Rebecca Watson, Author at Manitoba Museum

A large group of the Winnipeg Free Press staff with WFP mascot smiling for a group photo in the printing room.

Winnipeg, MB (November 1, 2018): The Manitoba Museum will honour the Winnipeg Free Press at its annual Tribute Gala on April 4, 2019. The annual Tribute celebrates the contributions of individuals and organizations whose leadership and philanthropy have shaped our city and our province. The Winnipeg Free Press has been an integral part of the community representing the hopes, dreams, and ambitions of its readers. It is a leading source of local news, information, and debate and shares Manitoba’s voice on national and international issues. The 146-year-old newspaper will be represented at the Gala by co-owners Robert Silver and Ronald Stern.

Established in 1872, the Winnipeg Free Press is the oldest newspaper in Western Canada. It is two years younger than the province of Manitoba, which joined Confederation in 1870, and two years older than the city of Winnipeg, which was incorporated in 1874. The Museum has had a lasting partnership with the Free Press – editorial coverage, advertising, and unique events such as the Treaty 1 anniversary celebration with the Treaty Commission of Manitoba, Manitoba Business Council, and the Winnipeg Aboriginal Sport Achievement Centre.

“We are proud to celebrate the newspaper that has been around as long as our community, recording its growth and development, and commenting on issues that affect Manitoba and the world,” says James Cohen, Chair of the Manitoba Museum’s Board of Governors. “The Manitoba Museum is grateful to the people and organizations that support our mission to shape Manitoba’s future by expanding knowledge, sharing stories, and encouraging discovery.”

The Winnipeg Free Press is the largest independent newspaper in Canada. Its majority owners are Ronald Stern and Robert Silver. Ron and Bob both have strong roots in Manitoba. Ron, who was born in Saskatchewan and now lives in Vancouver, maintains ties to Winnipeg, where he was raised. Bob is well-known and respected in the Winnipeg business community and valued as a go-to person for insight, advice, and leadership.

”The personal and corporate philanthropic commitments held by Bob Silver, Ron Stern, and the Winnipeg Free Press encourage positive change and growth in our community,” says Diane Gray. “I am proud to Chair the Tribute 2019 Honourary Committee.”

Each year, the Winnipeg Free Press directly supports more than 100 community organizations with sponsorships and advertising grants, promoting events, causes, and accomplishments that help build the city and province. The list ranges from hospitals, universities, and museums to festivals, the arts, parties, and fun runs. Annually, the newspaper organizes direct fundraising drives to benefit the Christmas Cheer Board, providing Christmas hampers to the needy, and the Manitoba Camping Association, allowing more than 600 youths to go to summer camps. The newspaper is also diligent in its coverage of what is happening locally, publicizing the work of countless groups that contribute to the well-being and vibrancy of Winnipeg.

Visionary ownership, as well as superior editorial and management staff, have provided the Free Press with the journalistic and commercial leadership required to maintain its position as the largest selling newspaper in Manitoba. The newspaper business is a precarious one these days. What newspapers bundled, the internet has unbundled. The internet allows consumers to go directly to their desired content without opening a newspaper. However Ron Stern is proud of the way the Free Press is adjusting to the challenges facing the newspaper industry.

The newspaper has won an award in the Best Use of Mobile category at the INMA Global Media Awards and frequently receives nominations from the National Newspaper Awards, the Canadian Journalism Foundation, the INMA Global Media Awards, and the News Photographers Association of Canada. And in a recent study by the Public Policy Forum, the Winnipeg Free Press is described as “the most innovative and journalistically committed paper in Western Canada.”

Co-owner Ronald N. Stern graduated from the School of Law at the University of British Columbia in 1972. Mr. Stern is the founder and president of Stern Partners, which is involved in the ownership and operation of numerous companies. In addition to supporting various non-profit activities through Western Glove Works, the R & J Stern Family Foundation is an active supporter of a number of cultural, educational, and health organizations in Canada.

Ron serves, or has served, on a variety of corporate and community boards, including the Vancouver Airport Authority, Vancouver East Cultural Centre, Vancouver General Hospital and University of British Columbia Hospital Foundation, Vancouver Symphony Society, Canadian Council of Israel and Jewish Advocacy, Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Vancouver, and Science World British Columbia.

“I am proud of the Winnipeg Free Press and our involvement with it over the past 17 years,” said Ron. “We are committed to preserving the newspaper’s strong traditions of journalistic excellence and community service.”

Bob Silver is President & Co-owner of Western Glove Works Ltd., a family-owned business dating back to 1921. The company markets its well-known Silver Jeans with the motto: “Be present. Be inspired. Be authentic…Be Silver.” The company has distinguished itself as a leader in corporate responsibility by developing a program to ensure awareness of and protection for all basic human rights. Bob is Ron’s partner in Western Glove Works and various other businesses, including Warehouse One, Urban Barn, and Comark retail businesses.

