ICYMI: UPDATING THE GLASS CASE

Breaking the Glass Case | Alexandra Forand 

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I have been writing Breaking the Glass Case for over a year now, and in this role I’ve written 15 articles, or at least this will be lucky number 15. Most of my articles tend to rely on current events and I thought I would take a moment and look back on a few articles I have written in the past year, provide some updates, and fill you, dear readers, in on some behind the scenes commentary on why I chose to write these articles.

In April and May of 2019, I released a two-part article on the importance, materiality, and future of the Buffalo titled “Buffing up on Buffalo,” and “Bringing Back the Buffalo.” These articles were originally based off a material heritage portfolio for Professor Cara Kmpotich's MSL 2360: Museums and Indigenous Communities, Changing Relationships Changing Practises. Being from the Prairies, it was important for me to integrate my home into the project. At one time, the Prairies were home to millions of buffalo and the Prairie Peoples relied greatly on these animals, but through disease, drought, and over hunting the buffalo population rapidly declined to near extinction. Recently, communities and government have come together to restore these numbers. I discuss a few enumerations attempts in the original articles, but there has been many others this year alone! On January 7, 2020 Zagime Anishinabek First Nation were gifted 22 bison from Peepeekisis Cree Nation. On January 17, 2020, six calves from Grassland National Park in southern Saskatchewan were unveiled in Wanuskewin. Overtime, this heard is expected to about 50 animals.

Photo courtesy of Michelle Wright. 

In March 2019, I wrote an article entitled “ We Need to Talk, or Not: Language in Museums as a Form of Control.” In, what could be considered my favourite article I have written (thus far), I discuss the International Year of Indigenous Language and its importance. Since then, there have been numerous projects and programs that share this spirit.  Dawnis Kennedy and Anna Parenteau created an Ojibway book and board game called “Boogidi,”which translates to fart, and is potentially one of my favourite instances of language sharing! The pair have been working on the book for three years and the card game for two years. Kennedy and Parenteau, say that the book and card game will teach learners of any skill to think quickly in the language and conjugate verbs.

On CBC North, Betsy Longchamp and Mary Shem have launched the first podcast that uses  Woodland Cree, called Wiih'teh. The pair, discuss  how the Woodland Cree language has evolved,  use Woodland Cree words to discuss the weather, seasons, and other stories, and hope the podcast will encourage children and other young people to learn and speak Cree. you can listen to episode 1: Weather here and episode 2: Names here!

This past summer at Poundmaker Cree Nation (SK), Lanny Real Bird taught a multi-day language camp focusing on Plains Sign Language (PSL). PSL is a historical means of communicating between groups who did not speak the same oral language, and it is still used today. The goal of the gathering ways to teach and preserve this important language tool.

"Sun" in Prairie Sign Language. Source. 

In July 2019, I wrote an article entitled “An Argument for Something Else”: Corrective Art History Right Now." In the article, I discussed Corrective Art History, both what it is and why it is important. This year, the Metropolitan Museum of Art exercised Corrective Art history by installing two of Kent Monkman’s painting, Welcoming the Newcomers and Resurgence of the People. These pieces display a broader perspective of history and culture, challenges art history’s colonial narratives, and provokes the audience to acknowledging the shared history.

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About last night: it was brilliantly fun #repinOCADU last night at the opening of Kent Monkman's @kentmonkman new installation “mistikôsiwak (Wooden Boat People),” now on view in The Great Hall of the @metmuseum. Thanks @ocaduniversity for the opportunity. Miss Chief Eagle Testickle represented with their wonderful creation story and told the diverse audience of over 600 people of the Indigenous fight for sovereignty from Colonization and gender discrimination. The Silver Cloud drummers and singers' invocation was moving. I am so honored that I got to be there for this historical occasion. If the Met can recognize that they are on Indigenous lands (Lenape and many others). Thank you @jimsearle for guiding me through the evening including the afterparty. I met so many new amazing people and experienced the power of @hoaxcouture design as everyone was in love with my gharara pants. #MetKentMonkman #MetGreatHall

