Western Horse Review Christmas 2021 Edition

Page 40

CANADA’S TRENCH WARRIOR

PRIVATE ALEXANDER DECOTEAU

Born November 19, 1887, on the Red Pheasant Indian Reserve south of Battleford, Saskatchewan, he died 20 days before his 30th birthday. A product of residential schooling, he rose like a phoenix from the ashes of inequity to become one of western Canada’s most celebrated heroes. Over a century later, we pay tribute to a young man whose dream was to be a great warrior. Private Alexander Decoteau’s spirit continues to run, sprinting the front lines of truth and reconciliation and breaking the barriers of injustice. BY DEBBIE MACRAE ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF MEDIA RELATIONS UNIT, EDMONTON POLICE SERVICE

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lex Decoteau was threeyears-old when his father Peter, was murdered. Metis, his father had participated in the Battle of Cutknife in 1885 alongside Chief Pihtokahanapiwiyin (Chief Poundmaker). He died in 1890, while working as an agent of the Indian Department, and Alexander was left fatherless. His Cree mother, Marie Wuttunee, was unable to support him, and was left with no choice but to install him in the Battleford Industrial Residential school. Decoteau excelled in school and particularly, in sports. He utilized every opportunity to participate in boxing, cricket baseball, soccer and running. When he finished school, he worked as a farm labourer, working with the animals, and then moved on to Edmonton, AB, in 1909 to work as a blacksmith in his brother-in-law’s shop. After working at the Latta Shoeing Company for two years, he gave up his forge for the force, joining the Edmonton City Police in 1911, and becoming

Canada’s first Indigenous police officer. In a sequence of many firsts, he would also become one of their first motorcycle patrolmen. He continued to excel in the athletic department. He placed second in the onemile running race at Fort Saskatchewan, AB in 1909, winning his next competition, a five-mile race, with a time of 28 minutes and 41 seconds. He would go on to set a new five-mile record at the Mayberry Cup the same year, with a time of 27 minutes and 45 seconds. Whether it be a halfmile, one mile, five mile or greater race, Decoteau would often compete and win in several competitions on the same day. He won so consistently that trophies were permanently awarded to him, eliminating the formality of having him compete. On Christmas Day in Calgary, 1910, Decoteau ran the Calgary Herald - 9.98 kilometer road race in a record time of 34.19.25 minutes, leading a field of 15 runners over the entire course. The Edmonton Journal recorded, “The race was the great-

40 WESTERN HORSE REVIEW NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

est event of its kind ever held in Alberta and from the start until the three-mile post the streets were congested by thousands of people and automobiles and (horse-drawn) rigs.” He was presented with a medal valued at $80 and the Herald Cup to keep for a year. Every time he entered the race he won it, and the cup was permanently presented to him in 1915. Between 1912 and 1915, Decoteau became a running phenomenon. He won the ten-mile race at Canada’s pre-Olympic Trials in Fort Saskatchewan in exactly one hour less one second. He cramped up during the 10,000-metre race and dropped out, but won the 5,000 metre event, influencing the Canadian Olympic Committee to order a new race. Decoteau set a new Dominion record of 15:27.4 and went on to compete at the Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, placing second in the 5,000-metre race and six in the finals. He was Alberta’s first Indigenous Olympic athlete, and the only Albertan on Team Canada. Decoteau’s career was dedicated to his fa-


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