Bob and his businesses are generous supporters of the Manitoba Museum, Assiniboine Park Conservancy, Canadian Museum for Human Rights, and the Winnipeg Art Gallery Inuit Art Centre. He serves on the boards of Centre Port Canada, First Peoples Economic Growth Fund, the RBC Convention Centre, Canadian Apparel Federation, Winnipeg Library Foundation, is a past chair of United Way of Winnipeg and is Chancellor of the University of Winnipeg.

Learning they were to be honoured at the Manitoba Museum’s Tribute Gala, Bob Silver, om behalf of himself and Ron Stern, said, “This is an honour shared by everyone who has been associated with the Winnipeg Free Press, from William Luxton and John Kenny, who started the paper in a rented shack on Main Street, to the current staff who work hard every day to build on that tradition.”

Proceeds from Tribute support the Manitoba Museum’s Access for All community initiative, which provides complimentary Museum visits for more than 60,000 individuals living with special circumstances each year. Contributions to Tribute 2019 will provide impact and help the Museum create memorable learning experiences that build pride in Manitoba and tell the province’s essential stories, bridging language, culture, ethnicity, and age.

Tribute 2019 Honourary Committee
Chair: Diane Gray
Emcee: Paul Samyn

Members:
Lloyd N. Axworthy, PC C.C. O.M.
Stephen D. Borys
Tony Catanese, CA, CFE, CA-CBV
Kevin Chief
Bob Cox
Sophie Gaulin
Margo Goodhand
Scott Greenlay
Jonathan B. Kroft
Scott MacKay, MA, CMRP
Mariette Mulaire, CITP / FIBP
Hartley T. Richardson, C.M., O.M., LL.D.
H. Sanford Riley, C.M., O.M., LL.D.
Annette Trimbee

The 15th annual Tribute Gala will take place in Alloway Hall on April 4, 2019. For information about reserving tables, buying tickets, sponsorship opportunities, and/or to make a donation to the Access for All community initiative, please contact Jakee Werbuk at 204-988-0629 or email jwerbuk@manitobamuseum.ca.

Past Tribute Honourees – Abdo (Albert) El Tassi and Samira El Tassi (2018); Gregg & Mary Hanson (Ambassadors for Canada 150 Celebration in 2017); Sanford H. Riley (2016); The Winnipeg Foundation (2015); Doug Harvey (2014); Susan Lewis & United Way Winnipeg (2013); Kerry Hawkins (2012); Ambassador Gary Doer (2011); The Chipman Family (2010); Babs & Gail Asper (2009); Kevin & Els Kavanagh (2008); Lawrie Pollard (2007); Murray Taylor & Investors Group Inc. (2006); and George T. Richardson (2005).

Posted on: Wednesday October 24, 2018

Image above: In late autumn, the search for fossils in the Grand Rapids Uplands can be cold yet rewarding. Dave Rudkin of the Royal Ontario Museum visits a collecting site on a cold October morning.

Blog by Dr. Graham Young, past Curator of Palaeontology & Geology

This year, our Museum foyer has featured an exhibit of unusual fossils in the New Acquisitions Case. This exhibit, Finding the Impossible: Unique Tropical Fossils from William Lake, Manitoba, included a video “slide show” that documented the expeditions during which we collected these fossils. My colleague remarked to me the other day that this slide show should be shared widely using the Museum blog; this post, and some subsequent ones, will do just that!

The exhibit panel’s text gives a brief outline of the project:

How does an animal become a fossil? How is a fossil jellyfish even possible? Only bones, teeth and shells are commonly fossilized, while soft tissues rot or are eaten by scavengers. Jellyfish and other soft tissue fossils are not quite impossible, but they are very rare, preserved only in unusual environments.

The fossils at William Lake are 445 million years old, dating from the Ordovician Period of geological time. They represent creatures that lived along a tropical shore when Manitoba straddled the equator. The remarkable preservation resulted from low oxygen and high salt levels in lagoons.

These specimens were collected by a Manitoba Museum research team, collaborating with scientists from the Royal Ontario Museum and University of Saskatchewan, and students from the University of Manitoba. During fieldwork in central Manitoba in 2000, we discovered the first of these soft-tissue fossils. Through hard on-the-ground work, we located the site. We travelled there numerous times, excavating thin dolostone (limestone) layers to extract the specimens displayed here.

The first part of the accompanying slide show provided some background on Manitoba limestones, and shared the experience of travel to the Grand Rapids Uplands of northern Manitoba. I hope you will enjoy these images.

Manitoba is famous for its Ordovician-age limestones (shown here in the Manitoba Legislative Building) …

… such as the fossil-rich Tyndall Stone. The fossil on the right is the receptaculitid Fisherites. This is a member of an extinct group of organisms; it is commonly called a “sunflower coral”, but was most likely a green alga (“seaweed”).

These limestones formed on a tropical seafloor about 450 million years ago (this is the Ordovician seafloor diorama in our Earth History Gallery).

