A Strange Migration

A Strange Migration

Usually geese migrate from North to South and back again. Some goose decoys, however, migrated from Manitoba to British Columbia a hundred years ago, and have now come home to Manitoba again.

A goose decoy with a taxidermized Canada goose head, and a body form covered in goose feathers.

A woman from Victoria, British Columbia called some time ago wanting to donate a batch of goose decoys that had been in the possession of her father. Duck and goose decoys used for hunting are common enough items, but the photographs the donor showed me were unique. These decoys, which were said to have been made in Manitoba in the 1880s, were made from actual geese. Twelve body forms were adorned with goose feathers, and these were accompanied by twelve taxidermied heads. Twelve wooden stakes were also included, and these acted as both stands for the body forms and stakes for the heads. All of these materials were packed neatly in a woven cane structure surrounded by a custom made canvas bag. Printed on the bottom of the bag in large letters: “V. R. SUTHERLAND”.

 

Image: A goose decoy fully reconstructed. H9-38-380. Copyright The Manitoba Museum.

Taxidermized and preserved goose heads neatly arranged in a specimen box, with a cluster of decoy stakes along the upper right side for the box.

Preserved goose heads, neatly arranged. The stakes are in the top right hand corner. H9-38-380. © Manitoba Museum.

The underside of the goose decoy body frame, showing the feathers arranged along a wooden "spine" attaching to the ground stake.

Underside of decoy body frame. H9-38-380. © Manitoba Museum.

The more closely I looked at the items with my colleagues Dr. Randy Mooi (Curator of Zoology) and Dr. Diana Bizecki Robson (Curator of Botany), the more we learned. Six of the goose heads were Canada Geese, while six were White-Fronted, the latter species being common in western Manitoba. All the heads seem to have been treated with arsenic and some included glass eyes, both common taxidermy methods in the 1880s. The cane frame was made with common cattail. The bag itself is a thick canvas, with a zipper that is of 1930s or 1940s vintage. From this physical examination we can surmise that although the goose decoys themselves may date to 1880s Manitoba, the bag and cane frame probably date to about the 1940s.

A canvas bag unzipped along the centre, with a rounded cane frame inside allowing for storage of the decoy components. Stamped on the bottom of the bag is "V. R. Sutherland".

So who was V.R. Sutherland? Victor Richard Sutherland (1893-1969) was born in Winnipeg to Roderick Ross Sutherland and Martha Anna Richardson. Roderick was a lawyer and the couple belonged to the upper class of Winnipeg at the time. If the decoys were indeed made in the 1880s they likely belonged to Roderick, and certainly not Victor (who wasn’t born until 1893). The Sutherland family moved to Victoria, BC in 1912, which means the bag and cane frame were likely made there. Victor was a great friend of the donor’s father, G. Fitzpatrick Dunn, and it is believed Dunn received the decoys either from Victor or his wife Lucy in the 1960s or early 1970s.

 

Image: The canvas bag containing a cattail frame, with enough room for all the components of all twelve decoys. H9-38-380. © Manitoba Museum.

Despite all of this rich historical background and physical examination by experts, we are still not entirely certain where these decoys were made or how old they are. Our best guess is built on stories married with facts. G. Fitzpatrick Dunn’s claim that the decoys were made in Manitoba in the 1880s is given weight because he was a good friend of the man who owned them and who would have provided this information. Another issue is that Canada Geese and White-fronted Geese are found throughout the western provinces, including the Pacific Coast region, so they could have been made in either of the places where the Sutherlands lived.

This is how curatorial investigation sometimes works – a lot of study, revision, and discussion, followed by a plausible but not quite definite explanation. Whatever the case, no one with whom we’ve spoken has ever seen goose decoys like these before. They are unique and look like they were custom made for an avid hunter with financial means. Contact us if you’ve ever seen anything resembling this!

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

Pliosaur Progress: We’ve Been Busy!

By Dr. Graham Young, past Curator of Palaeontology & Geology

 

As you may know if you look at this page occasionally, for the past couple of years we have been working with a beautiful fossil of a pliosaurid plesiosaur, which was collected by Wayne Buckley from western Manitoba. We are now at the stage of preparing a permanent exhibit of the fossil, which will be installed in the Earth History Gallery this summer. So we have been very busy in the past little while!

