Material Type

Artifact

Date Range From

1999

Date Range To

2000

Materials

SYNTHETIC (POLYESTER/NYLON), PLASTIC, STEEL

No. Pieces

2

Height

11.5

Length

46

Width

38

Description

LIGHT PINK BLANKET. HAS A DARKER PINK TRIM ON TOP AND BOTTOM EDGE. HAS A TAG ON ONE SIDE THAT READS "100% POLYESTER CA 00350 MADE IN U.S.A. FABRIQUE AU E.U.". AT BOTTOM OF TAG ARE CLEANING INSTRUCTION SYMBOLS IN RED AND YELLOW. BLANKET IS FOLDED AND IN A CLEAR PLASTIC BAG, WITH WHITE EDGING. ONE SIDE OF PLASTIC BAG HAS A WHITE PLASTIC ZIPPER ON IT; EMBOSSED ON ZIPPER IS "IMEX VINYL PACKAGING". THERE IS A TEAR IN THE BAG NEAR ZIPPER.

Subjects

BEDDING

Historical Association

ETHNOGRAPHIC

COMMEMORATIVE

DOMESTIC

History

BLANKET WAS A GIFT TO DONOR (MUSEUM DIRECTOR) AT THE ORLANDO CALLING LAST BEAVER BUNDLE TRANSFER WHICH TOOK PLACE AT HIS HOME ON THE BLOOD RESERVE, SEPTEMBER 4, 2000. THE DONOR'S FACE WAS PAINTED WHICH MEANS THAT SHE HAD THE RIGHT TO SEE THE INDIVIDUAL OBJECTS AND TO DANCE WITH ANY OF THE OBJECTS. THIS WAS A GREAT HONOUR FOR THE GALT MUSEUM AND ARCHIVES. **UPDATE: COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT ELISE PUNDYK INTERVIEWED OBJECT DONOR WILMA WOOD ON 15 MAY, 2018 AS PART OF PUNDYK'S 2017-2019 RELEVANCY AUDIT ASSIGNMENT. WOOD MADE NEW COMMENTS ON PREVIOUS DONATIONS AND ON GALT MUSEUM INSTITUTIONAL ITEMS THAT WERE ACTIVELY ADDED TO THE COLLECTION—MOST OF WHICH ARE RELATED TO THE GALT’S 2002 “ANCESTORS” EXHIBIT, DEVELOPED WHILE SHE WAS THE INSTITUTION’S DIRECTOR/CEO. WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE ARTIFACT, WILMA STATED, “WELL THEY WERE GIFTS, ACTUALLY THEY WEREN’T GIFTS TO ME PERSONALLY. THEY WERE GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM. SO I ACCEPTED THEM ON THE BEHALF OF THE MUSEUM. … AND THIS WAS ALL IN PREPARATION FOR A MAJOR EXHIBITION THAT WE WERE HOLDING IN COOPERATION WITH MEMBERS OF THE BLOOD RESERVE. SO, WE DID A BUNDLE OPENING. IT’S A VERY SACRED CEREMONY WHICH MEMBERS OF THE BLOOD RESERVE DO, BUT IT’S LIMITED TO CERTAIN PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY WHO ARE ALLOWED TO OPEN BUNDLES BECAUSE IT’S A SACRED CEREMONY. AND THIS FAMILY HAD A BUNDLE AND IT WAS ALLOWED TO OPEN ITS BUNDLE WHENEVER IT WANTED. SO ACTUALLY THAT FAMILY DID IT TWICE. THEY DID IT ON THE RESERVE AND THEN THEY DID IT HERE AT THE MUSEUM. WE SET UP A TENT BESIDE THE MUSEUM HERE. WHAT WAS INTERESTING IN BOTH CASES WAS WHO WAS THERE. ON THE RESERVE THERE WERE PEOPLE WHO WERE SPECIALLY INVITED AND THAT INCLUDED MEMBERS OF OUR BOARD AS WELL AS THE MEMBERS OF THE STAFF. HERE, IT WAS OPEN TO ANYONE WHO WANTED TO COME, AND WHAT INTERESTED ME WAS THAT MANY OF THE FIRST NATIONS PEOPLE WHO WERE IN THE COMMUNITY LIVING OFF RESERVE OR DOWNTOWN CAME FOR THE OPENING AND IT MEANT A LOT TO THEM TO HAVE THIS IN THE CENTRE OF THE CITY. SO IT WAS AN INTERESTING CONTRAST TO SEE THE TWO OPENINGS. I CAN’T REMEMBER MUCH OF THE CEREMONY BECAUSE IT WAS A LONG TIME AGO. IT WAS ALMOST 20 YEARS AGO, RIGHT? AT THE END, AS IN MOST CULTURES OF FIRST NATIONS, BECAUSE YOU’VE WITNESSED THE OPENING