To go from this seafloor to the shore (photo: Graham Young) …

… we must pack our gear (photo: David Rudkin) …

… and travel north (photo: Michael Cuggy) …

… to the Grand Rapids area.

Morning weather can be varied …

… as we get on the road, northward again …

… toward William Lake, in the middle of Manitoba.

The beautiful wilderness of the Grand Rapids Uplands …

… is home to a great variety of animals …

… and plants (upper left photo: Michael Cuggy).

Hydro lines span the landscape.

Limestone bedrock is very close to the land surface.

This limestone is home to many fossils.

To be continued . . . next time I will talk about the fossil collecting process, with many graphic images of dusty and hot, or cold and wet paleontologists!

Museum Stories: Palaeontology & Geology

Palaeontology & Geology

Friday February 16, 2024

Winnipeg, MB (October 10, 2018): The Manitoba Museum has received the International Guardians of Culture and Lifeways Outstanding Project by a Non-Native Organization award from the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums (ATALM) for its Spirit Lines education project. As a part of the 2018 International Conference, the award (a medallion and certificate) was presented today to Dr. Maureen Matthews, the Manitoba Museum’s Curator of Cultural Anthropology, by Walter Echo-Hawk, Board Chair for ATALM. Spirit Lines, an outreach project with two Canadian First Nations communities, was a collaborative and innovative initiative, merging Indigenous heritage and museum expertise to preserve part of a cultural history that may have otherwise been lost.

“The Manitoba Museum is honoured to be the recipient of this prestigious international award,” says Claudette Leclerc, Executive Director and CEO of the Manitoba Museum. “This award affirms the importance of collaboration and connection with Indigenous people as museums work to build relationships with communities whose collections we hold in trust.”

The Spirit Lines project was conceived by Dr. Matthews who discovered a 200-page binder containing oral history transcripts in the Manitoba Museum’s holdings that had been collected by the late Anishininni artist Jackson Beardy while he was employed at the Museum in the early 1970s. The idea of returning these stories to the communities where Jackson Beardy first recorded them became the inspiration for the Spirit Lines project. Heritage Canada’s Museum Assistance Program funded the creation of education kits for schools in Garden Hill First Nation, Jackson Beard`s home reserve, and Norway House First Nation.

The Spirit Lines project privileged community collaboration and creative working relationships with community leaders including Elders, teachers and school administrators. Richard Laurin, the Education Kit Developer, worked with Byron Beardy, Jackson Beardy’s son, to engage community experts and Elders. Partners in the Spirit Lines project include David Swanson, Superintendent of Frontier School Division; David Flett, Director of Education at Garden Hill Education Authority; David Williamson, Dean of Education at University College of the North, and many community members who read stories, translated and transcribed texts and replicated artifacts.

A computer keyboard with English, Ininiwag, and Anishininiwag syllabics on the keys.

The kits contain a wide array of materials ranging from audio recordings voiced by community members and replica artifacts created by local artisans to instructions for making such traditional items as snowshoes and birch bark baskets. In addition, five bilingual publications provide educational materials to facilitate local language teaching. These include a Cree dictionary and transcriptions of the kit’s oral histories with side-by-side translations in English, Ininiwag or Anishininiwag languages in English orthography and syllabics. A unique feature of the Spirit Lines project is the inclusion of Unicode syllabic keyboards, enabling teachers to digitize syllabic lesson plans and communicate across computer networks using Ininiwag and Anishininiwag syllabics.

“The Spirit Lines project was an opportunity to use our collections and expertise to highlight the oral traditions, artifacts, and languages of Norway House and Garden Hill First Nations,” says Dr. Matthews. “Working collaboratively with Indigenous communities, the Manitoba Museum has provided a rich cultural resource for Indigenous teachers, bringing the oral histories collected by Jackson Beardy back to life for the students of today and making them available for generations to come.”

In November 2017, the Manitoba Museum Spirit Lines project also received the Governor General’s History Award for Excellence in Museums: History Alive! presented by Governor General of Canada Julie Payette. This award recognizes institutions that demonstrate excellence in the presentation, preservation, and interpretation of Canadian history.

ATALM is an international non-profit organization that maintains a network of support for Indigenous programs, provides culturally relevant programming and services, encourages collaboration among tribal and non-tribal cultural institutions, and articulates contemporary issues related to developing and sustaining the cultural sovereignty of Native Nations. Established in 2007, the awards program identifies and recognizes organizations and individuals who serve as outstanding examples of how Indigenous archives, libraries, and museums contribute to the vitality and cultural sovereignty of Native Nations.

Winnipeg, MB (November 30, 2017): The Manitoba Museum’s annual Tribute Gala will honour Abdo (Albert) El Tassi, C.M., O.M., LL.D. and Samira El Tassi on May 24 at the Museum’s Alloway Hall. The El Tassis are widely known and recognized as sincere, passionate donors. They work tirelessly to promote understanding, tolerance and respect across the globe.

