How a bison head helped change the Pioneers Cabin into the Bison Lodge
The Northern Alberta Pioneers and Descendants Association has changed the name of the iconic Pioneers Cabin on 99 Street NW to the Bison Lodge.
"We're broadening our scope to truly include Northern Alberta, and (to) create a more open and more philanthropic cause that goes beyond our membership," Mike Alexander, the executive director of both the "purposeful social club" and the lodge, told Taproot.
Alexander became executive director in October and was handed a list of priorities from the association's board. Number one on the board's list was "to investigate truth and reconciliation," Alexander said. Another list-topping item was to consider a name change for the Pioneers Cabin, which was built in 1959.
He began his work by establishing a relationship with Lewis Cardinal, a communicator and educator who is Woodland Cree from the Sucker Creek Cree First Nation. Cardinal was also the project manager for kihciy askiy-Sacred Land ceremonial site among the many hats he wears in Edmonton.
The relationship blossomed from a conversation about a bison head that Parks Canada gifted the association many years ago, and whether the association should give it to an Indigenous group.
"You've had it since 1920 or 1930, it's as much your history as it is ours," Alexander recalled Cardinal saying. "The bison was really important for pioneers and the Indigenous community."
The bison idea grew from there. Cardinal pointed out that at one time, bison crossed the plains, traversed the Mill Creek Ravine, and would be visible from where the lodge now stands. He told Taproot that the bison head sparked a conversation.
"We were talking about the issue of the name Pioneers Cabin and some of the colonial baggage that comes along with that," Cardinal said. "Not to discount the pioneers' experience by any means. They have their own story, and it should be honoured. But I said, 'Have you considered changing the name? I think the bison is kind of pointing us in that direction.'"
The Pioneers Cabin name was adopted in 2020. Before then, the cabin was known as the Old Timers Cabin.