OF THE BUNDLE, YOU WERE GIVEN A GIFT. AND WE WERE THERE REPRESENTING THE MUSEUM THEN WE GOT GIFTS AS WELL. SO THAT’S WHERE THE BLANKETS CAME FROM. AND IN ANY CEREMONY, GIFTS ARE GIVEN AS PAYMENT TO THE WITNESS. … BOTH [BLANKETS] WERE [GIVEN] AT THE FIRST CEREMONY. OH YES, THEY HAVE THEM ALL STACKED OR PILED AND THEN AT THE END, THE PEOPLE WHO ARE DESIGNATED TO GIVE OUT THE GIFTS, TAKE THE GIFTS AND THEY GIVE THEM TO EACH PERSON. AND IT’S KIND OF RANKED TOO. SOME PEOPLE GET BETTER GIFTS. NOT ONE PERSON GOES AWAY WITHOUT A GIFT BECAUSE OF THE WITNESSING. WELL [A BLANKET], IT’S A TRADITIONAL FORM OF GIFT. WHENEVER I GAVE A GIFT WHEN I WAS GETTING INFORMATION, WHEN I WENT OUT TO DEAL WITH PEOPLE ABOUT GIFTS, I TOOK EITHER TOBACCO OR A BLANKET. THOSE ARE THE TWO TRADITIONAL FORMS OF GIFTS THAT I WAS INTRODUCED TO.” ON THE FAMILY THAT HELD THE BUNDLE OPENING CEREMONY AND WHY THEY CHOSE TO HOLD IT IN THE CITY, “I THINK THE CALLING LAST’S WERE, THIS IS MY OPINION, I THINK THE CALLING LAST’S WERE REALLY INTERESTED IN ALLOWING THEIR CULTURE TO BE MORE OPEN. I THINK THEY WERE UNIQUE IN THAT. BUT AS TO PERSONAL MOTIVES, HONESTLY, I DON’T KNOW. I KNOW THAT WE ESTABLISHED A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FAMILY. I WORKED VERY HARD TO ESTABLISH THAT RELATIONSHIP. ORLANDO WORKED HERE FOR A BRIEF PERIOD OF TIME. HE MAY HAVE LIKED THE MUSEUM AND ITS OBJECTIVES AND FELT THAT HE MIGHT BE ABLE TO OPEN PEOPLE’S EYES TO HIS OWN CULTURE. … THE CEREMONY WAS QUITE LONG, IT WAS A DAY’S ADVENTURE. THERE WERE SEVERAL OF US, OF COURSE, WHO ATTENDED BECAUSE IT WAS FOR THE MUSEUM. I DO NOT REMEMBER WHO ELSE WAS THERE. BUT WE – IT WAS ON THE CALLING LAST PROPERTY AND ALL OF THOSE THAT PARTICIPATED IN IT DID THE SWEAT HOUSE FIRST BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO BE PURE TO GO THROUGH THAT KIND OF A CEREMONY. WE ACTUALLY WENT THROUGH THE SWEAT HOUSE PROCESS BEFORE THE EXHIBITION THAT FOLLOWED, MEMBERS OF THE BOARD AND I DID THE SWEAT HOUSE SO THAT WE COULD PURIFY OURSELVES FOR WHAT WAS COMING. IT WAS ON THE CALLING LAST PROPERTY AND IT WAS VERY SIMPLE. WE JUST ALL DROVE UP TO THE SITE AND THEY HAD A DESIGNATED AREA WHERE THE CEREMONY WAS TO TAKE PLACE, WITH SEATS BECAUSE THERE WERE SOME OLD PEOPLE THERE AND THEY PROCEEDED TO GO THROUGH THE CEREMONY. OF COURSE THERE WERE SPECIFIC SONGS RELATED TO THE OPENING THAT HAD TO BE SUNG AND THE BUNDLE WAS OFFERED TO THE CREATOR SEVERAL TIMES. I FOUND IT A VERY MOVING EXPERIENCE AS I DID IN THE SWEAT HOUSE AS WELL. I FOUND THAT A MOVING EXPERIENCE AS WELL.” WHEN ASKED IF THE CEREMONY TOOK PLACE BEFORE THE “ANCESTORS” EXHIBIT, “YES. YEAH. IT WAS ALL PART OF THE LONG PROCESS GETTING READY FOR IT. BEFORE WE DID THIS WE TOOK ONE ELDER WITH US TO ENGLAND TO LOOK AT THE OBJECTS THERE BECAUSE THE BRITISH MUSEUM WANTED SOMEBODY THERE TO LOOK AT THE OBJECTS AND MAKE SURE THAT WHAT THEY WERE IDENTIFYING WAS CORRECT. SO WE WENT WITH HIM… AS WE CAME CLOSER THEN WE WENT THROUGH THESE SERIES OF CEREMONIES. WE HIRED ELDERS TO TALK TO US ABOUT THE OBJECTS IN THE EXHIBITION AND TELL US STORIES WHICH