
This episode of Artifactuality features an interview with Elizabeth Cooke-Sumbu, granddaughter of the legendary Frank Cooke, who played in the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes. Elizabeth talks about Frank’s legacy, the racial barriers Black hockey players overcame in the past — and must still overcome today — as well as why more needs to be done to tear down barriers, so that anyone who wants to play, can play. The episode also includes an interview with Percy Paris, an eighth-generation African Nova Scotian who was part of the first all-Black line in Canadian university hockey in the 1970s. He became a politician and an activist, but never forgot his love for the game. LINKS Transcript https://historymuseum.ca/podcast/transcripts/#2 Canadian Museum of History Blog: Breaking Ice https://www.historymuseum.ca/blog/artifactuality-breaking-ice/ Article on the Colored Hockey League in The Canadian Encyclopedia https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/coloured-hockey-league International Ice Hockey Federation article on the Colored Hockey League https://www.iihf.com/en/news/19969/celebrating-the-colored-hockey-league NHL article featuring Percy Paris https://www.nhl.com/news/saint-marys-university-first-all-black-canada-college-line/c-320925546
Jun 12, 2023
29 min

This special episode of Artifactuality features conversations with Blackfoot Elders about the decolonization of archaeology and how the Blackfoot think about history, time and territory. It starts with a tour of the area around Wally's Beach in southwestern Alberta — home to the Siksika, Kainai and Piikani Nations of the Blackfoot Confederacy. Moving to Head-Smashed-in Buffalo Jump, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Canadian Museum of History’s Curator of Western Archaeology, Gabriel Yanicki, listens to Blackfoot stories. The stories reflect peoples who have always inhabited this area, as evidenced in bones and other stone tools found scattered across the surface at Wally’s Beach. These objects tell a remarkable story of continuity that predates Blackfoot contact with Europeans a few short centuries ago. Butchered horse and camel bones more than 13,300 years old prove — as evidenced in Blackfoot stories, songs and ceremonies — that they have always been here. The episode features Piikani Elders Velma Crowshoe, Jerry Potts, and Jacob Potts; Piikani ceremonialist and Siksika traditional knowledge expert, Kent Ayoungman; Stan Knowlton, Head of Cultural Interpretation at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump; and Dr. Leroy Little Bear, Vice-Provost at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta. LINKS Transcript https://historymuseum.ca/podcast/transcripts/#3 Canadian Museum of History Blog: We Have Always Been Here https://www.historymuseum.ca/blog/artifactuality-we-have-always-been-here/ CBC article: “Indigenous archaeologist argues humans may have arrived here 130,000 years ago” https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/indigenous-archaeologist-argues-humans-may-have-arrived-here-130-000-years-ago-1.6313892 CBC article: “Students learn to conduct archaeology in respectful way on Siksika reserve” https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/siksika-first-nation-archaeology-university-of-calgary-1.6478455 Article on the Blackfoot Confederacy in The Canadian Encyclopedia https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/blackfoot-nation Blackfeet Nation website https://blackfeetnation.com PBS News Hour article on Wally Beach finds: “Prehistoric hunt suggests humans arrived in North America earlier than previously thought” https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/prehistoric-hunt-suggests-humans-arrived-north-america-earlier-previously-thought Profile of Dr. Leroy Little Bear https://www.ulethbridge.ca/unews/article/university-lethbridge-appoints-dr-leroy-little-bear-vice-provost-iniskim-indigenous#.Y6Mr4-zMI-R Foreign Countries podcast featuring Gabriel Yanicki https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-foreign-countries-conversa-106982981/episode/41-latest-research-on-the-peopling-107138494/ RETROactive: Exploring Alberta’s Past website: “Changing Animals: Alberta’s Ice Age Megafauna and Wally’s Beach” https://albertashistoricplaces.com/2016/07/13/changing-animals-albertas-ice-age-megafauna-and-wallys-beach/ Canadian History Hall: Traditional Stories and Creation Stories https://www.historymuseum.ca/history-hall/traditional-and-creation-stories/ Canadian History Hall: Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump https://www.historymuseum.ca/history-hall/head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump/
Jun 12, 2023
35 min

