Public Archaeology Press

By Kevin Brownlee
Past Curator of Archaeology

Over the course of the past year I have been involved with a few publications highlighting Archaeology. Each is quite different, from public outreach to academic article to education online resources.

Buy a copy from the Manitoba Museum Gift Shop.

The second publication is an academic journal article on quartz characterization which examines artifacts from the Manitoba Museum collection in relation to quartz quarries documented in northern Manitoba. The article was published in the prestigious journal Archaeometry vol 56, issue 6 pages 913-926 (December 2014). The results indicate quartz from quarries on Granville Lake were transported up to 200km away. The lead author is a brilliant young PhD, Rachel ten Bruggencate who worked on the Granville Lake Social Science and Humanities Research Council Project that was run through the Museum. Read the abstract online.

The last publication was an online resource put together by the Centre for Research in Young People’s Texts and Cultures the authors on the guide were Margaret Dumas and Deborah Schnitzer. The teachers guide was for the book Pīsim Finds Her Miskanow and written for the Grade 5 Manitoba Curriculum. Find the guide here.

By Kevin Brownlee
Past Curator of Archaeology 

By Kevin Brownlee
Past Curator of Archaeology 

A number of events have occurred this past year that are noteworthy. The book Pīsim finds her Misknaow won a public communications award from the Canadian Archaeological Association in May 2014. This national award recognizes archaeology publications that engage the general public. 

Two display cases were produced for the Sagkeeng First Nation Heritage Centre. The exhibits were unveiled at the Heritage Centre on May 12, 2014.

By Kevin Brownlee
Past Curator of Archaeology 

Yesterday the Museum launched a spectacular new mini-diorama in the Grasslands/Mixed Woods Gallery. The exhibit highlights the incredible talent of diorama artist Betsy Thorsteinson. Betsy along with Debbie Thompson, Ruth Dowse and countless volunteers worked on the project. The diorama highlights four separate scenes: a mid winter camp in Duck Mountain, moving camp in late winter, early spring maple sugar camp and fishing camp in late spring. These scenes represent an Anishnaabe family as they move across the landscape about 800 years ago. 

Two of the scenes are based on archaeological excavations. The mid winter camp is representing a site on Child’s Lake in Duck Mountain. The spring fish weir is representing the Aschkibokahn Site at the mouth of the Duck and Drake Rivers on Lake Winnipegosis. The use of a mini-dioramas to depict the past is an exceptional way of communicating the results of archaeological research. There is no better way of bringing the past alive.

I have had the pleasure of assisting Betsy on this exhibit. I provided the colour of fish both before and after it was smoked, how bear paw snowshoes are worn and how the internal organs of fish were prepared. In other circumstances I related stories and experiences to Betsy and these would appear in the diorama. Grey Jays or Whiskey Jacks are called Grandmother by many First Nation people, who will feed these birds when they visit camps. Feeding these birds shows respect to the visiting grandmothers. When you visit the diorama find the Grandmother.

By Kevin Brownlee
Past Curator of Archaeology 

I have to share with you about the results of a wonderful project that I have been working on for the past 6 years… actually more like 20…

In 1993, the remains of a woman were found at Nagami Bay (Onākaāmihk) west shore of Southern Indian Lake. The following year, community members from South Indian Lake and archaeologists worked together to recover our ancestor in a respectful and honourable way. The story of her miskanow, life journey, was pieced together from her remains and her belongings and told in the book Kayasochi Kikawenow, Our Mother from Long Ago, which I co-authored with E. Leigh Syms.

After Kayasochi Kikawenow shared her teachings, she was respectfully brought home for reburial in the community of South Indian Lake in 1997. Now, 16 years after her reburial, her story is being retold in a new way for young people. Using historical fiction, William Dumas brings Kayasochi Kikawenow to life as the main character, Pīsim, in Pīsim Finds Her Miskanow. This book shares a week in the life of Pīsim as a 13-year-old living on Southern Indian Lake during the mid 1600s just before Europeans arrived into the region. The book was reviewed by renowned archaeologist Brian Fagan, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, University of California) who states the book is the result of “brilliant teamwork between archaeologists, the Cree, and an accomplished storyteller… the book promises to be a classic of Canadian history.”