist honoured with Sask. Order of Merit

“Most, likely never, ever heard that there was a residential school in the North Battleford area… so it’s good to educate people about the history,” Lionel said.

The bronze of Annie Peyachew wrapped in a star blanket. (Image Credit: battlefordsNOW staff)

Now, his effort is earning one of the province’s highest honours. Peyachew is among this year’s recipients of the Saskatchewan Order of Merit.

“I guess I was surprised when I did get the phone call or the email the other day,” he said. “I wasn’t really expecting it, but it’s a big honour.”

Over his career, Peyachew has created more than two dozen major public sculptures, with work spanning the country – from the Calgary Public Library to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

He said the pieces that matter most focus on difficult histories, including residential schools and missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

A buffalo sculpture by Lionel Peyachew is seen inside the Calgary Public Library. The piece reflects the idea that “education is the new buffalo.” (Image Credit: Calgary Public Library)

A sculpture by Lionel Peyachew stands in Jasper, Alta., featuring an eagle landing on a reflective sphere with words placed across its surface. (Image Credit: Parks Canada)

One of his most complex works stands in Jasper, Alta. – a stainless steel sculpture featuring an eagle landing on a reflective sphere, with words individually placed across its surface.

Peyachew said the project took about six years to complete, making it one of the most challenging of his career. Many of his large-scale works also involve teams of engineers, fabricators and foundries.

He said ongoing controversy and misunderstanding around Indigenous issues continue to drive his work.

“I tried to do my part as an artist to make sculptures out there that sort of educate and raise awareness,” he said.

“The story needs to be told to the residents and to newcomers that this is what actually happened in the history of any Indigenous cultures.”

“Wicanhi Duta Win (Red Star Woman),” a sculpture by Lionel Peyachew, stands outside Saskatoon Police Service headquarters. (Image Credit: Discover Saskatoon)

For Peyachew, that responsibility defines what art should be.

“Art needs to have a purpose,” he said. “Art doesn’t need to be just hanging on a wall and looking pretty… it needs to sort of tell a story and to educate.”

That philosophy continues to shape his latest work.

He is developing a large-scale sculpture of a train boxcar filled with about 100 life-sized bronze buffalo skulls, meant to reflect the mass killing of buffalo tied to colonial policies.

“This is basically to give reference to the thousands of buffalo that were nearly decimated because of the policies that the federal government put out back then, when they were trying to sign the Treaties.”

The incident he referred to is the near-extinction of plains bison in the late 19th century, when the animals were wiped out by intensive hunting, industrial demand for hides and government policies, devastating Indigenous food systems and forcing many onto reserves.

He said projects like this are about helping people better understand the past, especially as conversations around truth and reconciliation continue.

“It’s even a better time to just do this kind of work,” he said.

A sculpture by Lionel Peyachew is displayed on the University of Regina campus. (Image Credit: University of Regina)

For someone now recognized across the country, becoming an artist was never part of the plan.

Peyachew once considered joining the RCMP and took art classes in high school simply as electives.

“I never thought myself as an artist back then,” he said.

That changed when a classmate handed him an application to the Alberta College of Art and Design. With no clear direction, he filled it out and was accepted weeks later.

“That was my direction, I guess, in life, where it sort of pointed me to a direction where I was going to go next.”

Years later, a last-minute drive to deliver a sculpture model for a University of Regina project helped define his career. After being shortlisted, he rushed to meet a deadline, arriving just in time.

He won the commission, moved to Regina and began teaching at the First Nations University of Canada, where he has worked for more than two decades.

Looking ahead, Peyachew said he is working on ideas for a project tied to the 150th anniversary of Treaty 6 and the chiefs involved in its signing.

“When I do my work, I always want to make sure that it does have a purpose,” he said. “My main goal is to educate the public.”

Peyachew was also awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal in 2024.

Other recipients of the 2026 Saskatchewan Order of Merit include Dr. Raymond B. Blake, Dr. Anne Doig, Dr. Chris Ekong, Ronald J. Kruzeniski, S.V.M., K.C., Dr. Melissa Morgan, Harold Orr, C.M., Donny Parenteau and Phoebe Voigts.

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Kenneth.Cheung@pattisonmedia.com

by Kenneth Cheung

‘Art needs to have a purpose’: Red Pheasant Cree Nation artist honoured with Sask. Order of Merit

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