Material Type

Artifact

Date

1976

Materials

METAL, PLASTIC

No. Pieces

1

Diameter

9.0

Description

BUTTON. FLOURESCENT ORANGE. TYPED IN BLACK INK: "REMEMBER NELSON SMALL LEGS JR." AROUND THE OUTSIDE OF THE BUTTON, WITH "MAY 16, 1976" IN THE CENTRE. REVERSE IS SILVER COLOURED METAL WITH A SAFETY PIN FOR FASTENING. VERY GOOD CONDITION. FRONT OF BUTTON IS WELL SCUFFED.

Subjects

INDIGENOUS

PERSONAL SYMBOL

Historical Association

COMMEMORATIVE

POLITICS

History

THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION COMES FROM A SERIES OF LETHBRIDGE HERALD NEWSPAPER ARTICLES AND AN INTERVIEW WITH DONOR JOHN SUMPTION CONDUCTED BY GALT MUSEUM TECH KEVIN MACLEAN ON 22 MARCH 2016: JOHN EXPLAINED HOW IT WAS THAT HE CAME TO MEET NELSON SMALL LEGS JR: “MY FAMILY MOVED TO LETHBRIDGE IN THE SPRING OF ’66, ON ABOUT THE TIME THAT INDIAN AFFAIRS WAS REALLY BIG ON GETTING INDIGENOUS KIDS TO GO TO JUNIOR HIGH AND HIGH SCHOOL IN THE CITIES AND BOARD WITH WHITE FAMILIES. AND NELSON AND HIS BROTHER DEVALON, BOTH WOUND UP IN LETHBRIDGE AS A PART OF THAT PROGRAM … DUE TO LIKE THE EFFORTS BETWEEN THE INDIAN AFFAIRS AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH THEY WERE PRETTY BIG ON GETTING THAT THING DONE. AND COKE’S MOM WAS A PRETTY STRONG CATHOLIC. I FIT IN ABOUT AS WELL AS THEY DID, BEING A LONG-HAIRED KID FROM DOWN SOUTH.” JOHN WENT ON TO DISCUSS THE BULLYING THAT HAPPENED AT SCHOOL: “THERE WERE A NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO WERE RATHER UNPLEASANT BULLIES WHO LIKED TO PICK ON ANYONE WHO DIDN’T BELONG, WHO DIDN’T FIT IN. AND THEY WERE PRETTY GOOD AT IT … SO IF YOU’RE ALONE, OR IF YOU’RE PERCEIVED AS WEAK OR DIFFERENT, YOU COULD FIND YOURSELF GETTING THE SHIT KICKED OUT OF YOU AT LUNCH HOUR UNLESS YOU TOOK A POWDER AND WENT DOWNTOWN, WHATEVER. ONE OF THESE BULLIES, ONE DAY I WAS COMING BACK TO SCHOOL – I’D LIKE TO GO OVER AND HANG OUT AT A COUPLE OF THEM, AT MCFADDEN’S MOTORCYCLE SHOP OR BERT AND MAC, THEIR OTHER SHOP, BURT AND MAC’S, AND LOOK AT BIKES – AND AS I GOT BACK TO SCHOOL I HEARD SOMEBODY TALK, SOMEBODY SHOUTED THAT ONE OF THESE BULLIES WAS GETTING HIS COMEUPPANCE AS IT WERE. AND IT WAS MY FRIEND, CAME TO BE MY FRIEND, NELSON WHO HAD HEARD THAT THESE GUYS WERE PICKING ON SOME OF THE KIDS FROM THE BLOODS AT HAMILTON [JUNIOR HIGH]. AND HE CAME OVER FROM CATHOLIC CENTRAL, HUNG A GOOD BEATING ON HIM, AND LET HIM KNOW THAT IT WASN’T A VERY LONG WALK AND WERE HE TO HEAR OF THIS HAPPENING AGAIN HE’D CERTAINLY FIND HIS WAY BACK. AND IF YOU KNOW, HE NEEDED FRIENDS, HE HAD A