Ontario Museum Association Recognizes Peterborough Museum and Archives With Award of Excellence in Special Projects

/

The Peterborough Museum & Archives (PMA) has been recognized with the Ontario Museum Association Award of Excellence in Special Projects for its role in the “To Honour and Respect: Gifts from Michi Saagiig Women to the Prince of Wales, 1860” exhibition project on Friday.

File photo.

The Award recognizes innovative initiatives, approaches or techniques that profoundly advance the museum profession.

The exhibition featured 13 quilled wiigwassii makakoon (birch bark baskets) on loan from His Majesty King Charles III, through the Royal Collection Trust, United Kingdom. The makakoon were created by women of Hiawatha First Nation and gifted to the Prince of Wales on Sept. 7, 1860, when he visited on a cross-Canada Royal tour.

The exhibition focused on education, revitalization, and skill-building. Traditional quillwork and the Michi-Saagiig Nishnaabemowin language were integrated into the exhibition, project materials, and events. Interactions with the makakoon provided powerful moments to pass down traditional skills, strengthen intergenerational connections, foster healing, and promote cross-cultural understanding.

“The complex partnerships brought together for this project have helped to continue to strengthen the relationships between the PMA and local Indigenous communities,” said Dr. Amy Barron, Program Coordinator, Heritage Programs, Haliburton School of Art + Design, Fleming College. “Hopefully, this project can serve as a model for the loan of other Indigenous artifacts from overseas institutions, allowing these ancestors a chance to return home.”

‘To Honour and Respect: Gifts from Michi Saagiig Women to the Prince of Wales, 1860’ was a partnership between Hiawatha First Nation, the Mississauga Nation, the PMA, the Royal Collection Trust and the co-Curators, Dr. L. Beavis and Dr. L. Peers.

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, Youtube and LinkedIn. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for our newsletter here.