Much of my own work involves the planning of the exhibit: writing copy for the panels, selecting images and graphics, collaborating with the designer, and working with grants and budgets to ensure that everything is on track. While I am doing this, some of the other staff are carrying out very creative and exciting work: the designer, of course, but also those who are building cases, engineering hanging mounts for a skeletal reconstruction, and figuring out lighting and other technical issues.

A smiling woman sits on a wooden brace within a large wooden frame. In the upper right corner of the frame is a mounted pliosaur skull - a large, toothy prehistoric sea creature.

Debbie Thompson considers the splendid mount that she is creating for the pliosaur skull.

A Pliosaur skull partially embedded in mounting material made to look like an artificial bed of shale, filled with sculpting material, netting, and spray foam.

The skull rests on a bed of artificial shale, constructed from a sculpting material over a wire frame filled with spray foam.

A large sturdy steel frame with wood edging seen in a workroom from above.

A sturdy steel frame supports the entire mass of skeleton and mount.

As these photos show, one of the most creative tasks is that of artist Debbie Thompson, who is making an artificial stone (shale) bed that will surround the original fossils so that they will look almost the same as they did when they were first discovered. When Debbie’s work is done, I think that many visitors will mistake her “rock” for the real thing, but as these photos show, this is only achieved through tremendous focus and patience.

Debbie, sitting mostly out of frame, places a piece of artificial rock in its spot on the pliosaur mount.

Debbie fits pieces of “shale” that she has created to cover the skull edges. The skull had to be inserted on its own separate support mount that “slots” into place, so these smaller pieces are needed to hide the edges of that support.

A close-up look at the Pliosaur skull in the partially constructed mount. Small markers are on each piece of the artificial rock to identify their final positions.

The numbers represent all the pieces Debbie has sculpted to cover the edges of the separate support.

A photo showing two individuals navigating a drywall lift through a doorway.

When Debbie had finished preparing all the “shale” for the skull surround, we needed to remove the skull to put it safely away. Here, Bert Valentin and Sean Workman move a specially adapted drywall lift.

The Pliosaur skull being lowered on chains into its' place in the mount.

Chains suspended from the drywall lift are attached into loops on the skull support.

The skull, suspended from the lift with chains is lifted carefully from place on the mount for installation. Two yellow jacks are visible within the mount.

As the skull is lifted, Bert makes sure that everything is kept straight. Note the yellow jacks on which the skull support rested; these allowed for very smooth lowering or raising of the support.

The Pliosaur skull held aloft on a lift with chains, well over the rest of the mount.

At its full height, the skull support is clear of the mount, and the entire lift can be rotated.

The Pliosaur skull lowered onto a cart with the drywall lift to move back into storage until installation.

The skull is lowered to the cart that will transport it back to storage, where it will be safe until we are ready for the final installation in the Earth History Gallery.

Guest Blog – The Tupper Quilt and Canadian Confederation

By Kelly Burwash, Practicum student, Master of Arts in Cultural Studies/Curatorial Practices, University of Winnipeg

 

One of the great things about museums is that they can help foster relationships with (so-called) distant historical events. My placement at the Manitoba Museum involves doing research for an upcoming exhibition on the 150th anniversary of Confederation.

As a new resident of Manitoba, it has been especially interesting for me to research what Confederation means to the province’s unique context. Manitoba was, of course, not part of the original four provinces that became Canada on July 1, 1867. At the time, Canada consisted of Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Quebec. This does not mean that Manitoba was unaffected by actions in the East. During the discussions of the Quebec Conference leading up to Confederation, the politicians did not forget about this area. They decided future seats in the House of Commons would be set aside for the North West when it was brought in to Confederation. The politicians in the East thought that this would be an easy unification. Although this was not the case, the West was a part of Confederation in 1867 in conversation if not in result.

A patchwork quilt made from patches of varying shapes in browns, reds, creams, blues, blacks, and yellows.