“The Manitoba Museum has a tremendous appreciation for those who support our mission, and great admiration for those who give globally as well as in their home community,” says Scott Craig, Chair of the Manitoba Museum’s Board of Governors. “Albert and Samira El Tassi are such donors. The beginning of their story is similar to that of many people coming to Canada for the opportunities our country has to offer. Their ongoing story of generosity and giving back to the community is an inspiration for us all.”

“The world is a much better place thanks to people like Albert and Samira El Tassi. Children are safer, immigrants are supported, families are hopeful, and businesses are encouraged. The support of their global community, through not only financial contributions but generous donations of their time to non-profit organizations, is truly inspiring,” says Dave Angus. “I am proud to Chair the Tribute 2018 Honourary Committee celebrating the El Tassis and their spirit of community support.”

Learning they were to be honoured at the Manitoba Museum’s Tribute Gala, Albert El Tassi said, “Awards and honours mean so much to us because they can motivate other people to do more and help build their drive to improve communities. We are honoured to be recognized for our work and hope our commitments will encourage others to give back to our community.”

Proceeds from Tribute support the Manitoba Museum’s Access for All community initiative, which provides complimentary Museum visits to more than 60,000 individuals living with special circumstances each year. Contributions to Tribute 2018 will provide impact and help the Museum create memorable learning experiences that build pride in Manitoba and tell the province’s essential stories, bridging language, culture, ethnicity and age.

Mr. El Tassi was born and raised in Kherbetrouha, Lebanon, where he was a schoolteacher and principal. He immigrated to Winnipeg in 1969 and his first job was loading trucks at Peerless Garments. In 1975, he became a proud Canadian citizen. He continued at Peerless Garments, working his way up until he was appointed General Manager in 1979 and by 2006, he became President and CEO. Since that time he has increased the company’s annual sales from $3 to $45 million. Mrs. El Tassi was born in Brazil. The couple met when Albert was visiting family in Brazil and they married shortly after, in May of 1976. Three years later she became a Canadian citizen.

The El Tassi’ s have four children and eighteen grandchildren of their own, but have made the world their family and have made the education and well-being of the children of the world a top priority in their giving. They have donated millions of dollars to charities dedicated to improving the lives of children including: Free the Children, Sick Kids Foundation, SOS Children’s Villages Canada, UNICEF, Variety: the Children’s Charity, the United Way, World Vision, International Disaster Relief, Winnipeg Harvest, and Habitat for Humanity. They also support organizations that advance human rights such as the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, University of Manitoba Indigenous Success, the Winnipeg International Storytelling Festival, and many educational institutions.

One of the founders of the Islamic Social Services Association of Manitoba, the Al Hijra Islamic School, the Canadian Islamic Chamber of Commerce and a Mosque in Thompson, Albert and Samira El Tassi are dedicated to their heritage, their faith and their world family. Mr. El Tassi is a member of the Arab Jewish Dialogue group, which helps bolster relations between differing cultures and religions in Canada. They have also sponsored immigrants, providing interest-free loans and university tuition.

Mr. El Tassi’s involvement on corporate and non-profit boards includes: the World Trade Centre, The Winnipeg Foundation, and the Canadian Textile Industry, Manitoba and Winnipeg Chambers of Commerce, Addictions Foundation of Manitoba, St-Boniface Hospital Foundation, and the Canadian Forces Liaison Council.

Mr. El Tassi, with the support of Mrs. El Tassi, has received many awards and honours including: the 2012 Gold Heart Humanitarian of the Year award from Variety, the Children’s Charity of Manitoba, outstanding Philanthropist of the Year in 2013 from the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the Queen’s Golden and Diamond Jubilee Medals, the Orders of Canada and Manitoba, the Canadian Red Cross 2012 Humanitarian of the Year, and Honourary Doctors of Law from University of Manitoba 2013. In recognition of contributions to the community made by their family, a green space on Talbot Avenue was named El Tassi Park in January 2017. Mr. El Tassi was also named Honourary Lieutenant-Colonel of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles and was Honorary Chair of the Manitoba Provincial Committee of the Air Cadet League of Canada. He is the largest personal contributor to the Military Family Fund, which provides support to families of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Tribute 2018 Honourary Committee
Chair: Dave Angus
Members:
Austin C. Abas, FCPA, FCA
Dr. Asim Ashique BSc(Hons), MSc, DC, FCCOS(C)
Gail Asper, O.C., O.M., LL.D.
Mayor Brian Bowman
Doneta Brotchie
Diane Gray
Ibrahim “Obby” Khan, BSc Kin(Hons)
Arthur V. Mauro, O.C., O.M., Q.C.
Larry McIntosh
Priti Mehta-Shah, FCPA, FCA, CBV, CF
Sofia Mirza, BSc (Maj.), BA, LL.B.
Mariette Mulaire, CITP / FIBP
Loren Remillard
H. Sanford Riley, C.M., O.M., LL.D.

