The goal of the Program is to develop ways for Indigenous nations across Canada to represent their own history and culture in concert with cultural institutions.
The Indigenous Internship Program offers professional and technical training for First Nations, Métis and Inuit participants. It is the first and most comprehensive program of its kind in Canada. The goal of the Program is to develop ways for Indigenous nations across Canada to represent their own history and culture in concert with cultural institutions.
Since 1993, the Program has welcomed interns from over 40 different Indigenous nations across Canada. Graduates have gone on to become role models and advocates in museum and cultural sectors.
The Program also works with a variety of affiliates and stakeholders such as Indigenous agencies, national museums, the federal government, local colleges and universities, provincial museums, Library and Archives Canada, the Canadian Conservation Institute, and the First Nations Confederacy of Cultural Education Centres, as well as Indigenous museums, libraries, cultural centres, and cultural tourism ventures.
Call for Proposals
January – April 2024: Apply by November 24, 2023
September – December 2024: Apply by June 28, 2024
Overview
The Canadian Museum of History’s Indigenous Internship Program (IIP) is seeking project proposals from First Nations, Métis and Inuit individuals for combined in-person and online projects that use the Museum’s collections, archives and staff expertise.
Eligible applicants are invited to submit a concise project proposal for a hybrid internship experience comprising both in-person and online work that will provide participants with insights and training into contemporary museum best practices.
Timing
The internship will take place during a four-month period (see above). During those 4 months, participants will be working remotely from their preferred location on a research project based on the project proposal. They will be given access to the Museums network and database and have weekly meetings with their internship supervisor to monitor their progress and to foster creativity.
On-Site Visits
On three (3) separate visits of one (1) week duration, participants will be brought to the Museum (all expenses paid). During the on-site portions of the internships, participants will have access to Museum resources in support of their specific project goals, and will be mentored in core museum functions including:
- Collections management and care
- Research methodologies
- Exhibitions and program development
Context
While ongoing pandemic-related disruptions prevent the offer of the Museum’s usual in-person Indigenous Internship Program (IIP) experience, the Museum remains committed to the program and is undertaking a hybrid internship model for the time being. A Museum steering committee will review and select up to four successful candidates from the proposals received based on creativity, innovation and applicability to the Museum’s mandate as Canada’s national museum of human history.
Eligibility
Any First Nations, Métis and Inuit individuals, with internet access and the availability and willingness to travel to the National Capital Region (Ottawa/Gatineau) for three one-week periods to work in person with the Museum’s resources (including its professional staff) are eligible to apply. Please note that having a college or university credential in a museum or heritage-related discipline is considered an asset, but is not necessary for the program. Additionally, experience in Indigenous cultural interpretation or related work is also considered an asset, but is not mandatory. Lived experience will be recognized just as much as formal education.
Quotes and Testimonials
Where have our interns come from?
Irvine Scalplock
Siksika Nation Alberta, started the Program in 1993–1994.
How did you hear about this program?
In 1993, I was approached by an Elder by the name of Russell Wright (late) of Siksika. He asked me if I would consider leaving the community to attend a training program in museum practices. He told me I would have to move across the country for a period of six months. Before he left, I told him I would need some time to consider it. After some weeks passed, a member of the Siksika Council came to my house and asked me the very same questions that the Elder had asked me. As it turns out, I was chosen from a group of six people from the community. Needless to say, off I went to Quebec to begin six months of the most enjoyable work I have ever been involved in.
What were your expectations coming into the program?
I was thrilled to be training at the Canadian Museum of Civilization (now Canadian Museum of History). I was familiar with the set-up at the Glenbow Museum and since that time I had always wanted to work in a museum environment. I always wanted to work in a setting where I could appreciate artifacts and stuff from the past. At the Museum, all my expectations were met and I would do the work all over again in a minute.
How did the training experience influence your career?
The training has allowed me to fully appreciate the type of work that goes into preserving and presenting works of art in various forms. Even after I retired, I carried on with the techniques I learned into my private business. In my private business I make reproductions of artifacts and treat them the way they would be treated in a museum setting. I create mounts and supports the way I learned it at the Museum.
What inspiring message would you give to someone considering taking the program?
If you have decided that a museum career is on your horizon, then the Canadian Museum of History is where you want to be. At the Museum, there are many worlds and experiences to discover. The exhibits and displays are awesome, you can be right there when a room is transformed into something from the past. There are many things that the Museum has to offer. For First Nation students, don’t pass this one, you won’t regret it.
Capturing Gun – Irvine Scalplock graduated from the Program in 1994.
Linda Grussani
Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation, from Ottawa, Ontario, started the Program in 2000.
How did you hear about this program?
I was referred to the program by my Post-Secondary Education Support Administrator at the Kitigan Zibi Education Council, who told me to consider applying after I completed my undergraduate degree in Art History at Carleton University.
What were your expectations coming into the program?
To learn from Museum staff about the collecting, care and presentation of our cultural heritage; to become familiar with the day-to-day operations of the Museum; and to learn what Algonquin artworks the Museum had in its collections.
How would you describe your experience at the museum?
Overall, my experience was very positive. The other interns in my year were amazing people to work with and the Museum staff was always very generous in sharing their knowledge. From my experience, I have gained lifelong friends, along with important skills and training.
How did the training experience influence your career?
My experiences in the program directly led to finding employment in the field.
What inspiring message would you give to someone considering taking the program?
It is a fantastic program to learn more about collecting, care and presentation of Aboriginal material and visual culture. The Museum has amazing collections and a vast array of experience to draw on.
Linda Grussani graduated from the Program in 2001.
Margaret Fireman
Cree Nation of Chisasibi, started the Program in 2000.
What were your expectations coming into the Program?
I wanted to further my knowledge in this field and actually work in a museum-environment setting. While there, I did research on our former community of Fort George and also got to work on some artifacts and materials collections that we had recently acquired that year for our community. I worked in the library and archives, conservation, ethnology, collections management, children’s museum, and the exhibition hall. Our group of interns were also consulted on the First Peoples’ Hall exhibits, which I found was quite new but exciting to be able to contribute our ideas from a First Peoples’ perspective. I learned so much about hands-on conservation techniques, and the people that I worked with in all the departments were always willing to help and give advice. It was a good working environment.
What inspiring message would you give to someone considering taking the program?
I encourage anyone who wants to follow the Indigenous Internship Program at the Canadian Museum of History. We established good working relationships and over the years, I still maintain contact with the people that I worked with there, and I bring our groups of Elders and youth workers to see the collections at the Canadian Museum of History and other museums such as the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC.
Margaret Fireman graduated from the Program in 2001.