Iconic Moments In History

Before heading into the third gallery in Canada Hall, I paused for another look at the central hub and its map of Canada.

These items date back to the early 20th century, including a bust of Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier.

Alfred Bastien painted this oil painting, Gas Attack, Flanders 1915, in that same year.

This crucifix was fashioned out of the burned cross in a church at Passchendaele, Belgium, the site of a major World War One battle involving Canadian troops.

Here are two paintings by members of the Group of Seven, the Canadian landscape artists well renowned in the country. On the left is an untitled fall landscape by A.J. Casson around 1930. On the right is Eskimo Summer Camp, by A.Y. Jackson, done around 1927.

This view from this level looks down on some of what we've already seen, and also plays to the circular effect that is so prevalent in Douglas Cardinal's designs.

These photographs are from the Second World War. At top is one taken during the First Quebec Conference in August 1943. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill are standing at this spot overlooking Quebec City. American President Franklin Roosevelt is sitting before them with the Canadian Governor General at the time, the Earl of Athlone. The second shot features King after his address to the nation on VE Day.

Canada had, for many years, used the Red Ensign as its flag. By mid century, there was a movement for a new flag. Some of the basic ideas can be found here, along with background for the debate about the issue.

The background image here dates to 1982, with the signing by Queen Elizabeth of the Proclamation of the Canadian Constitution, which built upon the British North America Act of 1867. Pierre Trudeau, the prime minister of the day, is at the left. The table used for the occasion is present here.

In The Footsteps Of History

These items in a display case in this area date to 1842 and earlier, and were from the Red River area in the west, typically worn by First Nations peoples.

These items also date back to the same era- the rolled up fabric is a tell tale of the era of the voyageurs, French Canadians who traveled extensively for the fur trade.

This is a Mountie's tunic. The North-West Mounted Police was the predecessor of the RCMP as we know it today. This belonged to a police inspector, Leif Crozier, who went out on the Great March West of 1874. He was the first member of that force to arrest a Yankee whisky trader.

A panel here goes into detail on Sandford Fleming, the Canadian rail engineer who devised the universal  system of timekeeping in 24 distinct time zones around the world.

This is a part of the original Canada Hall that I was pleased to see is still here. St. Onuphris Church is a Ukrainian Catholic Church, built in 1915 in Alberta. It was brought to the Museum in the 1990s, reconstructed with the sanctuary intact, and is still in fact used for religious services. 

I took in more views of the central hub as I walked up the long ramp to the third gallery, which goes from 1914 to the current day.

I paused for a look across a large gap. A level below, and beyond that glass, is the Children's Museum area- I have been in twice, and both times came out with a splitting headache. A mural hangs on the wall, reaching from this level down to the ground below. We'll have a look at that from below before I'm done with this series.

Artifacts Of The National Story

This rather handsome sleigh is quite a sight here in Canada History Hall.

This portrait was done around 1869 by William Sawyer. William Logan is its subject. Logan was the founder of the Geological Survey Of Canada, created in 1842 to survey the land from sea to sea. The scientific agency is still around today, carrying on the field work that Logan started. Logan's name has long been given to the highest mountain in Canada, found in the Yukon. Around the portrait are several items he owned.

This is a British coat of arms, which stood originally at the Vieux Palais de Justice in Montreal. It dates to the mid 1800s.

This is a bust of Lord Elgin, a governor general during part of the tumultuous years between the 1837 rebellions and the Confederation movement. I've photographed this one before- it was part of a temporary exhibit a year or two ago on that period. 

Three men are grouped together in portraits here, and referred to collectively as the Great Coalition. John A. Macdonald, George Brown, and George-Etienne Cartier were among the brightest lights of the Fathers of Confederation, working to bring together the British North American colonies into one dominion.

Another of their number is close by. This 1868 painting, Thomas D'Arcy McGee, shows the Father of Confederation, orator, and eloquent writer who was assassinated by an Irish nationalist that year. The gun recovered in the case is beneath the portrait.

Shifting back into the First Nations side of things is this item, an elk skin from the 1800s. This was done as a "winter count" by a member of the Blackfoot tribe, an annual record of memorable events told in a circle spinning outward over time. I have seen something similar in a documentary on the American West- it might well be a Blackfoot custom, as that nation is on both sides of the border, or this might have been common in those peoples of the western plains.

