Indigenous Voices of Today:
Knowledge, Trauma, Resilience
The exhibition bears witness to the knowledge, wounds and incredible resilience of indigenous peoples
September 10, 2021
Starting September 25, the exhibition Indigenous Voices of Today: Knowledge, Trauma, Resilience will present some one hundred carefully selected objects from the McCord Museum‘s Aboriginal Cultures collection, combined with more than 80 powerful and inspiring textual and video testimonies from members of Quebec’s 11 Aboriginal nations to highlight their knowledge and philosophies.
As part of an effort to initiate dialogue and foster understanding, the exhibition offers an opportunity for a meaningful encounter.
They speak out about their suffering as well as their dreams and plans for a better future to help restore their health, which has been undermined by the process of assimilation. As part of an effort to initiate dialogue and foster understanding, the exhibition offers an opportunity for a meaningful encounter.
Game bag, Gwich’in, 1900-1930. Gift of John A. Grose, ME984X.98 © McCord Museum
The testimonies were gathered by the Huron-Wendat curator Elisabeth Kaine, who between 2010 and 2018 conducted a major consultation involving 800 people from the 11 Indigenous nations living in Quebec.
Mask, Heiltsuk or Haida,1800-1850. Gift of Dr. George Mercer Dawson, ME892.32.1 © McCord Museum
The objects on display were selected by the Innu Jean St-Onge, of the Maison de la transmission de la culture innue Shaputuan, in Uashat, using an approach inspired by Indigenous ways of understanding the world through observation and allowing the objects to speak to him.
This new permanent exhibition was curated by Elisabeth Kaine, Co-Holder of the UNESCO Chair at Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, titled “The Transmission of First Peoples’ Culture to Foster Well-Being and Empowerment.
”This exhibition has been produced through a financial contribution from the program Aide aux projets pour le soutien des expositions permanentes of the Québec Cultural Heritage Fund of the ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec.
Images courtesy of McCord Museum
Other articles about past exhibitions at the McCord Museum
The McCord Museum is the museum of all Montrealers, a social history museum that celebrates life in Montreal, both past and present—its history, its people and its communities. Open to the city and the world, the Museum is home to over 1.5 million artifacts, comprising one of the largest historical collections in North America, organized into the following departments: Dress, Fashion and Textiles, Photography, Indigenous Cultures, Paintings, Prints and Drawings, Material Culture, and Textual Archives. McCord Museum: Our People, Our Stories. mccord.qc.ca
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