Revising settler colonial public art, an insurgent/resurgent story of 'two Victorias' in Winnipeg, Treaty One.

This article examines the insurgent and resurgent public art revisions of two representations of Queen Victoria in Winnipeg, Treaty One Territory, from 2020 to 2023, situating these acts within broader Indigenous-led decolonization efforts and the Calls to Action of the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada addressing harms from the Indian Residential School (IRS) system. The first artwork, a 1904 bronze statue by Sir George Frampton, was toppled by activists in 2021 amid anti-colonial and Black Lives Matter protests, transforming its plinth into a counter-monument memorializing Indigenous children lost to residential schools. The second, Mediating the Treaties (2019) by Indigenous Anishinaabe artist Rolande Souliere, features a double-sided coin depicting Treaty One negotiations but underwent multiple public revisions removing Queen Victoria’s image to reflect Indigenous perspectives and community critiques. These events highlight urban Indigenous activism challenging settler colonial narratives in public spaces, emphasizing Indigenous survivance and the ongoing negotiation of memory, identity, and reconciliation in Winnipeg’s urban landscape.