The 14th annual Tribute Gala will take place in Alloway Hall on May 24, 2018. For information about reserving tables, buying tickets, Tribute sponsorship opportunities, and/or to make a donation to the Access for All community initiative, please contact Janet Rheault, Corporate Partnerships Manager at 204-988-0629 or email jrheault@manitobamuseum.ca.

-30-

Past Tribute Honourees – Gregg & Mary Hanson (Ambassadors for 2017); Sanford H. Riley (2016); The Winnipeg Foundation (2015); Doug Harvey (2014); Susan Lewis & United Way Winnipeg (2013); Kerry Hawkins (2012); Ambassador Gary Doer (2011); The Chipman Family (2010); Babs & Gail Asper (2009); Kevin & Els Kavanagh (2008); Lawrie Pollard (2007); Murray Taylor & Investors Group Inc. (2006); and George T. Richardson (2005).

Winnipeg, MB (March 17, 2017): The Manitoba Museum recently delivered a dozen educational kits to schools in two northern Manitoba communities. These kits, the products of a project called SPIRIT LINES, were developed to re-introduce oral histories and physical specimens to the communities of Norway House Cree Nation and Garden Hill First Nation. The artifacts are currently in the Museum’s collections but originate from these two communities and include embroidered mitts, watch pockets, and rock sculptures, among other items.

The Museum collaborated with many members of each community in the development of the SPIRIT LINES kits. In particular, Byron Beardy, the son of the late artist Jackson Beardy and the originally collector of the oral histories on the 1970s, contributed his interpretation and translations skills to the project. SPIRIT LINES also actively engaged with experts and Elders from the communities to ensure relevant and meaningful content was produced. These partners included teachers, Native language specialists, Band councillors, school administration, local sculptors and beaders, as well as local education consultants.

The SPIRIT LINES kits comprise a set of resources that focus on language retention and acquisition, and showcase artistic achievement in both communities. In particular, SPIRIT LINES has published five books (three photo books and two text books) and recorded 20 oral histories and legends for these kits. In keeping with a community-focused approach, resources developed for Norway House have been translated into Swampy Cree and those for Garden Hill into Anihshininiimowin (Oji-Cree).

In late February and early March Richard Laurin, the developer of the kit traveled to both communities to deliver and introduce them at each school in the communities. While in Norway House, he also delivered kits to University College of the North to be used in their Northern Teacher Training programs. “The feedback from the communities was very positive. In particular, the Garden Hill the Native Language teachers were very excited with their new syllabic enabled keyboards, says Laurin. “As for Norway House, teachers and students alike were keen to test their traditional knowledge of snowshoe making by trying their hand at weaving the snowshoe templates provided in the kits.”

The SPIRIT LINES project was fully funded through the Museum Assistance Program (MAP) of the Department of Canadian Heritage.

Posted on: Tuesday June 28, 2016

By Maureen Matthews, past Curator of Anthropology

Jacob Owen of Pauingassi was always cheerfully willing to explain the complexities of Ojibwe history and philosophy with stories from his own life. Margaret Simmons, who conducted this interview, was the Director of Education in Pauingassi at the time. She is a warm and open person with a positive genius for respectfully conversing with old people and her unique talent made my visits to Pauingassi and over 300 hours of Anishinaabe language recordings possible. The equally brilliant and even more patient Anishinaabe linguist, Roger Roulette, has been gradually transcribing and translating the Pauingassi recordings. He just finished this one today and it contains a remarkable discussion in Anishinaabemowin about the old Anishinaabe and their skill at making pots out of clay.

A black and white portrait of a seated older man from the side, smiling and laughing behind his hand.

Jacob was over 90 at the time of the interview, the oldest man in the community. He spoke very little English and had lived his whole life in Pauingassi. He most definitely had not read scholarly reports about archaeological discoveries of 500 year old clay pots made by his ancestors and yet, here he is, talking about how incredibly skillful his ancestors were at making these beautifully decorated pots. The conversation veers off after this, in part because Margaret, a very good modern speaker, doesn’t know the word for “clay, waabigan” but this short quote from Jacob’s conversation is an indication of the extent to which one can rely on First Nations oral historical accounts for the truth about the distant past. By the way, Roger says that the verb to fire a pot is zakizo (va) to burn an animate thing. The idea of a kiln is expressed in the verb boodawaash (ca) which means to superheat something animate.

Image: Jacob Owen, Pauingassi Manitoba. 1996.

