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Time to Wonder Podcast is a place where kids ask questions about museums and we find the answers.
Time to Wonder Podcast
Episode 6 - Part 2 Were there museums before settlement in what we now call Canada
In this episode, we ask Megan Jerry, a member of the Siksika (or Blackfoot) Nation in Alberta, Canada if there were museums before settlement in her area of Alberta.. She works at the Blackfoot Crossing Historic Park. We asked this same question of Coralee Miller, a member of the Syilx Nation in British Columbia, Canada in episode 1. But because First Nations across Canada and United States have their own cultural practises, we thought it would be a great idea to hear some different voices answering the same question. Megan talks about how belongings, but also designs and symbols used in painting teepees and beadwork were passed down through the generations. She also explains how many articles of clothing and weapons belonging to Chief Crowfoot ended up in a museum in England and how the Historic Park got them back.
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Episode 6 Were there museums before settlement – Blackfoot crossing
Welcome to Time to Wonder podcast, a behind the scenes peek into the world of museums for kids of all ages, everywhere. Hi, I'm Ava. Hi, I'm Leslie and I'm Sue. And this is a podcast where kids ask questions about museums, and we find the answers. Today's guest is Mega Jerry from the Siksika Nation in Alberta, Canada. She has a background in archaeology and museum studies. Her passion is expanding her knowledge of Blackfoot history and their ways of life. She is a museum tech and collections archivist assistant. She helps her coworkers and community members access historic documents and artifacts as well. She handles all the artifacts that have been returned through repatriation as well as donations from private collectors. Welcome to Tme to Wonder Podcast, Megan.We have many questions to ask you today.
Awesome, can't wait.
Can you say your Blackfoot name and tell us what it means?
1:25
Absolutely. First off I'd like to say (speaks in Blackfoot) So I just said “Hello, good morning. My name is Blue Otter woman. So my Blackfoot name (says her name in Blackfoot) was given to me by a local elder here named Herman Yellow Old Woman. He gave me this name after his first teepee design. I guess he just kind of saw the determination I had within me to learn and expand my knowledge of our Blackfoot ways in history. So I was gifted this name at our annual celebration it's called (akoka'tssini) and it's kind of like our new year, but it's also called Circle Camp that we have every year.
Were you always passionate about Blackfoot history?
2:21
I've always had an interest in our history since I was a young child. You know, I participated in pow wows, I learned the beading and crafts from my parents, and I started learning the language through my dad. And I always just kind of knew where I came from. So I always had the interest in learning more. This eagerness inside me. So I began archaeology in my university years and then I started getting more into the cultural aspect of our history and who we are today. So, I know I started looking more at everything through Blackfoot lens and so you know I'm here and I want to promote to the generate younger generation that our culture is so rich and it's still here and we're still doing things the way we have done hundreds of years ago, and we are such a strong, dynamic people and I find it so amazing.
Did you go to our First Nation school?
3:30
I went to school in Calgary and I went Siksika as well. Some college. It's called Old Sun Community College.
Where? Where do the Blackfoot people live, Megan?
3:49
So we live all over Alberta, southern Alberta and into the United States into Montana area. Before contact we were very nomadic peoples or territory expands from Alberta all the way towards the Rocky Mountains and then down into towards North Saskatchewan River. And so the Blackfoot Confederacy makes up about four individual tribes into one confederacy. And you know, we all share like the same language and the culture similarities. So the confederacy makes up the four tribes of Kainai, Siksika, Piikani and Aamskapi Pikuni. That's towards Browning, Montana to the border.
Where is the Black Foot Crossing Historic Park?
4:55
We are located in Alberta here in Siksika Nation. So if you're coming from the biggest, the closest city would be Calgary, so that's an hour east drive from the major city and we're just located off the Bow River. And then we have our hereditary Chief Crowfoot's grave site here in our Blackfoot Crossing within our park, and we have his last teepee site here, as well as the monument of Treaty 7, when that was signed, yeah.
Why did your nation decide to build the historic park?
5:38
Well, it came as a vision and wishes from our elders at the time. It was built in 2007 and you know it was in the area that had so much history and so much significance to our people. And it was the vision for them to have a place to preserve our heritage or culture and store artifacts and have them accessible for our nation members as well as the public and for visitors from all over the world. And I think it's an awesome place for future generations to learn from.
