Niagara Falls Museums launches online Indigenous history exhibit
Niagara Falls Museums has teamed up with Landscape of Nations 3600 to create a virtual exhibition exploring the museums’ collections of Indigenous artifacts as curated through the perspective of Indigenous curators and their allies.
Called “Empathic Traditions: Niagara’s Indigenous Legacy,” the exhibition features objects selected from the Indigenous collections of Niagara Falls History Museum that reveal the presence of Indigenous peoples, their art and history in the region, extending back hundreds of generations up to the present day.
Vivid imagery of the artifacts combined with interpretive information help visitors understand what life was like for those who first arrived.
Within the Indigenous collections is found evidence dating back to the earliest human habitation of the region. From the Paleoindian period reaching back 13,000 years, through the archaic and woodland periods, to European contact and modern times, Indigenous peoples have always been an essential part of Niagara.
The team at Landscape of Nations 3600 examined this collection and developed an exhibition highlighting the Indigenous footprint in Niagara’s history.
“Developing an exhibit based upon the Indigenous history of this region has long been an aspiration of museum leadership,” said Clark Bernat, culture and museums manager for City of Niagara Falls.
“We are therefore delighted that, with the assistance of the LON 360° team, we’ve been able to produce this highquality online educational resource for the benefit of Niagara’s K-12 schools and the general public.”
By examining projectile points, stone tools, pottery shards, jewelry and other ancient creations, as well as historic and contemporary items, the exhibition reveals the cultural connections Indigenous peoples developed with nature and, subsequently, through their relations with Europeans.
Visitors will learn how the necessity of survival required the design of useful tools, how function influenced form, and how form created objects of great beauty.
“Crucial to our curatorial approach was to highlight and share how Indigenous peoples have engaged with and interpreted the environment of the Niagara region,” said Tim Johnson, project director with Landscape of Nations 360°.
“When we reference empathic traditions, we’re talking about the repetitive gratitude that is expressed through Indigenous teachings that are intended to stimulate empathic responses that nourish both emotional and intellectual development.”
The exhibition includes more than 60 objects curated by some of the most knowledgeable experts on Indigenous culture, history and archaeology in southern Ontario, brought to life through the photography of award-winning photographer Mark Zelinski.
The addition of video segments featuring Indigenous curator Rick Hill, archaeology curator Rob MacDonald, community curator Dave Labbe and Indigenous arts adviser Jolene Rickard will be added later in the year when the pandemic quarantine is lifted, and filming can resume.
Niagara Falls History Museum started hosting the exhibition Sunday at empathictraditions.ca.