Tag Archives: archives

Module 2 – Post #1 – Right in Front of Me

It is true that when searching for ideas and resources, it is sometimes easy to overlook the things that are right in front of you. The Ryerson Image Centre is directly beside my office, and every day I walk past a large, glass enclosed area of the building that houses a rotating display of images from current exhibits. I realized recently that, as I rushed to grab coffee each day, some of the images that were catching my eye brought to mind many of the themes of ETEC521. Sure enough, I soon discovered that one of the exhibits that is currently running at the Centre is Ghost Dance, a show which includes 99 journalistic photographs, capturing elements of aboriginal life and activism in North America.

While the images themselves are beautiful and intriguing, something that I found equally interesting about this exhibit is the blog associated with it. The blog is designed to serve as a forum for visitors to share any memories or associations they might have with the people, events or locations captured in the photos. Unfortunately, so far, no comments have been posted to the blog to provide deeper insights into these images.

I hope to return to the exhibit and to the blog again over the next few weeks. While the curator of the exhibit has chosen an engaging selection of images, how much more engaging and informative might the show be if the true stories behind the images, or even parts of these stories, were to be shared by those involved?

Mod 2:1 Mary Greyeyes

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A popular representation of First Nations people is that of the “noble savage.” The character of Nanook in Nanook of the North is a prime example of the noble savage who lives off the land using traditional tools against the elements of nature. The noble savage is a romanticized representation that serves to contrast First Nations peoples with modern western culture. At best, the noble savage image makes us gaze in awe at a long-gone past, at worst it is a deliberate misrepresentation that reinforces a stereotype.

There is a photo in the Canadian War Museum archives once labelled, “Unidentified Indian princess getting blessing from her chief and father to go fight in the war.” and currently, wrongly, labelled, “Mary Greyeyes being blessed by her native Chief prior to leaving for service in the CWAC” Neither is accurate. It is interesting to think of the purpose of this picture with the captions originally given it. I’m not sure that I would have questioned the second title (the first does seem far fetched) but it certainly serves to paint a rosy picture of First Nations people in the second world war. The story of this picture does not belong to me so I will let you read it from the source.

Module 2 – Post 1 – Thinking Critically

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Assessing and Validating Resources— Aboriginal Heritage

The Assessing and Validating Resources document was created by the Library and Archives of Canada as a tool to help researchers in vetting their sources. As quoted from the document: ” The assessment tool for validating appropriate content introduces critical thinking and analysis when locating and using both primary and secondary sources. The following checklist assists the researcher to consider how resources present Aboriginal documentary heritage, in text and imagery.”

This tool seems like it would be very helpful to use in the evaluation of cultural resources. The questions are straight forward and easy to understand. In addition, the questions explore a variety of important areas related to content production, language, imagery, Indigenous knowledge vs world views, and traditional vs contemporary portrayals of First Nations Inuit and Metis. While the resource could be made easier with the addition of a scale or checklist, it nevertheless provides though provoking questions that encourage critical reflection. I can’t help but think that if the US school system used this kind of tool then maybe a book like “The Education of Little Tree” would not have made it into their curriculum.

Assessing and Validating Resources— Aboriginal Heritage

Module 1 – Post 4 – Library and Archives Canada

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Library and Archives Canada website contains historical publications, images, sound and video recordings, and other electronic documents. I came across this site while researching traditional First Nations music. The page I found is an archived website titled “ARCHIVED-Aboriginal Sound Recordings: Music and Song“. It includes information on different types of Aboriginal music and links to listen to actual historical recordings of the music. On this page there are also links to music from various indigenous peoples, history, genres, educational resources, and others.

Module 1 – Post 5 – Metis Museum

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One of the central themes of Etec521 investigates how technology can be used by Indigenous peoples to reconnect with, archive, and share their identities and culture. With that in mind, most of my posts for this module have centered around websites that provide online access to historical documentation and information on Metis culture. For my final post for this module I chose to feature the website: The Virtual Museum of Metis Hitory and Culture. This website is designed and maintained by the Gabriel Dumont Institute of Native Studies and Applied Reseach in Saskatchewan, Canada.

The virtual museum provides a wealth of information in the following categories:

Indigenous Voices – Contains video clips of Michif language interviews
Metis Celebration – Video and audio files celebrating Metis music, dance and storytelling
Metis Heritage – Oral histories, photographs, and Metis Resistance documentation
Learning Resources – Information on traditional Metis lifestyle and education
Artistic Expressions – Materials honoring traditional and contemporary Metis art forms
Moccasin Telegraph – Links to other Metis resources around the web

The website is very user friendly, and I think provides a wonderful example of how technology can be used by Indigenous groups to preserve and share the visible aspects of their culture.

The website can be found here: Metis Virtual Museum

Module 1 – Post 4 – Glenbow Museum

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I had an opportunity last September to visit the Glenbow Museum, which is located in Calgary, Alberta. My quest was to visit their archives in hopes of finding information for the family tree project I have been working on for the past ten years. Glenbow’s website contains links to searchable databases of resources that are available at the archives. Unfortunately, very few of the materials have been digitized and therefore a visit to the archives will be required if you wish to investigate your initial finds further.

The website is available here: The Glenbow Museum and Archives