Now, you talked about the historic significance. Can you tell our young audience a little bit about the historic significance?
6:29
Not too far from our building, this is where the Treaty 7 was signed in 1877 and so we consider this place very important to us Blackfoot people. Many people during that time in 1877, the tribes would come from all over to come and be here for this historical moment. So it's important.
It's very different from British Columbia, where many of our First Nations are living in unceded territory like Ava.
Do the Blackfoot pass down belongings from generation to generation?
7:14
Well, from my own experience, I think we have, we have passed down belongings through my family. We want to pass them down to younger generations. But it's just not belongings as well. But we also do pass down teepee designs, designs on teepees, painted teepees. Symbols, symbolism in our beadwork and designs and we also pass down our traditional names that have been given to us. You can pass them down to our children. So, I think that's really cool.
It kind of reminds me of how in some network and Scottish areas, they might pass like charted knits. You're talking about the beadwork. That's super cool. Yeah, it gets transferred down.
Where and how did your people keep their special belongings?
8:14
Well like just like today we have our houses, but back in long time ago, you know we kept our special belongs in our teepees, I guess. Families would often hang the items from the teepee poles or keep them in a safe space towards the back of the teepees. So, teepees were kind of like our traveling house because we're such a nomadic people, always, constantly, you know, hunting and searching for buffalo. We would always be on the move. So teepees were a good way to just get up and move camp really fast. So often we would keep like some special belongings in what today would be called a briefcase or bag, but back then we would call them (Blackfoot word) which translates to parfleche bag made out of hide.
Now when you see where no matter for you. Even nomadic in the winter.
9:21
Oh yeah, yeah, always. It was always the in the chase of our food supply, right? So like, you know, hundreds of years ago, this land that we lived on was just filled with bison, thousands and thousands and, you know, you can see it in our landscape. There's Buffalo jumps, Buffalo rails all over throughout our landscape. And you can just, being here, just you can paint the picture in your mind of what it was like, what it was like for our ancestors so long ago.
How do items get to your historic park?
10:03
So, a lot of our items that came through when we first started opening, they came from donations from other institutions like the Glenbow the RAM and then they also come through public donations. You know I get calls from people almost every other week saying they have an item that they think is Blackfoot that their gramma’s gramma gave to them years ago. So, you know, we get a lot of those, hey, and their willingness to just give back to the community and you know, they do that through, I guess their solidarity with First Nations people. They want to do something like that. I find a lot of the donors. But also we have collections committee that we also help, you know, they do some research and try and get some items within our walls here at our museum. So, a lot of them are through repatriation with help from even our chief and council down here so. So it's awesome. We all work together, you know, to bring back these items, which I think is really, really cool.
We hear their Blackfoot belongings in museums around the world. Could you tell us a bit about that?
11:35
Yes, there is. There's tons of Blackfoot items all over the United States and all the way to England. Back in 2013, I think they started speaking with Exeter City Council and they made a discussion or a plan to get these items back. So, I think it took all the way until 2020 for the City of Exeter to make a vote to return some of these artifacts, which was Chief Crowfoot's shirt and a few other items. And so, they finally returned on May 25th, 2022. So, this is really awesome because you know, we view these items as living things, and we feel this connection when we are with them. So, it feels good to have them back. And you know, like during the settlement era, like, you know, many explorers and historians, you know, ethnographers felt the need to document or acquire these items with the goal of preserving or “historically documenting.” I mean that in quotations. We're still here and, you know, still making the same type of items today. You know, we’re a living, breathing culture that still thrives and exists today. We haven't disappeared. We’re here along with many other First Nation communities throughout Canada, which I think is so awesome. And you know, we're not we're not just in the history books. We’re still here.
Belongings got to Exeter in England. How did they get there?
13:28
We repatriated the shirt and the belongings from the hereditary Chief Crowfoot. And he was the signatory of the Treaty 7 in 1877. So in Exeter, they had a shirt, deerskin shirt and leggings and a bow and a knife and bear claw necklace. And these items I guess were purchased or given to him - I'm not too sure - he was at the time, an RCMP member and his name was Cecil Denny. But I think he was a translator as well. And I think his sister sold these items to the museum in Exeter for just £10. Like when these items returned, it was like we're bringing the spirit back home with it. You know, it helps with the process of healing and connecting to your ancestry. And when these things come back, I always tend to think about the kids in the community and, you know, having them… Seeing these type of things brings a positive energy and something good with that identity, I guess. But Cecil Denny was friends with Crowfoot back then. Yeah, so, so with the help of our staff and oour local knowledge keepers and elders and curators at the time, this was able to happen. It was like over 10 years that that we were waiting for his belongs to come back. So we have them here at the Blackfoot Crossing on display. We have an exhibit just for Crowfoot.
