What if...? Studios: Canada's February 1990 Millenium Quarter Speach by Lonnie Springer

The Speech - February 1999 Millennium Coin Launch

February 1, 1999

(This is the speech that I gave at the Coin Launch.)

Before I get started I want to pass around a handout. It must be the teacher in me because I am going to take this speech as an opportunity to have you learn a few things about the history of this area. So we are going to turn this into an educational fieldtrip … especially designed for those people from eastern Canada and Calgary.

While the handout is being passed out, I wish to thank a number of people who have helped to make today's coin launch so special:

First, I want to thank my parents, sister, wife and three children who are here attending today's event.
The Royal Canadian Mint (especially for their vision of having a national contest to allow ordinary citizens, like myself, to design our currency)
Blood (Blackfoot)
Writing-On-Stone Park officials
Politicians
Friends and colleagues (who got on the bus today with me at 6:00am)
Citizens of Milk River
Students of Milk River
Press

I am extremely happy and proud to have my design win the Royal Canadian Mint's millennium coin contest. 33,000 designs were submitted and to have mine selected for the February 1999 quarter is overwhelming. When I was first told about winning the contest on November 5 … I was speechless … and I am still finding it very hard to believe. I will probably be convinced that this isn't a dream only after the coin has been in circulation for a while.

The contest rules indicated that the designs for the 1999 coins were to portray some important event, discovery or achievement that captures the essence of Canada's past millennium. To me there is no better place in all of Canada than Writing-On-Stone Provincial Park as a source of inspiration and a place to reflect upon Canada's past. This park is alive with drama and history.

My winning coin design depicts three petroglyphs (rock carvings) from the park: the human figure, the horse and the shielded warrior. These images were carved on the sandstone cliffs in this area by aboriginal peoples hundreds of years ago to record important events, like the arrival of the horse on the prairies, and to communicate with the spirit world.

If you look at the time line for Alberta history in terms of European presence it is very short. However, the natives of the western plains have been using the area around Writing-On-Stone for over 3,500 years.

What I would like to do is to have you take a minute to reflect upon how you got here today. Most of us came either by car, bus or jet airplane … or a combination of all three. We have also heavily relied on the use of the telephone as a communication device to help us coordinate today's coin launch. If you look at the time line … all these technologies only arrived in Alberta less than a hundred years ago.

I don't think anyone came to today's event by train … but even the train only arrived in Alberta 116 years ago. So … if we would have held this event 116 years ago … my great grandfather Fred Springer, who would have been 18 years old, could have been here … but the only way he could have gotten here would have been by horse. Also to help you put things in perspective, he was already two years old when Canada became a nation in 1867.

From my research, I don't think any Europeans had ever visited this area before 116 years ago. If you look at the time line, the first real influx of Europeans did not happen until the late 1800's with the arrival of the train and the North West Mounted Police. Until that time many of the natives of the western plains of Canada had never seen Europeans before … or if they had … they would have been very few.

Almost all the exploration activities by the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company took place in the north along the great river systems of Canada and these explorers never reached the Alberta border until the mid 1700's. The first documented visit of a European was Henry Kelsey in the late 1600's … but he never got this far south.

So basically this whole surrounding area of Milk River and the beautiful sandstone cliffs of Writing-On-Stone have been relatively unknown and undisturbed by Europeans until 116 years ago.

However, as I indicated earlier, the natives of the western plains have been attracted to the bizarre rock formations at Writing-On-Stone for over 3,500 years. By carving and painting on the soft, golden-sandstone cliffs, they recorded important events and communicated with the spirit world.

If you look at the quarter design on the time line, you will notice the approximate dates of when the images were created.

If you have ever been to Writing-On-Stone and have taken the guided tour along the bottom of the cliffs conducted by the park ranger, you will immediately encounter the first petroglyph that will appear on the coin: a human figure standing alone with out-stretched arms. This deeply etched image is situated 15 feet up from the cliff base and is especially inspiring. It seems to have its own soul that speaks of a spiritual world as seen through ancient eyes … embracing the new millennium.

Next to this human figure are three horses and a tipi. The petroglyph horse that is immediately adjacent to the human figure is also illustrated on the coin. I included this image because the arrival of the horse, around the early 1700's, had enormous and almost instantaneous impact upon native life on the plains. The horse improved existing hunting strategies and introduced new ones; it provided easier transportation and altered the nature of tribal warfare. More importantly, the horse helped to expand and open new trade routes. Before the horse, the natives on the western plains of Canada were a nomadic people who traveled by foot in small bands, using dogs to drag their travois. By the time the first Europeans met the Blackfoot tribes in late 1700's, they had become one of the great equestrian cultures of the world.

The final petroglyph to be illustrated on the coin, the shield-bearing warrior, can be seen further along the trail. This image is much older than the other two and dates around A. D. 1300. The shield is decorated with a traditional spoke pattern, which has often been used by many cultures to adorn utilitarian objects and works of art. In addition, this geometric pattern reminded me of native medicine wheels, which are among the most complex and intriguing relics to be discovered on the plains of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

You are probably wondering who are David Thompson and Paul Kane and why do their names appear on the time line that I gave you … well from my many years of teaching .. I have found that it best not to tell everything … some things you should research on your own and this is one of them. So the next time you are in your school or public library you just may want to check out some books about them … you will be glad you did.

In conclusion, the realization of the significance of having my design on the February 1999 millennium quarter is just beginning to sink in and it is unbelievable! Just think, Milk River is the first community in Canada to start circulating this coin and soon my design will be in circulation throughout Canada and the world. People will be carrying my creation in their pockets and my initials, LS, will be on that coin. Like the Writing-On-Stone petroglyphs that have long outlasted their story-tellers, this coin will outlive me. Canadians for generations to come will use my coin and be reminded of this unique place in Alberta, which provides a vivid glimpse of native history and spiritual life.

Lonnie's Coin Journal