Celebrate National Aboriginal History Month at the Canadian Museum of History

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

For immediate release

Gatineau, Quebec, June 6, 2017 — Be part of the Canadian Museum of History’s celebrations of National Aboriginal History Month in June, and experience First Peoples’ dynamic traditions and contemporary expressions of their heritage. Visitors will be inspired by the many activities on offer: a fun-for-all-ages artifact hunt; an uplifting new Canadian musical; a heartwarming documentary about Cree communities and hockey; and Aboriginal art workshops and performances.

Throughout the month, the Museum will hold a daily artifact hunt in the First Peoples Hall that is sure to be a hit with children and adults. Discover fascinating objects that reflect the diverse histories, beliefs and cultural traditions of First Nations, Inuit and Métis.

On June 18, at our Awesome Sunday: Awesome Art event, internationally renowned artist Simon Brascoupé from the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation offers a pochoir (stencil) print-making workshop, and Métis artists Jennifer Lord and Sahra MacLean demonstrate how to make beaded buttons. The June 18 Awesome Sunday will also feature First Nations drummers and dancers and Inuit throat singers on the Grand Hall stage.

The highlight of National Aboriginal Day — Wednesday, June 21 — is the presentation of The Dream Catchers. Take hip-hop, spoken word and folk. Blend it with contemporary and Indigenous dance, and experience this new Canadian musical. The Dream Catchers is a Canada150 Signature project, featuring the TD Confederation Centre Young Company, that will take you on a one-hour quest to find hope for the future and dare you to believe that no dream is too small.

And on Thursday, June 29, at CINÉ+, the documentary Suuhk! Suuhk! Hockey reveals how one of Canada’s largest annual minor-hockey tournaments brings isolated Cree communities from throughout northern Quebec together in a multi-generational cultural event in Val-d’Or. The film’s producer will be present to answer questions.

Artifact Hunt
Daily in June
First Peoples Hall
Free with Museum admission

Awesome Sunday: Awesome Art
Sunday, June 18
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Grand Hall, Douglas Cardinal Salon and River Mezzanine
Free with Museum admission

The Dream Catchers
Wednesday, June 21
11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Grand Hall
Free admission

Suukh! Suukh! Hockey
(French only)
Thursday, June 29
7 p.m.
CINÉ+
Free with Museum admission

What better time than National Aboriginal History Month to explore the Museum’s exhibitions of Indigenous cultures? The soaring Grand Hall is home to the world’s largest indoor collection of totem poles and to the First Peoples of the Northwest Coast exhibition, with its dramatic house fronts each representing a different people. Inside the houses, visitors can view exquisite historical and modern wooden masks, decorated boxes, blankets and ornate headdresses.

Other outstanding works of art in the Grand Hall include The Spirit of Haida Gwaii, world-acclaimed Haida sculptor Bill Reid’s largest and most complex work. Floating on the pond outside the Grand Hall is the striking sculpture of a life-size wolf in a canoe, ‘namaxsala (To Travel in a Boat Together) by Kwakwaka’wakw artist Mary Anne Barkhouse. At the far end of the Hall, marvel at the ceiling mural Morning Star by Alex Janvier, a masterwork full of vivid imagery telling the history of our land from the artist’s Dene Suline perspective. And in the First Peoples Hall, more than 2,000 artifacts help visitors see more deeply into the rich stories and cultures of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples across Canada.

More information on all National Aboriginal History Month activities at the Canadian Museum of History is available at historymuseum.ca, or by calling 819-776-7000 or 1-800-555-5621.

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Media contacts:
Stéphanie Verner
Media Relations Officer
Telephone: 819-776-7169
Email: stephanie.verner@historymuseum.ca

Éliane Laberge
Social Media and Media Relations Officer
Telephone: 819-776-7097
Email: eliane.laberge@historymuseum.ca