COUPLE INCLUDED HIS BROTHER THAT WE CALL BUTCHER SHOP, BECAUSE IF YOU MESSED WITH DEVY YOU’D LOOK LIKE YOU’D BEEN THROUGH THE BUTCHER SHOP.” HE CONTINUED: “AS YEARS WENT ON WE GOT TO BE FRIENDS. IN THE LATE ‘60S, EARLY ‘70S WE LIKED - THE COUNTER-CULTURE APPEALED TO BOTH OF US AND LETHBRIDGE HAD A SERIOUS COUNTER-CULTURE SCENE. AND EVERYONE KNEW ONE ANOTHER AND GOT ALONG WITH ONE ANOTHER, AND HELPED ONE ANOTHER, AND ON AND OFF THEY GO. KINDA LOST TOUCH WITH ONE ANOTHER OVER THE YEARS, I WAS PLAYING MUSIC. WE PLAYED A SHOW IN BROCKET ON NIGHT, AT THE YOUTH CENTRE THERE, AND COKE AND HIS BROTHER ORGANIZED IT AND WE HAD A REAL NICE TIME GETTING BACK TOGETHER. IT WOULD’VE BEEN, I DON’T KNOW, ’71, ’72. AND I WENT DOWN SOUTH. I SPENT SOME TIME IN EUROPE IN ’73, CAME BACK, DIDN’T LIKE BEING AROUND SO MUCH BOOZE AND DOPE IN LETHBRIDGE, WENT DOWN SOUTH TO SCHOOL. I WAS VERY INTERESTED IN THE THEN BRIDGING NATIVE RIGHTS MOVEMENT, HAVING GROWN UP ON MY GRANDPARENTS’ PLACE IN NORTHERN MINNESOTA ON THE LEECH LAKE CHIPPEWA RES, SPENT A LOT OF TIME ON PINE RIDGE AS A KID, WHERE MY DAD RAN CATTLE NEARBY IN SANDHILLS IN NEBRASKA. AND WHEN I CAME BACK, RAN INTO COKE, TALKED ABOUT WHAT HE WAS DOING AND WORKED TOGETHER FOR A LONG TIME, AND AFTER HIS PASSING, WITH HIS BROTHER. WE KNEW ONE ANOTHER, WE TRUSTED ONE ANOTHER, AND HOPEFULLY SOMEDAY THINGS GET BETTER. SITTING HERE NOW, ALMOST 40 YEARS LATER, GOT ANOTHER TRUDEAU IN OTTAWA, MAKING SOME BIG PROMISES TO INDIGENOUS PEOPLES. AND I REALLY HOPE THAT THEY CAN COME THROUGH BECAUSE THINGS GOT TO CHANGE, AND CHANGE FAST, AND GO A LONG WAYS. THERE’S A LITTLE LEAD, THERE’S LEAD IN THE WATER IN FLINT AND THAT’S A NATIONAL EMERGENCY DOWN THERE. HOW MANY COMMUNITIES, HOW MANY ABORIGINAL COMMUNITIES IN CANADA CAN YOU DRINK THE WATER IN? AND HOW LONG HAVE THEY HAD BOIL WATER ORDERS? GOT A SUPREME COURT DECISION NOW THAT SAYS THAT NATIVE CHILDREN HAVE BEEN DISCRIMINATED AGAINST IN EDUCATION. THE SOCIAL WORKER WHO LAUNCHED THAT FIGHT SPENT 5 YEARS UNDER FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE FOR FILING A HUMAN RIGHTS COMPLAINT. THE NEW GOVERNMENT SAID THEY’RE GOING TO DO SOMETHING, LET’S HOPE SO. AND LET’S HOPE THAT THE WOMEN AND GIRLS QUIT DISAPPEARING AND THAT THINGS GET BETTER. AND THERE’S A REAL OPPORTUNITY FOR EVERYBODY AT THIS POINT. AND THE RENEWED PUSH AGAINST INDIAN LANDS AND INDIAN RESOURCES AND WATER SCARES THE HELL OUT OF ME.” JOHN DISCUSSED NELSON’S SUICIDE AND THE REASON HE DID IT: “SHORTLY AFTER MY FRIEND TOOK HIS OWN LIFE, THE PROTESTS, THE TREATMENT OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN CANADA ON THE 16TH OF MAY 1976, DREW ATTENTION TO THE LOOMING FIGHT OVER THE MACKENZIE VALLEY PIPLELINE. THE BRIDGE OF ADMISSION LOOKING INTO WHICH, TO TESTIFY IN FRONT OF A FEW DAYS BEFORE. THESE BUTTONS WERE PUNCHED OUT, AND WIDELY DISTRIBUTED IN INDIAN COUNTRY ALL OVER CANADA, ESPECIALLY IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA. COCO WAS THE, WAS THEN THE SOUTHERN ALBERTA DIRECTOR OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT. HE WAS A HAPPY, FUN-LOVING, SPIRITUAL GUY. NEVER WENT ANYWHERE PEOPLE WEREN’T GLAD PEOPLE TO SEE HIM. THE PEOPLE DID LOOK UP TO HIM, YOUNG PEOPLE, OLD PEOPLE. AND HIS DEATH WAS A TREMENDOUS LOSS TO SOUTHERN ALBERTA, TO HIS FAMILY. HIS DAUGHTERS GREW UP WITHOUT A DAD, HIS GRANDFATHER HAD TO BURY A GRANDSON, AND THE NATIVE PEOPLE LOST A POWERFUL SPOKESMAN, A VISIONARY LEADER, SOMEBODY WHO COULD BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER. COKE GREW UP HERE IN LETHBRIDGE, HE WENT TO JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL. BOARDED WITH A WHITE FAMILY, WENT TO JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL HERE. PLAYED FOOTBALL FOR CATHOLIC CENTRAL. AND I KNOW HE’S FONDLY REMEMBERED BY AN AWFUL LOT OF MY CONTEMPORARIES. SOME PEOPLE I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW THAT KNEW COCO, BECAUSE HE WAS MY FRIEND WHEN I RUN INTO THEM IN TOWN YEARS AND YEARS LATER THEY TELL ME STORIES. ONE WAS A WOMAN WHO WAS A MEMBER OF THE LETHBRIDGE POLICE FORCE, WHEN I WAS MAKING AN ACCIDENT REPORT SHE SAID, “YOU KNOW, JOHN, THAT’S THE FIRST GUY I EVER FRENCH KISSED.” AND I HOPE – I’D LIKE TO SEE THIS [BUTTON] STAY HERE BECAUSE I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM REMEMBERED. AND I WOULD HOPE THAT AS TIME GOES ON, LETHBRIDGE WILL PAY MORE ATTENTION TO THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF THIS AREA, AND THE POWERFUL ROLE THAT THE KAINAI, THE PEOPLE OF PIKANI HAVE PLAYED HERE GOING BACK TO TIME AND MEMORIAL AND ON AN ONGOING BASIS. THAT THINGS GET BETTER FOR THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE THAT LIVE IN THIS AREA AND THAT LIVE IN THIS CITY. AND THAT THE OPPORTUNITY FOR EVERYONE TO LEARN FROM ANOTHER, LIVE TOGETHER, HELP ONE ANOTHER, LOVE ONE ANOTHER. I KNOW THAT’S SOMETHING THAT MY BROTHER BELIEVED IN, BELIEVED IN VERY STRONGLY. AND SOMETHING REALLY, THE LAST TIME I SPOKE WITH HIM, THE WEEK BEFORE HE DIED, WE TALKED ABOUT, TALKED ABOUT THE FUTURE FOR HIS CHILDREN THAT WAS VERY MUCH IN KEEPING WITH MARTIN LUTHER KING’S “I