1914 Canada Sask. photo postcard 107 y.o. Pointed Cap Cree elder

RPPC Photo postcard of Pointed Cap (Cheepoostatin) of the File Hills Qu'Appelle Tribal Council. He was a respected elder of the File Hills Cree community in Saskatchewan, Canada, remembered for his longevity and leadership.

Figures like Pointed Cap were photographed during this period, often in staged scenes meant to promote colonial narratives of progress.

Handwritten on negative ‘Pointed Cap Indian File Hills Agency 107 years old Nov. 12 1914’ 

VELOX photographic paper dates to 1907-1917.

In the 1910s, the File Hills Agency in Saskatchewan was a central administrative and educational hub for several Cree and Saulteaux First Nations, notably marked by the File Hills Residential School and the controversial File Hills Colony experiment.

File Hills Agency oversaw several reserves: Little Black Bear, Star Blanket, Okanese, and Peepeekisis. Located near Balcarres, Saskatchewan, about 100 km northeast of Regina. The agency was part of the broader Treaty 4 territory, signed in 1874 by Cree, Saulteaux, and Assiniboine peoples.

File Hills Residential School

• Operated from 1889 to 1949, run by the Presbyterian Church (later United Church of Canada).
• By the 1910s, the school had expanded with new buildings and increased enrollment. 
• Students came from surrounding reserves and were subjected to assimilationist policies, including manual labor and Christian instruction.

File Hills Colony Experiment

• Initiated by Indian Agent W.M. Graham around 1896 and expanded in the 1910s.
• Graduates of the residential school were settled on subdivided farmland within the Peepeekisis Reserve.
• The goal was to create a model farming community of “civilized” Indigenous men, but it involved forced relocation, land reallocation, and cultural suppression.
• The colony was later criticized for undermining traditional governance and violating treaty rights.