This week's topic in Public History was Representation, Repatriation & Controversy. Two of the readings were of particular interest to me, Robyn Gillam's, The Spirit Sings and Our Story in Our Words by Gerald Conaty & Beth Carter. This was also the weekend of the 3rd Annual Pow Wow at Western. McIntosh Gallery is exhibiting photo-based art by Indigenous students at Western, which I plan to visit. I've heard it is good. I took a break on Saturday to visit the Pow Wow. The picture above is the entrance of the dancers, Paul Davenport, UWO President, in the background. I looked at the items on display, some by local vendors, Otter Arts & Crafts and Antler River Trading Post. I was tempted by the soft suede moccasins, the colourfully beaded boxes and necklaces. There is a comfort about these items. A casualness that comes from earthy things. 
Presently, I'm waiting for the arrival of the Blue Herons. I've watched the Thames rise to an alarming height, forcing me to abandon my customary route for several weeks. But the rush of the winter thaw is diminishing now so the herons will return, in their time, just as the earliest birds of the spring did in February. Last summer Steven Harper issued a historic apology for more than a century of abuse in the Residential Schools, ushering in a new time in Canadian history. I've blogged about the lecture of John Ralston Saul and his book A Fair Country, Telling the Truths About Canada, and he too describes a new time, a time when Canadians need to embrace First Nation wisdom. 
In September I attended the Active History Conference at Glendon College where First Nation spokesmen told of their challenges and success as activists. Which brings me back to this week's readings. I would like to have seen Our Story in Our Words. Conaty and Carter described the long process of learning that preceded the exhibit. From their account it was a huge success, but that was because they took the time, made the effort to confer with the First Nation people at each and every step in developing the exhibit. They have set a new standard for exhibits of aboriginal artifacts and developed a new way of understanding both for First Nation youth and non-native peoples. This method, or at least a similar method contributed to the success of the National Museum of American Indian in Washington, DC.
The building is surrounded by rocks, plants and even animals from the native world, in the center of a nation's capital city. The prescribed path through the museum begins in a circle under a night sky with drum beats reverberating. It is all a digital creation. The Pow Wow was much less digital, except for the amplification of the drums. On a glorious sharp spring day it was a pity to be in Alumni Hall. The drums and dancers should have been outside. So the dance between natives and non-natives continues, and hopefully the bridge building with public history skills continues too. There is hope in that vision.
Presently, I'm waiting for the arrival of the Blue Herons. I've watched the Thames rise to an alarming height, forcing me to abandon my customary route for several weeks. But the rush of the winter thaw is diminishing now so the herons will return, in their time, just as the earliest birds of the spring did in February. Last summer Steven Harper issued a historic apology for more than a century of abuse in the Residential Schools, ushering in a new time in Canadian history. I've blogged about the lecture of John Ralston Saul and his book A Fair Country, Telling the Truths About Canada, and he too describes a new time, a time when Canadians need to embrace First Nation wisdom. 
In September I attended the Active History Conference at Glendon College where First Nation spokesmen told of their challenges and success as activists. Which brings me back to this week's readings. I would like to have seen Our Story in Our Words. Conaty and Carter described the long process of learning that preceded the exhibit. From their account it was a huge success, but that was because they took the time, made the effort to confer with the First Nation people at each and every step in developing the exhibit. They have set a new standard for exhibits of aboriginal artifacts and developed a new way of understanding both for First Nation youth and non-native peoples. This method, or at least a similar method contributed to the success of the National Museum of American Indian in Washington, DC.
The building is surrounded by rocks, plants and even animals from the native world, in the center of a nation's capital city. The prescribed path through the museum begins in a circle under a night sky with drum beats reverberating. It is all a digital creation. The Pow Wow was much less digital, except for the amplification of the drums. On a glorious sharp spring day it was a pity to be in Alumni Hall. The drums and dancers should have been outside. So the dance between natives and non-natives continues, and hopefully the bridge building with public history skills continues too. There is hope in that vision. 
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