Textiles from Slovakia

Textiles from Slovakia

Slovakian textiles recently donated to The Manitoba Museum help tell the story of one family’s immigration to Manitoba in the late 1940s. These textiles were made in the tiny village of Lentvora, in a small valley in central Slovakia. The Karman family grew their own flax, which was then beaten, spun, dyed, and finally woven into these textile patterns. The donor of the textiles, Anne Anderson, was a child in the village in the early 1940s, and remembers her mother Anna and her mothers’ relatives gathering in the kitchen/dining room around a loom to do some weaving.

A cream-coloured textile with dark-coloured detailing.

Anna, the donor’s mother, lived with her grandmother in this house after Anna’s husband Pavel died in 1945. As he lay dying, Pavel asked his cousin Andrew to take care of his daughter. A few years later Anna received word from Andrew, who had immigrated to Canada and lived in Dugald, Manitoba. His young wife had died, and he asked Anna and her daughter to join him on his farm. On the train to Winnipeg in 1948, in possession of these textiles, Anna pointed to a fine house she would like to one day live in. It turns out that was the house of her future husband, Andrew.

 

Image: Slovakian textile, early 1940s. Photograph by Nancy Anderson. Copyright The Manitoba Museum.

Mrs. Anderson held on to these textiles for years before donating them to museum this summer, because they told her mother’s story and they reminded her of life back in Slovakia, where the family worked together to produce what they needed. Now this story will endure at The Manitoba Museum.

Dr. Roland Sawatzky

Dr. Roland Sawatzky

Curator of History

Roland Sawatzky joined The Manitoba Museum in 2011. He received his B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Winnipeg, M.A. in Anthropology from the University of South Carolina, and Ph.D. in Archaeology…
Meet Dr. Roland Sawatzky

Tracking Atlatls in Manitoba

By Kevin Brownlee, past Curator of Archaeology

 

You may ask yourself what is an atlatl? An atlatl is a hunting tool that is in two parts, a dart or very thin spear and a throwing board which is used to propel the dart. In most of North America it was the hunting tool of choice for many thousands of years. Archaeologists often use the size of projectile points as indication of which hunting tool was used. To the best of our knowledge somewhere around 3,000 years before present the bow and arrow was introduced. For about 1,000 years atlatls and bows and arrows were used together. Somewhere around 2,000 years ago the atlatl fell out of favour and the bow and arrow was the main hunting tool. Exceptions to this exist in the arctic and in the southern states and Mesoamerica, where the atlatl continued to be used until European Contact.

An illustration depicting a person through five stages of movement launching a long dart over their head with an atlatl.
A selection of 28 stone spear points of varying colours and sizes on a black background.

The parts of an atlatl are mostly made from perishable materials like wood, hide, and sinew. The most common evidence of the atlatl in Manitoba is midsized stone spear points. While this may be the archaeological interpretation it is almost impossible to know for certain what hunting tool a spear point was attached. Some of these points could have been attached to thrusting spears, or used for other purposes. To positively know what a spear point was attached to you would need excellent preservation of the wood shaft which has not occurred in Manitoba.

 

Image: Stone Spear Points likely used with an atlatl.

Another clue that atlatls were used in Manitoba is the recovery of stone or antler atlatl weights. It appears that these may not have been always used with atlatls since they are uncommon. In the entire 2.5 million artefacts held by The Manitoba Museum only 17 are atlatl weights. In comparison the collection includes over 8,500 projectile points many of which we believe were used with the atlatl.

A long, thin shaft with a handle of leather straps on one end, and a point for a dart to attach for launching at the other end. A flattish stone is attached to the third of the shaft closest to the handle to serve as a counterweight.

Preproduction Atlatl (note stone weight).

Rocket lands in Science Gallery

Did you know that one of the most successful small rocket programs in the world is run from right here in Winnipeg? Magellan Aerospace (formerly Bristol Aerospace) builds the Black Brant series of sounding rockets for customers around the world. Payloads launched by Black Brants have been studying the upper atmosphere and near-space environment for over 50 years, and have even been launched from right here in Manitoba (at the Churchill Rocket Range on the northern coast of Manitoba). So it’s no surprise that we’ve always wanted a real rocket for the Science Gallery. Well, now we have one!

Black Brant 5C Rocket in the Science Gallery.

Magellan has loaned the Manitoba Museum a real Black Brant 5C rocket, and it was delivered and installed in the Science Gallery on February 4, 2013. It was a big job getting the rocket into the building, since even disassembled the main motor case wouldn’t fit into the elevator. A team of engineers from Magellan and Museum staff carried it through the parkade and down the stairs to its final resting place. At 9.5-metres (31′) long and nearly 360 kilograms (800 lbs.), this is the single largest artifact in the Science Gallery.

The Black Brant exhibit will officially open this March, with interpretive panels and video footage of the rocket in action. However, you can see the rocket in place now, in the Science Gallery’s space wing next to the Planetarium entrance.