A post shared by Dori Tunstall (@deandori_ocadu) on Dec 20, 2019 at 4:45am PST

In November 2019, I wrote an article entitled, "Who Cares: Caring for Spiritual Elements of Objects in Museum Collections." This article had been rolling in my head for nearly a year before I actually sat down to write it. In this article I discussed the action taken by museum professionals to care for not only the physical, but the spiritual elements of objects in collections. This year, at the Yale Art Gallery a show called "Place, Nations, Generations, Beings," is taking place until June 20, 2020. The show displays two centuries worth of First Nation artwork, but even before the artwork was installed the three curators, Katherine Nova McCleary (Little Shell Chippewa-Cree), Leah Tamar Shrestinian, and Joseph Zordan (Bad River Ojibwe) give thanks to the artifacts In the show.

 In the curator catalogue they write to the artwork, "thank you, for allowing us to visit with you, hold you, and speak to you. Thank you for teaching us." 

I greatly enjoyed writing these articles, and I am so very happy that I have the opportunity to go back, update them with new content, and supplement them with my thought process. If you have any other updates, I want to know! Please leave me a link in the comments or via twitter, my handle is @ally_but_online. 

BRINGING BACK THE BUFFALO PART 2

Breaking the Glass Case | Alexandra Forand

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In the last segment of “Breaking the Glass Case” we discussed the different ways in which Prairie Peoples utilized buffalo and where those artifacts are held today—namely, museums. In this blog I would like to venture outside and would like to look at where living buffalos reside in Canada, because despite destruction of habitat, disease, and over hunting in the 18th, 19th, and 20th century the buffalo still have a place in Canada.

There are many restoration projects being done in Canada to reintroduce the buffalo and stabilize their numbers. Each restoration project is intensive and there is no guarantee that the animals will thrive in the terrain. Some restoration efforts have been tried and stood the test of time, such as the Elk Island National Park located 35 kilometers east of Edmonton, Alberta, along the Yellowhead highway. In the early 20th century the Canadian government purchased a herd of buffalo from Montana, who were the ancestors of the buffalo in the park today. The park grew around this herd. Elk Island National Park has exported ungulates, especially buffalo, to other conservation efforts around the world. Today, Elk Island is a is a fully enclosed national park spanning an area of 194 square kilometers and the population of buffalo fluctuates between 350- 450.

At Elk Island National Park it is not uncommon to see these gentle giants at large! (source.)

Other restoration efforts are newer such as the Nature Conservatory of Canada’s (NCC) efforts. The NCC was established in 1962. In 1996, Peter and Sharon Butula donated 3,088 acres of land to the NCC in southwestern Saskatchewan.  In 2003, the NCC introduced a genetically pure herd of buffalo from Elk Island National Park to this area. Today, interpreters are available to lead visitors on tours to experience the vastness of the land and see the buffalo.

A unique project in the way of buffalo restoration is being done by Wanuskewin Heritage Park in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. In 2017, The park was granted a 99 year lease of agricultural land from the city of Saskatoon. This land is being restored to native prairie, meaning no chemical pesticides of herbicides are being used to control weeds. Beyond providing the land, Wanuskewin is partnering with Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities to best provide for the buffalo. 

Pictured above is the natural plains which span Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba (source).

This project was inspired by the growing movement to bring the buffalo closer to home. Brady Highway, the resource management coordinator of Wanuskewin explains that there are many reasons in which it is important to bring buffalo closer to home.

The buffalo are spiritually connected and are teachers to the Prairie Peoples. These animals work to restore aspects of spiritual and cultural structure that has been lost since European settlement. Secondly, the restoration of the buffalo can signal a much bigger change for the way in which Prairie Peoples are viewed by the dominant settler culture. The reintroduction also works to revitalize Prairie Peoples’ traditions that were outlawed by the colonial state of Canada. Lastly, Bison are also natural ecologists, and they help keep the land healthy and strong. 

A mother and her calf (source).

The three examples of buffalo reintroduction span nearly 100 years—and in the case of Wanuskewin—into the future. These projects are incredibly important for the survival of buffalo, but also the survival of Prairie Peoples’ cultures, traditions, and histories. Furthermore, the collaboration between Indigenous and non-Indigenous parties helps to aid in the reconciliation process moving forward.

