My internship in the Collections department at Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute, 2018

By: Camille Crevier-Lalonde

My work as an intern as part of my course in applied museology at Montmorency College often consist of solving problems to support and display objects that may have specific requirements or restrictions. Making a mount is always about the condition of the object, the center of gravity and the structural stability of the object.

During my internship I had the occasion of making storage mounts for a variety of objects, some of them representing more of a challenge than others. My favourite mount making experience was with child’s pants worn during a walking out ceremony.

 

On loan from Trifona Simard, SIMARD-2016-2

  

The first step was to construct padding for the leather pants. Measurements had to be taken for sewing small pads of synthetic fabric (Tyvek- high density polyethylene material padded with polyester fibers). The padding is useful for the object : the weight of the leather is distributed equally on the padding, causing less stress on the object and maintaining the fabric in a position that resemble the natural position of the object before it came on loan.

From the perspective of conservation, organic collections are the most fragile material types in a museum. Light, temperature/humidity variations and insects may deteriorate any leather object: that is why it is important to use stable materials and non-acid fibers (like Tyvek) that will keep the objects from deteriorating.

As an intern, I learned that the objects do not always need as much support as we would think. Additions of material may cause stress on a fragile object. Some leather ornaments, such as leather fringes, can be hard to present directly on a mount, because they are made of a malleable fabric. Sometimes, the object is a good mount in itself for these ornaments. In the picture below, we can see that the pants are supporting the fringes well.

The second step was to construct a tray for supporting the object in storage. The pants were installed on a rigid support, consisting of non-acidic Hollinger board, covered with a layer of microfoam and acid free cotton fabric. The fabric had been pinned to adjust equally the tension of the textile on the mount, then taped at the back of the board, with acid free tape. The pants were held in place on the board with cotton ribbons.

This Hollinger board provided an easy way of supporting the pants in storage; the pants can now be observed without any movement of the object itself, which is good for the prevention of any damage during storage.

Adelyna Sara Snow’s Walking Out Ceremony

The walking out ceremony is a Cree tradition that has been done for children for hundreds of years. When a child was born, they were not allowed to touch the ground until they went through this ceremony. The parents took great care of keeping them off the ground. The ceremony can be done for a child or many children at the same time. Once the child is of age to walk or is close to the age of walking the ceremony is done for them during the spring. The child is dressed in traditional clothing of his or her gender and given miniature tools that each gender would use as a woman or man out in their hunting grounds. They are also being introduced to the land and their roles they will do in the future as their ancestors have done before them. The child is walked around the front of the lodge, teepee or shaptuaan. As they walk around they demonstrate a role they would do, for example the women display gathering wood or the men hunting. They re-enter the lodge and bring gifts to the elder that the child carries in his bag. Then the child is greeted by everyone with hugs and kisses. The ceremony is followed by a feast to honour the child/children. It is a beautiful and heart felt ceremony.

Albert St-Pierre and Sabrina Bouchard asked me to make them a walking out ceremony outfit for their daughter Adelyna. She would be having her ceremony at the end of May. At first, I was hesitant to accept because I had already had a long list of sewing orders from many other people. I accepted their request because there was something very special about Adelyna. I just felt I had to make it for her.

I asked Sabrina what kind of outfit she wanted me to make. She did not have anything specific in mind but trusted me as an artist to make something beautiful for her daughter. Since October 2013 I have been working at the Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute as an education consultant. Over this time I have had time to do some research on traditional James Bay Cree clothing dating from 1600-1800’s. I offered to make an 1800’s style outfit the women would wear on special ceremonies, including the beaded hood, separate sleeves, hide dress and leggings. She agreed with this style but absolutely insisted on having the colour purple in it. No problem! As I have learned through anthropological papers and the Elders of Eeyou Istchee, each of these traditional clothing pieces has deep significance. For example, the women’s leggings had a side flap, embellished with beadwork or ribbon work. The pattern has a story of origin. Long ago the women’s leggings were cut out with a curve at the bottom and the men’s were cut out into a point. The point of the legging represents the hoof of a caribou. This design was to please and help ‘Pikuutskaw’, the Woman of the Land’, and the spiritual caretaker of all animals and the hunt. The cut of the leggings helped her differentiate from woman to hunter. If Pikuutskaw saw the point of the male leggings she would send game to the hunter so he could bring food to feed his family. With what I have learned I was careful to stay close to the traditional patterns and honour their symbolic meaning.