Elder Miiksika’am awarded King Charles III Coronation Medal

A spiritual advisor to Mount Royal University has been awarded a prestigious King Charles III Coronation Medal.

Clarence Wolfleg (Elder Miiksika’am), who received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from MRU in 2021, was officially given the award on March 21. The commemorative medal, introduced to mark the coronation of His Majesty King Charles III on May 6, 2023, recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to Canada or brought credit to the country abroad.

He said the medal for him symbolizes the relationships in his life and how he has found strength in those to do good for his communities and his country.

“To receive the medal, it’s a testament to the things I’ve done in my life and all the people I have great relations and love for, the people who became like my extended family. If there is one word, I would say love for my family.”

Miiksika’am has deep roots in the Siksika Nation. His guardian ancestors trace back to the 1600s, when his fourth great-grandfather watched over the eastern tribal boundaries.

A descendant of Canada’s dark legacy of residential schools, Miiksika’am attended the Old Sun Indian Residential School from 1955 to 1961. There, he was given the name “Clarence Wolfleg,” but prefers to be called Miiksika’am, which means “Red Crane.” Miiksika’am served in the Canadian Regular Forces from 1966 to 1970 with the 1st Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery. He finished his service as a UN Peacekeeper Cypress and the NATO Forces Continental Europe missions during the Cold War.

Miiksika’am developed many community outreach programs and served on the Siksika Nation Council for 10 terms. He was a police officer and then chief of police with the Blackfoot Tribal Police, played a major role in facilitating the Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park and assisted in curating the Blackfoot exhibit at the Glenbow Museum.

Nationally, Miiksika’am has advised Health Canada and Veterans Affairs Canada. Regionally, he is involved with the Siksika Horn Society as a spiritual advisor to the chief and the Treaty 7 Tribal Council. Fluent in the Blackfoot dialect, Miiksika’am has been adopted by many Indigenous nations.

He is a spiritual advisor to Mount Royal and gifted Mount Royal an honour song that is performed each year during Convocation ceremonies. In 2021 he was named one of Calgary's Top 7 over 70.

“Elder Miiksika’am’s work to enhance the understanding of Indigenous ways of knowing, the intergenerational trauma of residential schools coupled with his pride in his people and in Canada is an inspiration to anyone who meets him,” said Tim Rahilly, president and vice-chancellor at MRU. “He is a worthy recipient of this great honour.”

Following a remarkable life as a residential school survivor, armed forces veteran and elected official, Miiksika’am’s presence at MRU has grown in recent years, beginning by meeting leaders and students associated with the Iniskim Centre. He now connects MRU students, faculty and staff with external Indigenous ceremonies and community members, speaking with students during field schools and classes, leading ceremonial smudging, honouring select members of the MRU community with a Blackfoot name, and often delivering remarks at Convocation.

“In the buffalo days, inii made their annual move in the springtime to their calving sites, such as near Buffalo Lake (a sacred Blackfoot site) in the northwest part of the Blackfoot traditional territory,” reads a passage from a panel at MRU’s inni awatto (Buffalo on the Move) installation that Miiksika’am composed. “Today the young and old seek knowledge at Mount Royal University. When completed, they are able to benefit from their journey.”