Museum exhibit shares stories of First Nations guides of 1900s

Two exhibits that capture some of the remarkable history of Lake Nipissing and its First Nations are coming to Sault Ste. Marie.

“Our Guides are Really Going Places” and the “Lake Nipissing Beading Project” open Thursday, Nov. 10 at the Sault Ste. Marie Museum on downtown Queen Street.

Both exhibits continue until Dec. 22.

Between 1901 and 1958, First Nations guides led naturalists from the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh on 25 expeditions through northern Ontario, Quebec, and Labrador.

Guide Paul Commanda and others led the expeditions along rivers, through rapids, and over portages. They cooked meals and kept everyone safe while sharing their extensive land-based knowledge.

Their work enabled the naturalists to harvest northern birds, plants, and animals for the Carnegie Museum’s collections, which are still used by scientists today.  

The Our Guides exhibit features stories and photographs of the guides and will also include a display of specimens collected on the expeditions.

Two of the exhibit curators, Dr. Kirsten Greer of Nipissing University and Joan McLeod Shabogesic of Nipissing First Nation, will attend the opening along with other representatives from Dokis and Nipissing first nations.

“Paul Commanda and the guides in these expeditions were the astronauts, cosmonauts of their day,”  said McLeod Shabogesic.

“They piloted their small crafts to carry the expedition scientists into the far north to complete research projects. Braving arduous months of canoeing, portaging, manoeuvring through river rapids, these guides had the care of not only the scientists but the specimen collections that furthered science and our understanding of the environs of this land. This was a noble cause.”

The exhibit was developed through a partnership between Nipissing First Nation, Dokis First Nation, the North Bay Museum, Nipissing University, and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

Funding was provided by the federal government’s Museum Assistance Program and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

Also opening on Thursday, the Lake Nipissing Beading Project, is a 5-metre beaded reimagining of Lake Nipissing and its waterways.

It uses 444 individually beaded pieces to show respect and acknowledge the importance of this waterway to those across the continent. The beadwork installation is travelling to museums across Northern Ontario.

Participants from Nipissing First Nation, Dokis First Nation, and other communities across Turtle Island beaded the more than 400 individual pieces of the lake and its waterways.

The project was created by and is being led by beading artist Carrie Allison and Dr. Greer in partnership with Dokis and Nipissing first nations.

Doors for the launch open at 6 p.m. this Thursday, Nov. 10. The event will run until 8:30 p.m.

Admission is by donation. Refreshments will be provided.

Additional parking is located in the back parking lot of the museum.

The Sault Ste. Marie Museum is at 690 Queen St. E., at the corner of East Street.

For more information on the projects and the team involved, visit the guide or beading exhibit websites.