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For Stewart Steinhauer, it was a relief and a joy to see his latest sculptures installed this year, the 150th anniversary of the signing of Treaty 6.
On a sunny fall day, the famed, 74-year-old artist from Saddle Lake Cree Nation eyed his work as he strolled across the Amisk Wâciw Âsokan, or Beaver Hills Bridge, which connects Edmonton and Strathcona County.
“This is a pretty amazing bridge,” said the self-taught sculptor, whose work is in high-profile collections across Canada and the United States.
“They want to honour Indigenous peoples and recognize a long occupation of the area. I think that’s great.”
LISTEN | Take a walk across the bridge with the artists to get a feel for the work:
Edmonton AM6:16Two new pieces by granite sculptor Stewart Steinhauer are at the Edmonton-Strathcona County Footbridge
There’s some new public art near the Edmonton-Strathcona County Footbridge. In circular parks at either end, you’ll see a bear perched on a pillar and a women cradling a baby. The pieces are by granite sculptor Stewart Steinhauer. CBC producer Adrienne Lamb recently took a walk with the 74-year-old from Saddle Lake Cree Nation and his apprentices.
Opened last fall at a cost of $38.6 million, the footbridge connects 167th Avenue in northeast Edmonton to Township Road 540 in Strathcona County. Two circular parks at either end were vacant until last month when Steinhauer’s sculptures were installed.
Steinhauer says Two Souls Touching could be viewed as a couple, a mother and child, or another spiritual connection. The Bear — his signature subject — is perched on a granite pedestal looking out over the North Saskatchewan River.
A signature Steinhauer bear sculpture sits atop a solid stone base dotted with carvings that tell the story of Treaty 6 to mark the 150th anniversary of its signing in 2026. (Adrienne Lamb/CBC)
Steinhauer, who has been carving for more than 50 years, said a recent health crisis affected his work on this project.
“I’m still able to do this, but only because I took on two new apprentices.”
Passing on the knowledge
One is Steinhauer’s 28-year-old nephew, Napekasiwiniw (Nap) Steinhauer, who said he has looked up to his uncle all his life.
“He’s just always been working, he never takes a break, that guy.”
When his uncle asked for help this summer, Nap jumped at the chance.
Stewart Steinhauer works on a sculpture at his shop on the Saddle Lake Cree Nation in northeast Alberta. (Adrienne Lamb/CBC)
“I thought ‘Oh, that’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I would like, at the very least, to give it a shot and see how I like it.’”
Turns out he did. He and fellow apprentice Samantha Shirt, also from Saddle Lake Cree Nation, concentrated on carving the petroglyphs on the solid stone bases for both pieces.
Shirt, 26, said she had only ever done small-scale soapstone carvings before, but she wanted to take on this project during the 150th anniversary year of the signing of Treaty 6.
“Given it’s granite and will last a long time, I think it will be hard for people to ignore the importance of it,” she said.
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Shirt said it was interesting to learn about her people’s past and to carve the story in stone under Steinhauer’s watchful eye.
“There’s a history here and we get to be a part of it.”
Steinhauer said he decided years ago to build a collection of sculpture about treaty and to have it ready for this anniversary.
Besides the two at the footbridge, a dozen large pieces are on display in his exhibition yard in Saddle Lake, 175 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.
This sculpture by Stewart Steinhauer, completed in 2024, is one of a dozen pieces on display at his public installation site at Saddle Lake First Nation. (Adrienne Lamb/CBC)
The Edmonton Arts Council commissioned the two sculptures at a cost of $165,000.
David Turnbull, director of public art, said the council had wanted to add Steinhauer’s work to its collection for years.
“He’s got quite a number of works across the city that are owned by the university, by the province, by other institutions. He really is a master sculptor.”
Signs and landscaping will be added to the art installation that went in Sept. 16, Turnbull said.
Amisk Wâciw Âsokan, or the Beaver Hills Bridge, stretches over the North Saskatchewan River connecting northeast Edmonton to Strathcona County. (Adrienne Lamb/CBC)
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