COULD BE INCORPORATED INTO THE EXHIBITION. WE TOOK THEIR PHOTOGRAPHS …SO THAT THEIR PHOTOGRAPH COULD BE PUT WITH THE OBJECT THAT WAS OWNED BY THEIR FORBEARERS …WE WERE TRYING TO ESTABLISH WAS A CONTINUITY BETWEEN THE PAST AND THE PRESENT. AND THAT WAS ALSO OCCURRING WITH THE ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM OBJECTS. WE DIDN’T GO TO THE FORMAL EXTENT WITH THE ROM THAT WE DID WITH THE BRITISH MUSEUM, BUT NEVERTHELESS IT WORKED. I WAS QUITE DETERMINED THAT WE SHOULD BE DOING MORE WITH THE BLOOD RESERVE BECAUSE THE BOUNDARY OF THE CITY AND THE BLOOD RESERVE ARE THE SAME. AND THERE ARE ALSO A VERY LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN THE TOWN OFF THE RESERVE, AND I FELT THAT WE WEREN’T SERVING THOSE PEOPLE AS WELL AS WE MIGHT. …MY MAIN OBJECTIVE WAS TO INVOLVE TWO COMMUNITIES.” ON THE “ANCESTORS” EXHIBIT, “YES, WHAT HAPPENED WAS, LOUIS [SOOP] AND I HAD KNOWN EACH OTHER A LONG TIME AGO… LOUIS CAME INTO MY OFFICE ONE DAY AND HE SAID, “‘YOU KNOW WILMA, WE SHOULD DO AN EXHIBIT.” AND I’D KNOWN LOUIS FOR A LONG TIME AND I SAID, “YES WE SHOULD.” SO WE STARTED TALKING ABOUT IT. HE’D BEEN TO LONDON AND HE’D BEEN TO TORONTO AND HE’D SEEN THE OBJECTS THERE AND HE SAID, “I’D REALLY LIKE TO GET THOSE.” AND I SAID, “WELL, WHY DON’T WE JUST WRITE AND ASK?” SO WE DID. AND WE GOT ENTHUSIASM. I WAS SURPRISED. I GOT AN ENTHUSIASTIC RESPONSE. ONE REASON WAS THAT THE CURATOR IN LONDON WAS DOING FIELDWORK LOCALLY AND WAS REALLY WELL-VERSED IN THE LOCAL CULTURE. SO HE WAS QUITE EXCITED ABOUT DOING SOMETHING. AND THEN WE WENT TO THE ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM AND CHECKED OUT CONTACTS THERE AND WE ENDED UP WITH ARNIE BECAUSE HE WAS IN CHARGE OF THE OBJECTS THAT RELATED TO THIS AREA. AND SO WE INVITED THE TWO OF THEM TO COME HERE AND LOUIS AND I PROPOSITIONED THEM.” “IT TOOK A WHILE TO GET THERE BECAUSE I HAD CERTAIN OBJECTIVES TO FULFILL AS THE MANAGER HERE AND IT’S A SMALL MUSEUM. IT’S A COMMUNITY MUSEUM SO TO BRING IN A BLOCKBUSTER LIKE THAT, YOU KNOW, IS HARD. … WE HAD REALLY GOOD RESULTS BECAUSE WE DID A LOT OF MARKETING TOO, AND WE HAD BUS LOADS COMING IN FROM ALL OVER ALBERTA AND OTHER PROVINCES AS WELL, CLOSE PROVINCES. BUT THE MAIN, MY MAIN CONCERN WAS THAT PEOPLE IN OTHER AREAS – IT WAS PART OF THE GRAND PLAN TO MARKET THE MUSEUM SO THAT WE COULD INCREASE OUR MEMBER – OUR POTENTIAL- AND PUT US ON THE MAP, SO TO SPEAK. BEFORE THIS, IT WAS ALWAYS EDMONTON AND CALGARY AND WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT LETHBRIDGE WAS IN THERE SOMEHOW. OR AT LEAST THAT WAS MY OBJECTIVE FROM A MUSEUM POINT OF VIEW. AND TO ME IT ALL WORKED TOGETHER. NOTHING IS EVER FOR JUST ONE OBJECTIVE. THERE HAS TO BE MANY REASONS THAT YOU WORK ON THINGS. SO, BECAUSE LOUIS CAME IN AND HAD A CHAT ONE DAY, THAT’S HOW THAT STARTED.” FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, INCLUDING INTERVIEW AND INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT PLEASE SEE PERMANENT FILE P20020029000.

Catalogue Number

P20000097002

Acquisition Date

2001-07

Collection

Museum

Less detail