Another interesting part of my research on Confederation has been my examination of the Tupper Quilt. This quilt was almost certainly made in Winnipeg by Ada Tupper, daughter-in-law to Charles Tupper. Charles Tupper was briefly prime minister of Canada, as well as premier of Nova Scotia and one of the Fathers of Confederation. You might think, “What does this have to do with Manitoba? Why is this quilt here?”  I confess, I had the same initial thoughts. It turns out the Tupper family is firmly entrenched in Winnipeg history. James Stewart Tupper and William Johnston Tupper, two of Tupper’s sons, formed a law firm in Winnipeg with Hugh John MacDonald. Tupper’s son-in-law, Donald Cameron, was one of the chief commissioners for the Boundary Commission and lived in Dufferin while mapping the 49th parallel.

 

Image: The Tupper Quilt was made ca. 1889 by Ada Tupper, daughter-in-law of Charles Tupper, one of the Fathers of Confederation. Photograph by Anne E. Dawson.

Charles Tupper himself came to Winnipeg in 1869 to secure the release of luggage belonging to his daughter Anna and son-in-law Donald Cameron, which had been seized by the Red River Resistance. In order to get the luggage back, he met with Louis Riel who agreed to return their belongings. The pair parted on good terms. These are just some of the stories that are found on the crazy quilt. Each of the many symbols tells a different story. It has been fascinating to research and amazing to find all these local connections to Confederation.

The Tupper Quilt is on loan from a Private Collection. Contributing research done by Anne Dawson.

Seeds of Days Past

Recently I became aware of a hundred year old collection of seeds located not in the Botany collection at the Museum but in the History collection. What were 100 years old seeds doing in the history lab? It turns out that they were donated in 1991 along with many other artifacts and specimens from the famous Criddle family (learn more about the Criddles, here) but not thoroughly catalogued.

Questions about proper seed preservation recently came up and our History Cataloguer asked me about them, assuming that I knew this collection existed, which I didn’t. I looked closely at the five boxes of tiny vials of wildflower and weed seeds from Manitoba and was absolutely thrilled. The Criddles were amateur naturalists who collected scientific specimens of seeds, mammals, and insects and recorded meticulous weather data in the late 1880’s to early 1900’s. I immediately realized that some of the seeds were of species that have become rare due to the stabilization of the Carberry sand dunes. These seeds are some of the first specimens of these rare plants to ever be collected in Manitoba and will be important for their status assessment.

A shallow box filled with four rows of small vials of seeds, each carefully labelled.

Image: Seed collections are valuable references for identifying unknown seeds. TMM H9-23-142.

An outdoor plaque sharing some of the history of Norman Criddle in both English and French.

Plaque about Norman Criddle at the Criddle-Vane National Historic site.

In recent years, seed preservation has become increasingly important because of concerns about the loss of genetic diversity in crop seeds, as well as the loss of species in the wild. In fact you may have heard of the so-called “Doomsday Vault” located in an underground bunker in Svalbard (learn more here). They protect the most diverse collection of crop seeds in the world in case natural (or human-caused) disasters eliminate the plants in their agricultural settings.

Here at the Museum we don’t have such a dramatic seed collection as we simply don’t have the high-tech cold storage space to permanently house and protect wild plant seeds. The main purpose of our collection is to act as a reference for identifying unknown species of seeds. Our seed collection has been used to identify the gut contents of dead animals (read blog “CSI Manitoba: The Case of the Broken Beak” here), and preserved seeds dug up in ancient archaeological sites among other things.

So why did it take so long for me to discover this collection? The Museum usually receives more donations of artifacts and specimens than we can process in any given year. When the staff is busy with projects such as new gallery exhibits, a backlog of specimens builds up. This seed collection, having received a bit of care when it first came in, could simply not be thoroughly catalogued until recently. I wonder what other interesting things are in the Museum’s backlog waiting to be rediscovered?

Dr. Diana Bizecki Robson

Dr. Diana Bizecki Robson

Curator of Botany

Dr. Bizecki Robson obtained a Master’s Degree in Plant Ecology at the University of Saskatchewan studying rare plants of the mixed grass prairies. After working as an environmental consultant and sessional lecturer…
Meet Dr. Bizecki Robson