I hope this two part series showed you how important buffalo were, and are, to Prairie Peoples’ lives. Have you been to any of the places I’ve mentioned? Do you plan on going? Let me know! Contact me at allyforand@gmail.com or if Twitter and Instagram are more your speed my handle on both is @Ally_but_online.

A special thanks to Brady Highway at Wanuskewin Heritage Park!

BUFFING UP ON THE BUFFALO PART 1

Breaking the Glass Case | Alexandra Forand

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As the temperature slowly rises and the colours begrudgingly turn from white to brown to green, I find myself exploring outside spaces. For instance, this last weekend, I visited the Toronto Zoo. The Toronto Zoo differs wildly than my own zoo in my hometown, namely in size and the variety of animals on display. What I did not expect to see was a herd of buffalo (people are quick to point out that North American bison are not actually buffalo, but people have been referring to them as buffalo for nearly 200 years). I guess my surprise was buried in the fact that today buffalo are talked about like extinct creatures. After the near extinction of the buffalo in the 19th century, Prairie Peoples were forced to find different mediums for their material culture, but the buffalo still existed in stories, music and dance. I am more familiar with seeing buffalo in museums, either in a diorama or as a medium used in Prairie Peoples' material cultures.

Can you spot the buffalo? Photograph courtesy of Alexandra Forand. 

Before the arrival of the Europeans the buffalo can be seen as a roaming big box super market, where Prairie Peoples could find everything they needed. Horns were fashioned into spoons, cups, headdresses, fire carriers, and ornaments. Prairie Peoples used sinew for thread, dental floss, and bowstrings. Bones were used for arrow shaft, sled runner, knives, shovels, war clubs, scrapers, awls for sewing, game counters, tool handles, ceremonial objects. Cartilage was boiled and used for glue. Teeth were crafted into jewelry and other ornaments. The hooves of the buffalo were used as rattles. The skull of the buffalo was used as an alter in religious ceremonies.

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Powder horn used in the War of 1812. #behindthescenes #glenbow #museum #collections #yyc

A post shared by Glenbow Museum (@glenbowmuseum) on Jun 11, 2013 at 1:33pm PDT

The fur of the buffalo was widely used amongst Prairie Peoples. The extra thick hide on top of the head could be fashioned into a bowl. The pelt was used as walls for tipis, winter clothing, floor covering, hard soles for moccasins, blankets, drums, saddles, masks. Hide was used as clothing, shields, containers, rattles, bedding, mittens, and as a textile to paint, draw, and write on. Tails were used as flyswatters, whips, and ornaments. Hair was woven into ropes, stuffing for pillows, paintbrushes, saddles, shields, halters, ornaments.

Ceremonial headers at the Royal Ontario Museum. Source. 

The heart was used as a sack to carry dried meat. The stomach was used as a cooking vessel. Bladders were formed into a waterproof pouch, bucket, water vessel. The brain of the buffalo was used in the tanning process of buffalo hide. The scrotum of the male buffalo was used as a rattle in religious ceremonies. Even the excrement of buffalo was used as fuel when firewood was scarce.

Objects made from buffalo are held in museum collections across Canada and abroad. You would be hard pressed to find a collection that has Prairie Peoples' objects, but does not include material culture made from buffalo. This reliance on the buffalo was not purely material, but also became integrated into Prairie Peoples' world views. In a version of the Blackfoot creation story the creator made human beings out of buffalo sinew, bones, and skin.

Buffalo Hide robe. Source. 

You can also see a western reverence to buffalo. Canada has incorporated buffalo into logos, money, and the buffalo features in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police crest. The symbolic nature of the buffalo almost feels separate from the animal itself. Today, the buffalo hardly exists in the wild, but there are efforts to stabilize their numbers.

Notice the Buffalo? Source.

I’m curious, have you ever seen a buffalo in the wild or in the museum? Was there any object made of buffalo that ever stood out to you? Let me know! Please do not hesitate to contact me at allyforand@gmail.com or if Twitter and Instagram is more your speed my handle on both is @Ally_but_online.


Buffalo will return in the next installation of “Breaking the Glass Case."