Attending the 2019 SICC ē-micimināyakik Gathering by Annie Bosum

Attending the 2019 SICC ē-micimināyakik Gathering by Annie Bosum

I had the honour to attend the 2019 SICC ē-micimināyakikGathering hosted by the Saskatchewan Indigenous Cultural Centre in Saskatoon May 2-3, 2019. There, I presented the Brian Deer Classification System, which we are using in the Aanischaaukamikw Library and debriefed on the functions and spaces of the Aanischaaukamikw Cultural Institute.

Annie at the conference, from the SICC event Facebook page

 This two-day indigenous gathering was held at the Ramada By Wyndham Saskatoon with various keynote speakers, panels and workshops.  The event provided opportunities for sharing indigenous knowledge and networking from curators, archivists, librarians, researchers and museum professionals.  It was also a great way to share issues, ideas, progress and solutions for First Nations museums, cultural centres, archives, interpretive centres and libraries.  It was very interesting to see all the different indigenous nationalities coming together to share their knowledge, expertise and their ways of preserving and protecting their cultural heritage.  Among the nationalities who participated in this event were Plains Cree, Nakoda, Ts’msyen/Cree , Haida, Dene, Metis, Chippewa,, Pueblo, Saulteau, Anishinaabe ,Cree and Mohawk!

The first day opened with an early morning pipe ceremony by Elder William Ratfoot proceeded by opening remarks by the emcee, JR McArthur, the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations,  the SICC Board of Governors Chief Alvin Francis and SICC President Wanda Wilson.  The first day was relaxing for me- I wasn’t on any of the panels and workshops-which I was happy with because I was still tired from all the travelling.  I had the wonderful opportunity to sit and listen to some good presenters on the subjects of Indigenous Intellectual Property : Arising Questions by Val Napoleon, Saulteau and Indigenous Collections: Valuing Our Cultural Heritage and Intellectual Property by Sean Young , Haida and Robin Gray, Ts’msyen/Cree.  Elegant and nourishing lunches were served both days which made it easy for the delegation to return to their panels and workshops.  There were five workshops and two panel discussions were held in various rooms throughout the afternoon.  One of the panels I got to listen to was entitled: Preparing Our Peoples: indigenous Education in Cultural Preservation & Property Law by Jessie Ryker-Crawford, Filipe Colon, and Val Naploeon.  The gathering ended with a thank you prayer by Elder William Ratfoot.

Annie at the event, from the SICC Facebook event page.

 The second day I was a bit apprehensive knowing I had to participate in two presentations, the first was at 10:30 am and the other at 1:00 pm.  I quickly felt at ease when I met my first workshop partner, Audrey Dreaver because of her warm and kind personality. When I entered the room where we did our workshop, she was already sitting with the coordinator putting together my slide, she looked at me sitting in the audience and she says, “Annie get up here, I’m not sitting here by myself!“  The audience laughed with us!  Our Workshop presentation was called: Politics of Museum Technology: Labels & Categorizations of Indigenous Material Culture.  The second presentation I participated in was on Panel 3 where I was supposed to sit with Del Jacko and Hillary McLeod who were both Anishinaabe.  I got confused with all the different rooms, I ended up in the wrong room and by the time I got to the right room my partners were a little into their discussion so I told the coordinator I didn’t want to distract them so I had to do my presentation alone.  I was nervous at first but as I looked at the huge audience in front of me and saw their interest manifested on their faces, I switched my focus away from myself to a need to give them what they came there for.  

Our Panel discussion was called: Access to Indigenous Cultural Knowledge (Archival Material).  A few people approached me after my presentation to give me their business cards, and told me they enjoyed my presentation-one even requested to send them my slides! Unfortunately I was unable to discuss the Brian Deer Classification System poster in detail due to time restraints.  I was disappointed that I was unable to listen to all the other workshops and panel discussions that were held in various rooms.  All in all, I really enjoyed this conference and meeting all the people.  It was a great learning experience- which goes to prove – learning is a life-long achievement that is to be appreciated and taken when it arises and I am glad that the Saskatchewan Indigenous Cultural Centre (SICC) and the Aanischaaukamikw Cree Culture Institute made this learning experience possible for me.  It was a proud moment and an awesome closure when the President of SICC, Wanda Wilson said to me.  “I like what Aanischaaukamikw is doing and we are coming to visit your community!

ACCI Collection Officer, Paula Menarick @ Otsego!

ACCI Collection Officer, Paula Menarick @ Otsego!

 It was a privilege to attend the 2015 Otsego Institute for Native North American Art History summer seminars in Cooperstown, New York. We focused on connoisseurship of materials and the theorization of materiality. 

What is the Otsego Institute?     