European Contact With The New World

Following the area that deals extensively with First Nations people in Canada, the permanent gallery moves into the arrival of European people in the continent and the interaction with indigenous peoples- both positive and negative- that resulted from it. This is a model of the San Juan de Pasajes, a Basque ship that sank in Red Bay in the 1500s.

This pine chest and chair date back to the New France era in the late 1600s into the 1700s. 

I liked the look of this clock, dating to the 1700s, which once belonged to the Baron de Longueuil, a nobleman with holdings in Canada.

With the rise of British rule in Canada after the French and Indian War, English terminology and styles replaced that of New France. This is reflected in many of the items in this area, where the second gallery section of Canada History Hall begins.

Visiting Canada History Hall In The Museum

I am returning today for the last segment of my Canada Day weekend posts, with a return to the Museum of History. The permanent exhibits have had a big overhaul in the last few years, and Canada History Hall is the result. Done in consultation with the museum's architect Douglas Cardinal, the project presents Canadian history from time immemorial to the present day in three distinct galleries. You can see Cardinal's influence in the circular use of the space. It was exceptionally busy that weekend, what with the Prince of Wales officially opening it on Canada Day, and so I chose to come back the following day.

The corridor leading to the entrance is lined with landmarks or activities of Canada, done in a combination of mirrors overlaid with a lighter paint to create each image. This is the Chateau Frontenac, in Quebec City. There are many others.

The three galleries all branch off from a central hub, with a large physical map of Canada laid out on the floor. Rather than cities and roads, the landscape and waters are emphasized here. Hudson Bay is most obvious here, but Lakes Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Nipigon also feature prominently in this view, as does the lakeshore edge of Lake Superior at the lower right.

Going into the first of the galleries, which starts with the First Nations and ends with the transition out of New France, the visitor is met by a large view screen, where the Anishinabe creation story is depicted on screen. Speakers broadcast the tale being told in that First Nations language, while French and English subtitles are seen on the lower part of the screen.

The skull of a bison can be found close by. There is also a model of a buffalo jump set up by it- tribes in the West, even before the time of horses, would corral bison into a stampede towards a cliff as part of their hunt.

The museum's new direction interweaves the story of First Nations people in with the coming of Europeans and throughout Canadian history; before, the story of First Nations peoples seemed to be kept separate to the other parts of the museum. In addition, some of the artifacts here have been replicated from their original versions, which are returned to the people they've come from. It's a shift in priorities from how things used to be, instead working with First Nations peoples.

Within a case around a good sized display are reproductions of artifacts found on a man who lived eight hundred years ago in northern Baffin Island. The museum collaborated with the community around Arctic Bay, near where this man's remains were found, to reconstruct what he looked like and get a sense of his life. Some of his tools were carved with details about his life. After study of the skeleton and the tools had been completed, the man was re-interred with his artifacts in keeping with the traditions of the locals, while the reproductions of his tools and a full sized replica of him stand in the museum.

Here he is. It is thought that he was a man of around forty at the time of his death, a skilled hunter and kayaker whose tools included knives, a bow string tensioner, an ice pick, and a throwing weapon. He has been given a name- Nuvumiutaq. It is based on the place where he was found.

City Daily Photo Theme Day: Young At Heart

The first day of the month is a theme day for members of City Daily Photo, and for August, that theme  is Young At Heart. You can see how others are interpreting this theme at this link.

The ice rink outside Ottawa City Hall tends to be popular during the winter, and during Winterlude in February, I stopped by one day as skaters from the Minto Skate Club were doing demonstrations of their skill. I photographed three sets, showing a couple of them in my Winterlude series. I decided to hold this set back for this theme day, as it felt entirely appropriate.

This is much more recent. I was running errands in the Byward Market one day in late June and happened to come across a group dancing for onlookers, with swing music playing. Side Street Swing is the name of the dance school and performance company, and they do this once a week in the summer during the noon hour. I featured them earlier in July, as they were performing outside the National Gallery of Canada during the Canada Day weekend.