Oct. 24, 1971: Soviet premier dons headdress to become Chief Gold Eagle

Chief Gold Eagle — better known as Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin — called for world peace and prosperity shortly before wrapping up his five-hour visit to Edmonton.

His nine-day tour of Canada, which began Oct. 17, came at the invitation of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, and marked the first by a leader from the U.S.S.R. Just five months earlier, Trudeau and his new bride Margaret had made a 12-day visit to the Soviet Union.

After being made an honorary Cree chief by Chief Maurice Wolfe of the Ermineskin First Nation at Hobbema, the 67-year-old Kosygin smoked a peace pipe at Edmonton’s Government House as if to reinforce the message.

“It’s a great honour to be inducted into your tribe and I will remember it as one of the most momentous experiences of my life,” he told Wolfe at a luncheon.

Kosygin was greeted at the Château Lacombe by about 200 silent spectators, many of them of Eastern European descent. A man who tried to push his way past police was charged with unlawfully and wilfully obstructing a peace officer.

Senator Paul Martin Sr., a former secretary of state for external affairs, told the Journal that Kosygin was pleased with his Canadian tour. Martin, who had visited the U.S.S.R. most recently when he was external affairs minister in the Pearson government, said Kosygin’s trip signalled greater peace in the world.