          

“The Otsego Institute for Native American Art History was founded in 1996 to support and promote the highest standards in the field of Native American art history. Between 1997 and 2002, the Otsego Institute symposium, planned by the institute and sponsored by NYSHA, brought together Native and non-Native artists, museum professionals and scholars, to address theoretical issues in the study of Native American art.   In 2002, the format of Otsego Institute activities was modified from an academic conference to an advanced workshop for graduate students who examined Native American art history within a framework of formal lectures, hands-on workshops, and informal discussion of contemporary research and scholarly practices with co-participants and faculty.” http://www.otsegoinstitute.org/

The seminars consisted of readings, lectures, group discussions, hands on activities with objects from the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art. Each participant presented an object related to their current and prospective dissertations and curatorial projects. I chose to present a James Bay Cree Beaded Hood that related to the ACCI replication project, where I made a beaded cap and contemporary versions of a beaded hood using traditional techniques. 

Knowledge & Self Representation - American Indian Workshop 2015

The 36^th American Indian Workshop took place March 24-27, 2015 at the Goethe University Frankfurt am Main in Germany.  This year’s topic was Knowledge & Self Representation, and featured presenters and keynote speakers from across Europe, North American, and Asia.

ACCI archivist Raegan Swanson and former museum and archival technician (summer 2014) Jordan Graham presented their paper Aanischaaukamikw: Cree Self-Representation in Eeyou Istchee on the Thursday afternoon in a session entitled Collection/Museum/Repatriation.  The paper focused on the establishment of the museum and the focus of the collections throughout the museum, library and archives.  It also discussed the collaboration that takes place between elders, youth, community members from the Cree communities and museum, library and archive professionals.

Opening & Keynote speaches - AIW @ Goethe University Frankfurt am Main

This session included presentations from Atsunori Ito (The Japan National Museum of Ethnology), Marie-Claude Strigler (University Paris III) and Robert Keith Collins (San Francisco State University).  The session ended with a lively discussion with all the presenters and audience.

Thanks to the Goethe University and the AIW for a great conference.  

AIW Conference dinner - Apfelwein Wagner

ACCI participates at the Association of Canadian Archivists Annual Conference

Every year the Association of Canadian Archivists (ACA) holds a fantastic conference somewhere in Canada.  This year the conference theme was Archivatopia and it was held in Victoria, at the historic Fairmont Empress Hotel.

I have been a member of ACA since I was a grad student and I have love participating in conferences – my first was in Toronto in 2009 where I was on the host committee and a poster presenter.  This year I was happy to be able to bring Lisa Petawabano along to the conference to present on one of ACCI’s projects.

Before the conference officially started, Lisa and I participated in the Aboriginal Special Interest Section annual meeting where we discussed activities of the group, and possible changes to the Aboriginal Archives Guide.  The guide was published in 2007 and a great deal has changed in the Aboriginal Archives world since then.  Possible changes discussed include adding a section about the TRC documents and oral testimony statement gathering that has been done across Canada, discussing policy and procedures and research policies.

To celebrate the start of the conference we were invited to an opening gala at BC Government House.  The view was exceptional and so was the company.  It was great to meet with archivists from all over the world and to catch up with friends.

General Conference of the International Council of Museums

From August 10 to 17, Rio de Janeiro heldthe 23rd triennial General Conference of the International Council of Museums (ICOM). The Conference was a great opportunity to meet other museum professionals and learn about projects from cultural centers world-wide.

 

The Cidadedas Artes was the venue chosen for the event, a beautiful location where shows, performances, art exhibitions are presented on a regular basis. 

Museums (memory + creativity) = social change was the theme of ICOM RIO2013. Panelists brought to the conference interesting topics and collective work proposals to the event, like the idea of a Collaborative Database where visitors (users), cooperative work and experience create a narrative database improving the quality of information provided to the users. This specific presentation was a good way to demonstrate how ACCI is currently working with the latest concepts of museum and collections development as ACCI has already started its Online Database project to unite and improve the searchability of Eeyou Istchee collections. Storytelling, collaborative involvement of the community in educational projects, creativity and the use of technology and Social Medias were topics well explored during the event. 

One interesting visit was to the Museu da Favela, a museum located on the top of the Cantagalo-Pavao-Pavaozinho favelas (slum). The museum is a community based institution supported by both governmental entities and private institutions. A very successful partnership was created with Universidade Federal do Rio (Federal University of Rio); the university is helping the museums with special projects like architectural plans for the constructions of a new headquarters and in exchange students use the museum for internship as well as to develop projects from different departments (museology, tourism, design, social studies among others). This partnership has generated interested from community members seeking for higher education and for university students to understand the community work and the role of the museum in the community.

One of MUF’s successful projects is the Casas Tela (Canvas Houses) where community members allow pre-selected local artists to paint one external wall of their houses to create a mural along the favela. Even before the work is starts, the house owner becomes responsible for that space as he/she prepares the wall to receive the art, safely maintains the artworks safe and encourage others to learn and join the project.  It was surprising to see the commitment of those involved with the Casa Tela project and how it has improved visitation to the museum and the region. Below is an image of the routes and artworks current on display.