Last week I attended the Bruce Mines "Holy Walk." The idea behind the event is to tell a non-denominational version of the Christian Christmas story in an interactive way. Participants are taken on a walk from Nazareth to Jerusalem and experience the sights and sounds of the era during the walk.The Holy Walk has been … Continue reading Living History: Holy Walk
Canadian Public History
My earlier lament about the state of the Canadian public history community needs an update. Some great news for public history in Canada was announced yesterday. The National Council on Public History is coming to Canada in 2013. The annual NCPH conference will be held in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, April 17-20, 2013. The call for … Continue reading Canadian Public History
Post-Halloween Chocolate Thoughts
If you're like most people you are currently in a post-Halloween candy and chocolate coma. Karlee Sapoznik wrote a great blog post, "When People Eat Chocolate, They are Eating My Flesh: Slavery and the Dark Side of Chocolate," for Activehistory.ca in 2010, that deals with the dark side of chocolate production. Some chocolate producers, such … Continue reading Post-Halloween Chocolate Thoughts
Seasonal Exhibits: Holiday Heritage
It's that time of year, Christmas merchandise has already started to fill the malls, and the beginning of the commercial holiday season is looming ever closer. In the heritage field a lot of organizations are beginning to plan and develop exhibits and activities that coincide with the upcoming holidays. As a child, one of my … Continue reading Seasonal Exhibits: Holiday Heritage
Tangible History: Artifacts as Gateways to the Past
Powder Flask, McCord Museum, M975.61.76My most recent post can be seen over on the ActiveHistory.ca site. The post, "Tangible History: Artifacts as Gateways to the Past" focuses on the use of artifacts as primary sources in historical research and in educational settings.
Oral History and the Act of Listening
Photo Credit: ky_olsenThe October-November issue of Canada's History featured an interesting article titled "Guided by Voices" by Mark Abley. This article focused on the oral history practices, using Concordia University's Life Stories of Montrealers Displaces by War, Genocide, and Other Human Rights Violations project. (A great project that is well worth checking out if you're … Continue reading Oral History and the Act of Listening
Sylvan Circle
Sadly the area I live in doesn't have any Doors Open events going on this year. Despite this shortfall, the area does have a number of self directed art tours going on this fall. This weekend I took in the Sylvan Circle Tour which features 12 stops and over 50 artists and artisans.Highlights: Getting a … Continue reading Sylvan Circle
Engaging Our Community Conference
On the weekend I spoke at the Engaging Our Community Conference held at Algoma University. The panel I took part in, Beyond Paper: Participatory Past in the Community Archives, focused on the concept of archives as places of engagement. My presentation looked at the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre as an example of an archival institution … Continue reading Engaging Our Community Conference
Returning Home: Repatriation and Missing Children
My latest post "Returning Home: Repatriation and Missing Children" can be seen over on the Active History site. The post looks at the legacy and ongoing impact of the children that went missing or were buried without their families' knowledge while attending Residential School in Canada.
Listening to Our Past
My most recent post can be seen over at the Active History site. The post is a review of the Listening to Our Past website, which presents the oral histories of Nunavut's Inuit peoples. I thoroughly enjoyed discovering this site. There is a lot of great material on it for anyone interested in learning more … Continue reading Listening to Our Past