Harper dons war paint, head dress for ceremony

STANDOFF, Alta. - Stephen Harper has been given a ceremonial title shared by the likes of Prince Charles and Pope John Paul II.

The prime minister has been made a ceremonial chief of the Blood Tribe in southern Alberta.

The tribe says it made Harper a chief for the residential schools apology he issued in 2008.

Harper donned a head dress for the ceremony and had his face painted by a medicine man.

He and his wife also shuffled their feet to the beat of a ceremonial drum.

Harper, whose Blood name is Chief Speaker, is the third sitting prime minister to be bestowed the honour, behind Lester Pearson and John Diefenbaker.

Jean Chretien was given the title before becoming prime minister.

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  Prime Minister Stephen Harper wears a headdress after being made an honourary chief of the Blood tribe during a ceremony in Stand Off, Alta., Monday, July 11, 2011. (Jeff McIntosh / THE CANADIAN PRESS)