Original (Anishinaabemowin)	Translation (English)
JO: Daabishkoo, gigikendaan ina ‘iwe gaa-ijigaadeg, aadizookaanag gaa-ijigaadeg?	JO: It’s like…you know what they mean by that, what they mean by aadizookaanag (legendary heroes)?
MS: Eya’.	MS: Yes.
JO: Daabishkoo mii gaa-inendaagoziwaad igiweniwag Anishinaabeg nishtam gaa-gii-bimi-ayaawaad. Bigo gegoon gaye ogii-ozhitoonaawaa’. Wiinawaa bigo.	JO: The first Anishinaabeg that existed, this is what they’re comparable to (the legendary heroes). Also, they were able to make anything. They, themselves.
Nashke aya’aa, akik. Waabigan gaa-onji-ayaawaad. I’iya’aawan nda gii-onizhishiwag. Eji-, eji debakamig gidaa-ikid e-gii-mookaakizowaad. Ndawaaj gii-onizhishiwag.	For instance, a pot (vessel) (noun animate). They made them from clay. My, they were beautiful. You would have said they were incredible. The visible images (on the pots), undoubtedly, they were beautiful.
MS: Aaniin dino akikwag? Asiniiwi-akikwag?	MS: What kind of vessel? Stone vessels?
JO: Bibagiziwag. Gii-bibagiziwag. Waabigan daabishkoo. I’iwe dash waakaa-aya’ii gii-mazine’aawaad gaye, ndawaaj gii-onizhishiwag.	JO: They’re thin. They were thin. It was the nature of clay. However, they had images/patterns around (the pot). My, but they were beautiful.
Zhigwa ayi’ii naanaagadawendamaan, awegodogwen gaa-omookomaaniwaad nishtam?	Well, when I think about it, I wonder what they used for a knife (to incise the designs) at that time, at the outset?

Museum Stories: Anthropology

Anthropology

Tuesday August 3, 2021

Treaty Number One Medals at the Manitoba Museum tell a First Nations Story

For the commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of Treaty Number One, three Treaty medals from the Manitoba Museum will be on display at Lower Fort Garry. Although these medals were used by …

Anthropology

Tuesday June 28, 2016

Ancient pottery making described in new Anishinaabemowin translation

Jacob Owen of Pauingassi was always cheerfully willing to explain the complexities of Ojibwe history and philosophy with stories from his own life. Margaret Simmons, who conducted this interview…

Anthropology

Thursday November 5, 2015

Chief Piapot and the Qu’Appelle Treaty

This is an image of an original 1875 handwritten parchment document related to the signing of Treaty No. 4., the “Qu’appelle Treaty”, temporarily on display at the museum …

Posted on: Thursday March 17, 2016

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.

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

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

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 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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

Museum Stories: Palaeontology & Geology

Palaeontology & Geology

Friday February 16, 2024

Turning over half-billion-year-old stones at the Manitoba Museum

Animals today are mindbogglingly diverse, encompassing flies and flamingoes, elephants and earthworms, sharks and snails, and of course, ourselves.

Palaeontology & Geology

Thursday October 6, 2022

Time's Waypoints

As we pass through life we accumulate scars, each of which tells a story about an event that affected us. This white line on my hand shows where I fell hard…

Palaeontology & Geology

Friday March 18, 2022

A Bison Rubbing Stone in the Prairies Gallery: How Did That Boulder Get There?

Bison rubbing stones are icons of the prairies. These large stones were originally transported south by Ice Age glaciers, then left behind on the prairies…

Posted on: Tuesday October 20, 2015

By Dr. Graham Young, Curator Emeritus of Geology and Paleontology

It is exciting and interesting to work with the fossils of large vertebrate creatures, but this is a field with many complexities. During the fossilization of most vertebrates, the bone was replaced by other minerals, which makes the skeletal components both heavier and more brittle than they were during the animal’s life. For those of us working in the “back rooms” of museums, it can be very tricky to move these large, weighty, and fragile fossils as we prepare them, study them, or mount them for exhibit.

A few weeks ago, we had to perform one of the trickiest tasks associated with big vertebrates: flipping a skull. The large pliosaurid plesiosaur that was donated to the Museum by Wayne Buckley had been fully prepared by Wayne, so that the bones are completely removed from bedrock; their weight is supported by mounts or cradles (structures similar to the plaster field jackets). This makes the fossil much easier to exhibit or study, but it means that we have to ensure that we are fully supporting the skull whenever we move it, so that it doesn’t collapse or break. Since this particular specimen is unique and scientifically important, and since it has survived the past 90 million years or so in remarkably good condition, it is imperative that we take extra care!

The plesiosaur skull, as it appeared in our temporary exhibit last winter.

Janis Klapecki and Tamaki Sato, strapping the two cradles together.

In late September, we were visited by Dr. Tamaki Sato (Tokyo Gakugei University) and Dr. Xiao-Chun Wu (Canadian Museum of Nature), who spent several days here studying the skeleton for a scientific publication. Before they arrived, Debbie Thompson had been making the final exhibit mount for the plesiosaur; to allow her to do that work, the skull was resting in a temporary support cradle, with its “back” side (the side hidden during exhibit) facing up. We knew that Tamaki and Xiao-Chun would want to thoroughly examine both sides of the skull, and that at the midpoint of the week we would need to flip it so that they could study the “front” side.

