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Feature Exhibits

When We Reopen:

Who Cares About the Past?

Curated by Marie Hoffmann with Dr. Rhonda Bathurst

Archaeology is happening all around us, every day. Before a highway, pipeline, or even a new house is constructed in Ontario, archaeologists make sure that our material cultural heritage is recorded and protected. Let’s learn a little more about how and why archaeology is done in our province and why it matters.


Online Exhibit: The Story of Ste. Marie II

Curated with funding by Virtual Museums Canada

Dating to 1595, this astrolabe was found in the 1920’s at Ste. Marie II by a local individual. E.J Pratt Library, University of Toronto

The islands and coastline of Georgian Bay are among the most beautiful places in the Great Lakes. And throughout the past 12,000 years of human history stories of famine, war, and friendship unfolded.

The tragic tale of Ste. Marie II, details how a village with just one year of occupation illuminates the early history of Indigenous populations and their interactions with the French, English, and Dutch visitors to North America.

The Indigenous populations of this region, including the Wendat, Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabeg, survived four long centuries of colonial domination and attempted assimilation. To this day, archaeological research continues to play an important role in efforts by First Nations to assert their rights and interests for both ancestral and contemporary territories.

This is the story of the last months of the Wendat and some of their Indigenous allies, along with the Jesuits, on Christian Island. The legacy of Ste Marie II rests with the oral histories of the Wendat and both the documentary and archaeological records of the settlements on this beautiful landscape.


Contested Histories: An Interactive Tour

Curated by Alyssa Logie

The relationship between archaeology and Indigenous communities has evolved immensely over time in both positive and negative ways. “Contested Histories” is an interactive tour that explores these changing relationships while touring around the MOA gallery space. This tour provides a critical perspective on the interactions between archaeology, Indigenous communities and museums.

Comments

[…] 1. Bike through London for a more intimate look at the city. 2. Survey local artists’ perspective through the city’s Public Art initiative. 3. Take in the latest Museum London exhibit. 4. Tour Eldon House, London’s oldest residence, which has remained nearly untouched for over a century and houses the Harris Family’s heirlooms and treasures as well as a verdant 19th-century style garden. 5. Rent ice skates and show off your moves at Victoria Park. 6. Follow the enchanting Storybook Gardens outdoor skating trail in the wintertime. 7. Become a master chef at Jill’s Table. 8. Ski, snowboard, tube, or mountain bike down Boler Mountain. 9. Take on a rock wall. 10. Relax and explore the world from inside the London Public Library. 11. Learn to dance. 12. Play pick-up hockey on Sunday night. Ages 25 and up. 13. Enjoy a musical performance from a new genre. 14. Marvel at milestones in medical history at the Exhibit Hall in the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. 15. Join the party for Rock the Park Music Festival. 16. Learn about bees and then spend the afternoon playing outside. 17. Taste artisan coffee, inhale the aroma of freshly baked goods, and sample cuisine from a different ethnicity or two at the Western Fair Farmers and Artisans Market. 18. Tour and play at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. 19. Learn about ceramic art at Canada’s largest contemporary ceramic gallery. 20. Follow the Tree Trunk Tour downtown. 21. Camp with a view of a beautiful ravine. 22. Yell for your driver above the other stock car racing fans at Delaware Speedway. 23. Visit a brewery for beer tasting and an homage to the Forest City’s heritage. 24. Peruse the vendors at a juried craft show and watch craft demonstrations at the Home County Music & Art Festival this summer. 25. Cheer on the London Knights junior ice hockey team. 26. Gaze in reverent silence at the stained glass and architecture of Saint Peter’s Basilica. 27. Explore Fanshawe Trails for a hike or mountain bike excursion. 28. Journey through time via today’s exhibit at the Museum of Ontario Archaeology. […]