Singer, actor, producer, radio host, TV personality, entrepreneur; it seems as though there’s nothing Mitsou can’t do. But before she conquered the world with her global hit, Bye bye mon cowboy, she was a talented Montréal teenager with an iconic style pulled together from her own closet and brought to the world stage. Mitsou talks about her early days in Montréal, the people who helped and inspired her along the way, and how Hollywood disappointment turned into an amazing reinvention. LINKS Transcript https://historymuseum.ca/podcast/transcripts/#1 Canadian Museum of History Blog: “The Meaning of Mitsou” https://www.historymuseum.ca/blog/artifactuality-meaning-of-mitsou/ Canadian Museum of History Blog: “Behind the Scenes, featuring Mitsou Gélinas” https://www.historymuseum.ca/blog/behind-the-scenes-mitsou-gelinas/ Canadian Museum of History Blog: “Popular music in the Museum’s collection” https://www.historymuseum.ca/blog/popular-music-integral-to-the-museums-music-collection/ Canadian Museum of History — Collection Objects https://www.historymuseum.ca/collections/?type=all&q1=all%3A%3A_contains%3A%3Amitsou&sort=title&order=asc&view=grid&size=24&page=1 Mitsou Magazine https://mitsoumagazine.com/en/ Article on Mitsou in The Canadian Encyclopedia https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mitsou-emc# MuchMusic panel discussion: “Madonna & Mitsou — A Question of Taste (1991)” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xBO_m678_E Mitsou Magazine: “Bye Bye and Beyond” https://mitsoumagazine.com/en/news/mitsou-bye-bye-and-beyond/
Jun 12, 2023
28 min

Karim Rashid is one of the most famous industrial designers in the world. In this episode of Artifactuality, he explores his early influences, including his family’s journey from Egypt to Europe to Montréal during Expo 67, and his adolescence in the Toronto suburbs. Rashid is perhaps most famous for designing the iconic Garbo wastepaper basket for Umbra. The sleek, curved and utilitarian design is emblematic of his aesthetic, which often involves bright moldable materials such as plastic. During his career, Rashid has designed everything from vacuum cleaners and sofas, to lamps and bottles, for companies including Hugo Boss, Kenzo, Method Home, Tommy Hifiger, and Issey Miyake, all with his trademark elegant curves, smooth surfaces, and colourful palette. The Garbo and the smaller Garbini are both part of the national collection at the Canadian Museum of History. LINKS Transcript https://historymuseum.ca/podcast/transcripts/#5 Canadian Museum of History Blog: Prince of Plastic https://www.historymuseum.ca/blog/artifactuality-prince-of-plastic/ Karim Rashid website http://www.karimrashid.com/ Article on #tide Ocean Material website: “Karim Rashid presents futuristic furniture collection” https://www.tide.earth/en/news/karim-rashid/ Interview on the Architonic website: “Material Tendencies: Karim Rashid” https://www.architonic.com/en/story/anita-hackethal-material-tendencies-karim-rashid/7001340 Article on Karim Rashid in The Canadian Encyclopedia https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/karim-rashid
Jun 12, 2023
21 min

Between 1975 and 1985, 100,000 refugees from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam arrived in Canada, making it the largest refugee resettlement in Canada since the Second World War. In this episode of Artifactuality, we take a look at the stories of two individuals: Stephanie Stobbe, lead curator and researcher for the Hearts of Freedom project, and Kim Thúy, host of the show, reading from her autobiographical novel, Ru. LINKS Transcript https://historymuseum.ca/podcast/transcripts/#4 Hearts of Freedom website https://heartsoffreedom.org/ Kim Thúy’s website https://en.kimthuy.ca/ Canadian Museum of History Blog: Hearts of Freedom https://www.historymuseum.ca/blog/artifactuality-hearts-of-freedom/ Article on Kim Thúy in The Canadian Encyclopedia https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/kim-thuy More about Stephanie Stobbe https://mscollege.ca/about/faculty/497
Jun 12, 2023
24 min

Imagine a museum of the future, made up entirely of the stories we tell each other. Which stories would resonate with you? Which ones will last? And which will go on to shape how we live our lives, now and in the future? Introducing Artifactuality, a podcast series featuring remarkable stories generously shared with the Canadian Museum of History. Hosted by acclaimed novelist Kim Thuy, each episode is an audio time capsule of a part of Canadian history told in the voices of the people who lived it. The series is produced by Antica Productions and Makwa Creative. French versioning by Power of Babel. Transcript: https://historymuseum.ca/podcast/transcripts/#trailer
May 23, 2023
2 min
