Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

'ANCESTORS' EXHIBIT, GALT MUSEUM

Date

2002

Materials

PAPER, FEATHER

No. Pieces

11

Height

5

Length

30.5

Width

12.3

Description

1. FEATHER, CASED, 3PCE. RED PAPER COVERED CASE (2PCE.) HAS LABEL ON LID WITH EXHIBIT'S FEATHER DESIGN "AKAITAPIIWA", "OFFICIAL OPENING..2002". CASE CONTAINS ONE TURKEY FEATHER DISPLAYING A RAW HIDE LOOP SECURED TO END OF FEATHER WITH NATIVE BEADWORK. 2.MUSEUM INVITATION CARD, ENVELOPE AND (2) PASSES, 4 PCE. WHITE BI-FOLD CARD DISPLAYS EXHIBIT'S FEATHER DESIGN ON FRONT AND TEXT "A'KAITAPIIWA" "JOIN US OFFICIAL OPENING". INSIDE CARD MARKED SAGM "INVITES YOU TO THE OFFICIAL OPENING" AND GALT LOGO AT BOTTOM. (2) IDENTICAL EXHIBIT PASSES FEATURING EXHIBIT DESIGN, GALT LOGO AND TEXT "7.00 SINGLE ADMISSION". (1) WHITE GENERIC ENVELOPE. 3.LETTER FROM MAYOR IN EVELOPE, 2PCE. CITY LETTERHEAD FROM "MAYOR ROBERT D. (BOB) TARLECK" AND "CITY COUNCIL" INVITING RECIPIENT TO JOIN THEM FOR "INFORMAL BUFFET" TO MEET EXHIBIT GENERATORS ON MAY 3, 2002. ENVELOPE IS MARKED "MAYOR'S OFFICE" IN TOP LEFT HAND CORNER. 4.PROTECTIVE PAPER WRAP, 2PCE. ROUGH BROWN PAPER SHEET IS ROLLED AND SECURED BY RED PAPER STRING. WRAP FORMS PROTECTIVE EXTERIOR OF ABOVE INVITATION COMPONENTS.

Subjects

DOCUMENTARY ARTIFACT

Historical Association

LEISURE

ETHNOGRAPHIC

History

INVITATION CONCEPT ORIGINATED WITH PAST MUSEUM DIRECTOR WILMA WOOD. WOOD WAS PROJECT COORDINATOR FOR THE ANCESTORS' EXHIBIT. EXHIBIT'S ARTISTIC FEATHER DESIGN PRODUCED BY 'GENERATION DESIGN'. WOOD, AS MARKETER, CARRIED THE DESIGN OVER INTO PROMOTION, EXHIBITION AND PROGRAMMING, HENCE USE OF ACTUAL FEATHER IN INVITATION. APPROXIMATELY 200 FEATHERS WERE ACQUIRED FROM LOCAL COMPANY 'TANDYS' THEN SENT TO GWEN HEAVY RUNNER, STUDENT AT RED CROW COMMUNITY COLLEGE' FOR BEADING. BOXES WERE OBTAINED FROM AN ONTARIO COMPANY WHICH, GOT THEM FROM A SUPPLIER IN THAILAND. THE FEATHERS COST APPROXIMATELY 1$ EACH AND THE BEADWORK $10 EACH. WOOD STATES THE SOME BLOOD MEMBERS "WERE NOT IMPRESSED WITH THEM, BUT EVERYONE ELSE WAS". MANY PEOPLE WANTED ONE, BUT ONLY ENOUGH WERE MADE FOR THOSE ON THE INVITATION LIST, INCLUDING REPRESENATIVES OF THE BLOOD TRIBE, MUSEUM VOLUNTEERS AND DIGNATARIES. THE ANCESTOR'S EXHIBIT WAS A DISPLAY OF MORE THAN 200 BLOOD (KAINAI) OBJECTS COLLECTED BY FREDERICK DEANE-FREEMAN AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY. THE OBJECTS ARE HELD BY THE ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM AND THE BRITISH MUSEUM IN LONDON. THE EXHIBIT RAN FROM MAY 2002 THROUGH JANUARY 2003 AND WAS GENERATED BY 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, “OH YES. WELL, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I DID, BECAUSE THERE HAD TO BE ALL KINDS OF GIFTS. …SO WHAT I DID WAS ASK LOUIS [SOOP] TO GIVE ME NAMES OF PEOPLE ON THE RESERVE WHO COULD DO THE WORK TO MAKE THE GIFTS FOR US BECAUSE I WANTED AS MUCH MONEY AS POSSIBLE TO GO TO THE RESERVE. SO TO ALL OF THE SIGNIFICANT PEOPLE THAT WE WERE INVITING TO THE OPENING, WE MADE UP THIS BOX WITH THE FEATHER IN IT TO SEND IT OUT AS AN INVITATION. … AND I HAD MOCCASINS, PURSES, WE JUST MADE ALL KINDS OF STUFF THAT WE GAVE TO THE ELDERS AND TO PEOPLE WHO HAD HELPED US DO THIS AND WHO WORKED IN ANY CAPACITY ON THIS EXHIBITION. SO, I IMAGINE THIS ONE WAS MY INVITATION THAT I GAVE TO YOU. … YES, I REALLY LIKED IT. SOME MEMBERS OF THE TRIBE DIDN’T. THEY SAID IT WASN’T EMBLEMATIC ENOUGH BUT I THOUGHT IT WAS VERY EMBLEMATIC. BUT THEN THAT WAS MY OPINION.” ON THE “ANCESTORS” EXHIBIT, “YES, WHAT HAPPENED WAS, LOUIS 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.” “…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.” “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.

Catalogue Number

P20020029000

Acquisition Date

2002-07

Collection

Museum

Less detail