HAVE A DREAM” SPEECH. HIS DREAM FOR HIS DAUGHTERS TO GROW UP WHERE THEY’D BE JUDGED ON THE QUALITY OF THEIR CHARACTER, THEIR ABILITIES, AND THE WORK THEY DID, INSTEAD OF MAYBE THE COLOUR OF THEIR SKIN AND THEIR BACKGROUND.” FROM NEWSPAPER ARTICLES: NELSON SMALL LEG JR’S OBITUARY, PUBLISHED MAY 20, 1976, GIVES THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION: NELSON, PASSED AWAY AT THE AGE OF 23, THE SON OF NELSON AND FLORENCE. HE “WAS THE FIRST INDIAN AIR CADET TO BE IN THE NO. 11 LETHBRIDGE SQUADRON AIR CADETS OF CANADA, SINCE IT WAS ORGANIZED IN 1941. AT THE TIME HE WAS 14 YEARS OLD AND LIVING IN LETHBRIDGE, WHILE ATTENDING ST. PATRICK’S SCHOOL, GRADE 7. NELSON ATTENDED ONE YEAR OF SCHOOL AT ST. PATRICK’S SCHOOL, LETHBRIDGE. HE CONTINUED AT CATHOLIC CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL FOR FIVE YEARS, WHERE HE GRADUATED IN 1972. HE THEN ENROLLED AT THE LETHBRIDGE COMMUNITY COLLEGE WHERE HE STUDIED FOR TWO YEARS. HE PLAYED BOMMER FOOTBALL WHILE IN GRADE EIGHT AND NINE. THROUGHOUT HIS HIGH SCHOOL YEARS HE PLAYED FOOTBALL FOR THE CATHOLIC CENTRAL COUGARS. IN THE FALL OF 1974 HE BECAME INVOLVED WITH THE AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT (AIM).” A LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLE PUBLISHED ON MAY 21, 1976 DESCRIBES NELSON FURTHER: “’OPTIMISTIC’ IS A WORD THAT PARADOXICALLY KEEPS COMING UP WHEN THOSE WHO KNEW NELSON SMALL LEGS JR. DESCRIBE HIM. ‘HE HAD FAITH – THAT’S WHY HIS DEATH IS SO DEVASTATING,’ SAID JOAN RAYN, A UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY ANTHROPOLOGY PROFESSOR WHO WORKED WITH MR. SMALL LEGS IN THE CALGARY URBAN TREATY INDIAN ALLIANCE. … DR. RYAN DESCRIBED MR. SMALL LEGS AS A STRONG MAN WITH A DEEP SENSE OF HIS OWN WORTH AND A DEEP SENSE OF COMMITMENT TO CANADIAN SOCIETY.” IT CONTINUED: “SUNDAY NELSON SMALL LEGS SHOT HIMSELF, SAYING IN A SUICIDE NOTE THAT HE GAVE HIS LIFE TO PROTEST THE CONDITIONS IN WHICH HIS PEOPLE LIVE.” THE ARTICLE WENT ON FURTHER TO SAY: “REV. JOHN WILSON, VICE-PRINCIPAL OF CATHOLIC CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL, REMEMBERS MR. SMALL LEGS AS A FAIRLY BRIGHT STUDENT AND A MAINSTAY ON THE DEFENSIVE LINE OF THE CATHOLIC CENTRAL COUGARS FOOTBALL TEAM THAT WON THE LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP IN 1972. MR. SMALL LEGS, HE SAYS, ENCOUNTERED IDENTITY PROBLEMS THAT WERE COMMON AMONG INDIAN STUDENTS WHO CAME FROM THE RESERVES TO BOARD IN THE CITY AND ATTEND A WHITE SCHOOL. HE GOT ALONG WELL WITH HIS TEACHERS AND OTHER STUDENTS, BUT AT ONE POINT