You know, you opened up this podcast by speaking in your language. Could you just give us some Blackfoot words for say things like hello and goodbye?
15:37
A really easy word in Blackfoot would be hello and it's oki. And so there is no word, growing up here, there hasn't been a word for goodbye. It's always just “see you later” it’s kitakitamaatsin. To say your mom and dad would be Na'a. And dad is (Blackfoot word) So it's quite similar. The fun ones I like to teach off the animals because they’re easy. And my kids always just have this connection with animals I find. So for instance, wolf would be makoyi. And a bee is naamóó. An imitaa is dog.
What dance category originates from Blackfoot Country?
16:51
The dance is called the kitokipaaskaan or in English it would be Prairie Chicken dance. This dance originates from Blackfoot Country and it basically is a dance that honors the Prairie chicken springtime courting dance. You know this dance is done by males and they wear porcupine hair roaches, sometimes breechcloths of different materials and colours and most of them were bells on their ankles that make a lot of sound, and they wear bustles that imitate the Prairie chicken made of feathers on their backs.
Really theatrical. It's gorgeous.
Yeah. So like the dancer mimics the male Prairie chicken’s distinctive movements during mating season. And it's supposed to honour the animal and the story that comes along with it. There was a young Blackfoot man who went out hunting and encountered these Prairie chicken birds, and they were all dancing in the long grass in the prairie. And the young man was so hungry and needed something to eat, so he took out his bow and shot one of the birds to bring home and feed his family. So, later that night that man he had a dream and that bird spirit came to him in that dream and asked, “Why did you kill me?” And the mad replied “Well you know, I need to feed my family. We're starving and hungry.” So, the prairie chicken then told the man that it was going to teach him a dance that then must be taught to all the people to honor and remember that life that was sacrificed. And if the man did not do as instructed, the bird promised he would return and take that same man's life in exchange for one that had been lost. As a result, the Prairie Chicken dance is considered sacred for all, and it teaches those who dance it that life is so important then that we must respect all living things.
Can you tell us about your people’s relationship with the buffalo?
19:08
Yeah, our whole relationship with the Buffalo, everything was surrounded over the buffalo. It was very intertwined wherever the Buffalo roam we followed them, you know, we depended on them for shelter, food, tools like thread the thread sinew, for clothing. Every part of the buffalo was utilized. You know, nothing went to waste. From the hooves to the horns and even the lining of the stomach that we used for boiling pits. Yeah. Then we use the horns for, you know, utensils. And then of course, the skin was used for when it was super cold. You could use that fur, For the clothing and moccasins, you could dry the hide and make some nice clothes and some good moccasins and even the tail was used for whips or even a fly swatter. And of course, then we would use the meat and we would use everything. Everything would be utilized. Nothing went to waste. So and then we would dry it and also we would make pemmican. So that was that was kind of the meat dried meat with squished with berries and then you could make them into patties and then it could be stored in in the parfleche bags. So those were kind of like our zip lock bags of the time. We would use it to preserve it.
Is there anything, Megan, that you'd like to tell the young audience about your history or about your museum before we finish today?
20:47
Oh, well, first off, I just wanted to say thank you for having me. It's been such a pleasure to meet you guys and chat with you all today, and I really thank you for being so interested in learning about me and my people. The Niitsitapi. That's why we call ourselves. But I just want you guys to. Come visit sometime.
Thank you, Megan for being with us today. You've given us a lot to think about.
Thank you, thanks for having me.
21:39
Welcome back to Part 2. In Episode 7, the big question is, “Are those mummies real?” Our guest is Gayle Gibson, who is an Egyptologist who worked for many years with the Royal Ontario Museum. She will talk about the mummies in the Royal Ontario Museum, including the mummified cat. We have lots of questions for Gayle, so please join us for Episode 7.
Thanks again to today's guests. Our music was written by Kevin McLeod and is licensed under Creative Commons. For complete information, see our blog post at time to wonderpodcast.com. For more information on this episode, visit time to wonderpodcast.com.
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