8 minute read
PRIVATE ALEXANDER DECOTEAU
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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
Alex 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 greatest 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-
OPPOSITE PAGE: A medal belonging to Decoteau and the pocket watch given to him by King George V. The watch was stolen from his body following his death in 1917 and then remarkably, recovered and returned to his mother in Edmonton. THIS PAGE: Alex Decoteau stands with many of his trophies.
Sergeant Decoteau on duty with the Edmonton Police Force.
ther’s memory. As Canada’s first AboriginalCanadian police officer, his challenges were many, yet his perseverance rewarded him with the rank of Sergeant in 1914. Before the First World War broke out, he was head of the West End Edmonton Police Office.
Not only was he dedicated to his father, he was also devoted to his mother. In a show of love and gratitude, Decoteau once lost a race, deliberately placing second, in order to win the second prize.
His mother, Marie was tremendously fond of jigging and fiddle music. First prize for the race was a medal, but second prize was a new violin. Arranging with his cousin, George, who often competed with him, Decoteau and his cousin decided they would fix the race. George would win the medal, and Alex would place second – so he could take the fiddle home to his mother, and he did.
Following the onset of the Great War in 1914, Alex resigned from the police force and joined the Canadian Army. He trained at Camp Sarcee, in Calgary, AB.
Whether he was seeking to establish his status in his Cree culture as an equal to his father, or simply to fulfill his sense of civic duty and patriotism, Decoteau joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force, initially serving with the 202nd Infantry Battalion, (Edmonton Sportsman’s Battalion) before transferring to the 49th, in May of 1917. His distinctive markings included a tattoo on his left arm – later speculated by family descendants, to be eagle feathers.
While stationed overseas, he entered and ran multiple races for service personnel. In England, he won a race for which the trophy could not be found. King George V, was suitably impressed such that he presented Decoteau with his own gold pocket watch – a treasure he carried with him even on the day he died. He entered another race, arriving to discover it was not a footrace, but a bicycle race. In consistent form, he simply borrowed a bicycle and proceeded to win that race, as well.
Sadly, it would be Decoteau’s exceptional athleticism which would become his Achilles heel.
During the First World War, athletic soldiers were engaged for trench warfare - to “run” between the trenches, communicating important dispatches or relating advancing positions during battles to higher officers on what was evolving on the battlefield. The Western Front, included a network of trenches over a 1,000 kilometers long, stretching across Belgium and northern France.
Renowned athletes, including Olympians, Tom Longboat (an Onondaga from the Six Nations of the Grand River), and Alexander Decoteau, delivered messages between front lines and their senior officers at headquarters. The danger for these men was exponentially heightened as they left the relative shelter and safety of the trenches.
On October 30th, 1917, Decoteau ran his last race, killed in action by a sniper at Passchendaele as he ran the gauntlet of death. It was reported that his watch of gold was taken from his body, and then
The Edmonton Police released a comic book called the Alex Decoteau Legacy of Heroes as part of a series of comics chronicling Edmonton’s police service history.
remarkably, recovered and returned to his mother in Edmonton.
Ironically, Chief Pihtokahanapiwiyin (Poundmaker’s) body was similarly plundered and stripped of his Treaty 6 medal after his death. That medal has also since been recovered and returned to its home at the Red Pheasant Reserve – the birthplace of Alex Decoteau.
Decoteau is buried in Passchendaele’s New British Cemetery, and in 1985, the Edmonton police, family members and the Red Pheasant Cree organized ceremonies and a powwow to return Decoteau’s spirit back to Canada.
Decoteau’s beginnings were humble, yet his impact is legendary. The Edmonton Police honour him with an annual three-kilometer run called the Alex Decoteau Run for school children as part of National Aboriginal History Month.
They have released a comic book called the Alex Decoteau Legacy of Heroes as part of a series of comics chronicling Edmonton’s police service history.
In 2004, his great-niece, Izola Mottershead wrote a biography of his life.
Charlotte Cameron, a former teacher in Edmonton, wrote a one-act play for youngsters, entitled, Running: The Alex Decoteau Story. And most recently, the Downtown Edmonton Community League has honoured him with a park, and a sculpture by Toronto artist Pierre Poussin, entitled Esprit.
Historian Timothy Winegard wrote, “The most significant benefit of Aboriginal peoples’ war service was interaction between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people, which was not common in general Canadian society prior to the war.
“By serving alongside Aboriginal soldiers, Canadian soldiers came to better understand Aboriginal people, and to overcome many negative stereotypes.”
It has taken over a hundred years, but Decoteau continues to ‘run the trenches’ – and bridge the trench of communication between our nations. Within the homage to his spirit, he continues his commitment to public service with humility and integrity, and seeks to deliver a message of peace. WHR
Alexander Decoteau ran the ultimate race for freedom, and paid the ultimate price for his service.