The Red Deer Museum and Art Gallery is getting ready to host an exhibition that portrays Métis culture next December.
On Sunday, the museum received input from community members for the exhibit, Métis Nation — Hiding in Plain Sight.
Currently the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) documents the history of Métis Nation but not all the material is easily identifiable, which has created an impression that there are few records pertaining to Canada’s second largest Indigenous group. To address the gap, LAC began digitizing art and photographic documents. Since October 2014, more than 1,000 existing records have been revised.
Red Deer’s museum is using the opportunity to research and document Métis stories from Central Alberta, and select artworks from LAC collection to show in Red Deer. There will be opportunities for workshops on Métis culture, history and a showcase of Métis arts.
Gilles Allard, a Métis descendant and a Red Deerian, said this is a unique opportunity to profile our Métis uniqueness and culture identity.
“At the local level, we have to focus on education — for our current and future generations and having similar conversations just as the one on Sunday,” he said.
Dennis Johnson, a member of the Big Valley Métis Nation, said he will take the exhibition idea back to his town and find ways to connect with the museum.
Kim Verrier, coordinator of visitor experience at the Red Deer Museum and Art Gallery, said the staff is finalizing dates for the exhibition.
The exhibition will run until early 2019.
The next conversation is scheduled for Nov. 18 between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the museum.
Mamta Lulla
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