ANOTHER INDIAN STUDENT TOLD HIM HE WAS BECOMING A WHITE MAN, FATHER WILSON SAID.” IT CONCLUDED: “DR. RYAN AGAIN: ‘HE (MR. SMALL LEGS) ADVOCATED PEACEFUL CONFRONTATION BASED ON REAL ISSUES AND PARTICIPATED IN SUCH CONFRONTATION IN ORDER TO BRING SOME ATTENTION TO THE PLIGHT OF HIS PEOPLE. HE HAD HOPED THAT THE WORLD WOULD BE A BETTER PLACE FOR HIS CHILDREN AS A RESULT OF HIS ACTIVITY TO MAKE IT SO.’” IN AN ARTICLE PUBLISHED ON MAY 22, 1976, DETAILS ABOUT NELSON’S DEATH ARE RELAYED: “MR. SMALL LEGS WAS FOUND DEAD SUNDAY AT HIS HOME SIX MILES NORTH OF HERE. HE HAD APPARENTLY DIED OF A SELF-INFLICTED RIFLE SHOT WOUND IN THE CHEST. NOTES FOUND BESIDE THE BODY, WHICH WAS DRESSED IN FULL INDIAN REGALIA AND DRAPED IN A PEIGAN BAND FLAG, SAID THE SOUTHERN ALBERTA DIRECTOR FOR AIM GAVE HIS LIFE TO PROTEST CONDITIONS FOR INDIANS IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA. ‘MY SUICIDE SHOULD OPEN UP THE EYES OF NON-INDIANS INTO HOW MUCH WE HAVE SUFFERED,’ ONE NOTE SAID. ‘FOR 100 YEARS, INDIANS HAVE SUFFERED. MUST THEY SUFFER FOR ANOTHER 100 YEARS? SOMEONE HAS TO TAKE THE FIRST STEP. I GIVE MY LIFE UP IN PROTEST TO THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT FOR ITS TREATMENT OF INDIAN PEOPLE FOR THE PAST 100 YEARS.’” THE ARTICLE CONTINUED, QUOTING ROY LITTLE CHIEF, AIM DIRECTOR FOR CENTRAL ALBERTA: “’TODAY, COCO (A NICKNAME) IS A MARTYR AND A FATHER TO THE WHOLE NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN NATION.’” IT ALSO QUOTED ED BURNSTICK, CANADIAN NATIONAL DIRECTOR FOR AIM: “TO BE FREE INDIANS MUST HAVE A SAY IN THE DIRECTION THEIR LIVES TAKE AND THE DESTINY WHICH WILL AWAIT THEIR CHILDREN, MR. BURNSTICK SAID.” ACCORDING TO THE ARTICLE, NELSON “WAS BURIED IN TRADITIONAL BUCKSKIN DRESS … FRIENDS AND TEACHERS FOUND HIM OUTGOING, RIGHT TO THE EVE OF HIS DEATH.” FINALLY AN ARTICLE PUBLISHED ON JUNE 24, 1976 MAKES MENTION OF THE BUTTONS: JUNE 24, 1976: “WHILE RED BUTTONS COMMEMORATING THE SUICIDE OF NELSON SMALL LEGS JR, MAY 16 MADE AN APPEARANCE IN AT LEAST ONE CONVENTION DISTRIBUTION POINT, A SENIOR ASSOCIATION OFFICIAL SAID THE PROTEST SUICIDE BY THE SOUTHERN ALBERTA AIM DIRECTION IS ‘TOO PERSONAL’ A MATTER FOR THE ASSOCIATION TO INVOLVE ITSELF. MR. SMALL LEGS, A PEIGAN, TOOK HIS LIFE TO PROTEST CONDITIONS FOR SOUTHERN ALBERTA INDIANS, PRESS FOR A PROBE OF THE FEDERAL INDIAN AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT AND DEMAND THE RESIGNATION OF DEPARTMENT MINISTER JUDD BUCHANAN.”

Catalogue Number

P20160008003

Acquisition Date

2016-03

Collection

Museum

Less detail