Knowing this in advance, Debbie had prepared a second cradle that would fit onto the the side that was currently up, making this support out of wood, plaster, burlap, and other materials. Unfortunately for us, Debbie was on vacation when the visiting scientists were here, so it was left to the rest of us to ensure that the cradle was used as she had intended.

Before we could begin the “flip”, we had to turn the cradles so that they ran across the table. L-R: Kevin Brownlee, Amelia Fay, Tamaki Sato, Janis Klapecki, and me (photo by Stephanie Whitehouse).

Making sure we are all in agreement before we begin! Clockwise from left: Kevin Brownlee, me, Amelia Fay, Xiao-Chun Wu, Tamaki Sato, Janis Klapecki, and Roland Sawatzky (photo by Stephanie Whitehouse).

On the Wednesday afternoon, Collections Specialist Janis Klapecki and I went to the room where the plesiosaur is laid out, and with Tamaki and Xiao-Chun we fitted Debbie’s second cradle over the skull. The fit was perfect, so we wrapped sturdy packing straps around the two cradles, then tightened them until there was no give and the wood supports were flexing a bit. This tightness would ensure that the bones would move as little as possible during the flip.

When we were ready, we were joined by several of our curatorial colleagues, who had kindly volunteered their assistance. The skull and cradles were not immensely heavy, but the operation had to be done very steadily and smoothly, so it was best to have two or three people on each end of it. Once we had everything in place, and once we had discussed how we would do it, it only took a couple of moments to actually flip the skull.

Click the image to watch a short video of the flip (2 MB; video by Stephanie Whitehouse).

Before we could remove the “lid”, we had to check that the skull was not sticking to it anywhere (photo by Stephanie Whitehouse).

The flipped plesiosaur skull on the table with the cradle and "lid" removed, as five people stand around the table looking at it.

When we removed the straps and exposed the skull, it was clear that the planning had paid off: the fragile fossil had survived it perfectly. Tamaki and Xiao-Chun could continue their scientific study, and the rest of us could return to our many other tasks. But we aren’t quite done with this sort of work yet: we will have to flip the skull at least a couple more times before it goes into a new permanent gallery exhibit next year.

Image: The upper jacket is removed (photo by Stephanie Whitehouse).

Success! L-R, front: Tamaki Sato, Stephanie Whitehouse; back: Xiao-Chun Wu, Janis Klapecki, me, Roland Sawatzky, Amelia Fay, Kevin Brownlee (photo by Xiao-Chun Wu).

Tamaki and Xiao-Chun return to their scientific studies.

Museum Stories: Palaeontology & Geology

Palaeontology & Geology

Friday February 16, 2024

Turning over half-billion-year-old stones at the Manitoba Museum

Animals today are mindbogglingly diverse, encompassing flies and flamingoes, elephants and earthworms, sharks and snails, and of course, ourselves.

Palaeontology & Geology

Thursday October 6, 2022

Time's Waypoints

As we pass through life we accumulate scars, each of which tells a story about an event that affected us. This white line on my hand shows where I fell hard…

Palaeontology & Geology

Friday March 18, 2022

A Bison Rubbing Stone in the Prairies Gallery: How Did That Boulder Get There?

Bison rubbing stones are icons of the prairies. These large stones were originally transported south by Ice Age glaciers, then left behind on the prairies…

Posted on: Wednesday September 23, 2015

By Dr. Graham Young, Curator Emeritus of Geology and Paleontology

Last week was the Museum’s “cleaning week”, during which we were closed to the public so that we could focus on getting our house in order. There was much recycling of paper, moving of old furniture, and scrubbing of walls in many parts of the Museum. Here in the Geology and Paleontology lab, we decided that this was the ideal time to file some of the fossils that had been catalogued in the past few months. Most particularly, we put away several hundred Ordovician age trilobites from the Stony Mountain Formation at Stony Mountain, just north of Winnipeg.

Three drawer inserts full of catalogued trilobites, ready to be placed into their drawers.

How did the Museum end up with hundreds of trilobites that needed cataloguing? Stony Mountain is one of the really important sites in southern Manitoba dating from the Late Ordovician Period, about 445-450 million years ago. During this time central North America was covered by tropical seas, and at Stony Mountain the limestone deposits are tremendously rich in fossils of marine invertebrates: corals, brachiopods (lamp shells), trilobites, and many other kinds of creatures.

Image: Some of the catalogued trilobites, ready to be filed away.

Close up on a small box with six fossil pieces laid in cut-out foam beds, and a vial with cotton and smaller fossil pieces.

Staff and volunteers from this Museum and its predecessor have collected fossils at Stony Mountain since the 1930s; over the years thousands of specimens have been catalogued to our collections, but very few of these were trilobites. A museum always collects more samples than can be catalogued quickly, and the Stony Mountain trilobites are somewhat complicated and consist mostly of small pieces*, so we had been holding onto them until there was time to consider which ones belonged in the permanent collection.

Image: Components of a trilobite that may belong to the genus Failleana (that’s a cranidium, the mid-part of a head, on the upper left).

We knew that the Stony Mountain trilobites had been gradually “stacking up”, and volunteer extraordinaire Ed Dobrzanski and I had decided that we would devote some serious time and space to this project when we could. A few months ago the lab was looking relatively clear, so we laid out the hundreds of trilobites in trays and decided which ones were good enough to go into the permanent collection. I identified quite a few of them, but it fell to Ed to carry out the laborious, repetitive work of cataloguing each specimen.

The invaluable Ed Dobrzanski did most of the work on this project.

The specimens were filed away in our collections room.

When he was done, there were some 150 catalogued batches, all neatly laid out and padded. Once I had reviewed his records (we always double-check everything for accuracy!), we still had to find space in the collections, shifting the drawers in several cabinets to free up a block so that the trilobites could all be together and organized.

Finally, last week, we put the trilobites away! This may seem like a very big job for some small old fossils, but it means that many potentially important specimens are now properly recorded and stored, with the trilobites and their data readily available for future research or exhibits.

Image: One of the drawers of Stony Mountain trilobites.

An enrolled and incomplete cheirurid trilobite, possibly belonging to Ceraurinus.

Trilobite components: the tail (pygidium) of a cheirurid on the left, and partial mouthparts (hypostome) of an asaphid on the right.

*These trilobites are almost all incomplete because most trilobite fossils are from pieces of exoskeleton left behind when the animals moulted in ancient tropical seas. For the fossils at Stony Mountain, wave and current action on the ancient seafloor caused further abrasion and breakage.

Museum Stories: Palaeontology & Geology

Palaeontology & Geology

Friday February 16, 2024

Turning over half-billion-year-old stones at the Manitoba Museum

Animals today are mindbogglingly diverse, encompassing flies and flamingoes, elephants and earthworms, sharks and snails, and of course, ourselves.

Palaeontology & Geology

Thursday October 6, 2022

Time's Waypoints

As we pass through life we accumulate scars, each of which tells a story about an event that affected us. This white line on my hand shows where I fell hard…

Palaeontology & Geology

Friday March 18, 2022

A Bison Rubbing Stone in the Prairies Gallery: How Did That Boulder Get There?

Bison rubbing stones are icons of the prairies. These large stones were originally transported south by Ice Age glaciers, then left behind on the prairies…

Posted on: Thursday February 19, 2015

By Maureen Matthews, past Curator of Cultural Anthropology

Today is National Anthropology Day and as the Museum’s Anthropologist, I have been participating in a number of public events. Most recently I assisted with one of three winning designs in this year’s Warming Huts Competition, organized annually by the University of Manitoba, School of Architecture. This entry, Recycled Words, is the work of KANVA, a team of young architects in Montreal. These are the ski/chairs you see down on the Riverwalk, each painted a bright salmon pink with two words stenciled on each so that at rest the chairs can be used like fridge-magnet words to create little sentences. My contribution was the words on the chairs. Because we could use so few words and because the idea was to combine them to make little thoughts, I made up a list of words that do double duty as nouns and verbs, words like canoe, skate, ski, etc. We added place names, a few connecting words and some French words as well.

Maureen Matthews, bundled up in winter clothes, standing outside on a cleared forzen river path beside a number of red chairs with skiis along their feet. On the two chairs closest to her, the words "Goonika" and "Gisinaa" are written on the chair backs.

Because I work with Anishinaabe people to emphasize the importance of the Anishinaabe language, I made sure, in addition to words like Métis, Cree and Ojibwe, that we included Anishinaabe words. Anishinaabe was beyond the letter limit for the chairs as were a great many other appropriate Anishinaabe words but there are two: Gisinaa (It is very cold) and Goonika (There is a lot of snow). The Ojibwe words were very efficient for this purpose. Because of the structure of the language, one word contains the elements of an entire sentence in English, so one chair is a sentence all by itself. The chairs project thus takes advantage of the “talents” of both language families. In French and English you could say that the kind of sentences which can be constructed are endless– in Anishinaabemowin there is no end to the words that can be created – each word as the famous linguist Edward Sapier used to say, a “tiny imagist poem.”

This week I have had visitors here from Arviat and when I told them about my Anishinaabe contribution to the chairs, they laughed because one of the words sounds like Inuktitut for “someone is kissing someone” – appropriate I suppose since it was Valentine’s Day.

Links:

KANVA website

CTV News report on the chairs

American Anthropological Association contacts

http://bit.ly/NationalAnthropologyDay

Social Hashtag: #nationalanthropologyday

Tag AAA on Twitter (@AmericanAnthro) and

Facebook (American Anthropological Association) and we’ll share your posts.