In past posts, I discussed student employment programs from the perspective of the Dawson City Museum (e.g., Reduced Student Positions). Within this post, I consider my own experiences as a student employee as well as the student perspectives expressed interviews and archival material for the Dawson City Museum Project.
As someone who benefited from student employment policies, my perception is biased. I have had both positive and negative experiences with Young Canada Works, which are important to acknowledge. Notably, these experiences reflect student perspectives articulated in the material analyzed for the Dawson City Museum (DCM) project.
The Positives
Working in collections management at the Moncton Museum (now Resurgo Place) through the Young Canada Works program was one of my favorite jobs. I was trained in collection management by a wonderful supervisor. She helped me develop the skills I needed to do my job, trusted me to do the work, and reminded me to enjoy interacting with the artifacts. It was a great summer that led to my enrollment in a Museum Studies Minor. In some ways it is responsible for my current career.
Negatives
Despite my positive experience and my gratitude for the employment program, I have had more negative experiences working as a Young Canada Works (YCW) student.
For one job, I was hired to manage a historic site where my supervisor worked at a different location. He gave me complete freedom with little supervision aside from occasional meetings. Everything worked out …. but it was hard. I was not qualified for the job I was hired to do and was not given appropriate training. I had to manage to employees, which I had never done before. We offered tours and public programming while also serving tea and snacks in a small cafe. I had never provided a museum tour before, developed public programs, or managed a cafe. Although I could ask for help when needed, the impetus was on me to reach out. I am extremely grateful for the experience because I learnt so much, but I was not set up for success.
For another job, my supervisor did a lot of problematic things. For example, she told me the reason I was successfully managing a project was because I sounded like an attractive young woman on the phone. She made a series of racists and sexist comments, creating a toxic work environment. Feeling helpless, I reached out to the Board. From my perspective, they did nothing and I felt unheard. Next, I reached out to the organization running the grant to let them know what was going on. I also clearly outlined the issues in the reports I was asked to submit to the granting organization. They continued to fund my position the next year.
In short, I have had amazing experiences with student summer jobs funded through programs like Young Canada Works. However, the number of negative experiences out number the positive. In both negative examples, there were issues with how the positions were managed. I am learning that this is not an unusual experience.
DCM Project Examples
As noted above, I have seen some of my experiences with student employment programs reflected in the archival and interview data for the DCM project.
The Positives
Like me, several people attributed their current careers to their experiences as Young Canada Works students with the Dawson City Museum. For example, one Interview Participant noted:
Well, you know, the availability of funds through Young Canada Works in Heritage is the reason that I’m still working in the field I’m working in. It provided the on the job training that introduced me to the realm of Heritage and the work that I still get to do today. So it was, you know, a pretty important fund.
Interview 10
In addition to introducing them to the realm of heritage, student positions at the DCM have provided valuable learning opportunities in a supportive team environment. In their final reports, students wrote:
“Wonderful people and dynamic learning environment” (2008).
“I really enjoyed my job as the Education Program Coordinator at the museum. I think the summer staff was great and everybody worked really well as a team” (2006).
“Everyone was more than wonderful to work with” (2003).
The Negatives
Student experiences at the DCM were not universally positive. In particular, a feeling of overwhelm and frustration about a lack of appropriate training or supervision is mentioned in several reports. Here are some excerpts from a guide and the program coordinator in 1994, which was a particularly challenging year:
Very little direction was given to me when I started. Worked with [the Director] for one đay when he shared his ideas and thoughts and then I was on my own as he left for a 3 week vacation. Having only vague guidelines was both good and bad. I was able to use a lot of my own ideas and creativity things would have been better had [the Director] been around. A little more direction was required, as was the availability for someone to answer questions.
Summer 94 (see Dcm; box 39j; Program coordinator final report 1994)
It would have benefitted everyone to have been told at the beginning of the summerabout the different holidays that occur in the Yukon and the means by which they are paid to the staff. This knowledge would have saved a great of confusion and hassle.
Summer 94 (see Dcm; box 39j; Program coordinator final report 1994)
It was necessary for the performer/guides to spend many hours outside of work in the study and organization of historical information and figures. This was done happily at first; however, the lack of interest in our work on the part of administrative and curatorial staff, coupled with the approaching deadlines, perverted our own feelings toward our work.
At this point the museum director was away on a 2 week absence and we had been left, pretty-well from the beginning then, with the responsibility of completing the few productions expected almost completely without direction or suggestion. Initially thrilled with this freedom we were soon dismayed and frustrated.
Summer 94 (see Dcm; box 39j; Program coordinator final report 1994)
Significance
I often discuss student employment policies as implicit cultural policies with advantages and disadvantages for museums. They are also valuable policies for the students gaining employment and experiences. However, museums have limited human resource capacity. Student both extend this capacity and have a human resource cost. Where organizations do no properly plan for training and supervision, they risk failing to meet policy goals related to student training and experience.
The limitation highlights an issue with using students to address gaps in human resource capacity – existing human resource capacity is needed. As such, some organizations will benefit disproportionately from the funding.
Questions
Do you have experience as a student employee or employer? How do the positives and negatives outlined compare to your experiences?
I am struggling to articulate the significance of these negatives and positives – do you see something that I missed?
In I Love Dawson, I considered people’s affection for Dawson City and how that may have influenced the Dawson City Museum’s development. In this post, I have revisited the data and created a poem.
Why? I am not sure.
I keep coming back to the statement’s people made about the City and community. I find them compelling and think its beautiful that there is a shared experience around falling in love with a place.
The poem brings together different quotes from interviews. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed assembling it.
Poem
I love Dawson City.
She reports the same inexplicable attraction, writing:
I did indeed fall in love with Dawson.
It was a wonderful place to live.
It was just a very loving community, close knit.
There were some really great people up there.
There were lots of Heritage workers there, crying on each other’s shoulders and helping each other.
They welcomed us with open arms.
That’s the world we lived in.
I don’t think any other place else in Canada would hire you if you told them you had a history degree.
So, it was a great opportunity for me.
I then had an opportunity to move.
It’s a hard place to leave behind.
I only know that I stayed because I think I love it.
It’s just such a special place to us and I guess just leaves that impact.
One of the central themes discussed during the creation of A Walk-Through Indigenous Memory: A Student Exhibitionwas maintaining the presence of Indigenous excellence. To honor this theme alongside the exhibit’s central goal of sharing the names and histories of Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island, I sat down with alt-pop Metis musician, Robin Cisek, to talk about her recent experiences in Canadian music.
I was excited to go for coffee with Robin Cisek after she returned from Toronto, to discuss her trip attending the Juno’s rehearsals and what her overall thoughts are as a rising Indigenous music star in today’s industry. A transcript of our conversation is as follows:
Interview
Nicole: So, you recently attended the Juno 2022 rehearsal day as a part of your experience with Canadian Music Incubator (CMI), where you were one of 7 Indigenous artists chosen from across Canada to participate in the Indigenous Music Accelerator. What was your experience attending the Juno Rehearsals as a part of this program?
Robin: So, when I attended the Juno rehearsal day, I was actually allowed to go thanks to the Canadian Music Incubator- they scored us some tickets. I went with my friend Kara that I met during the program, she goes by “TheRa1 1n”, we attended together, and I also brought my mom along as well, because she comes with me to a lot of these things.
I was invited to take part in the Canadian Music Incubator program called the Indigenous Music Accelerator, and I was one of 7 artists chosen from across Canada, which was- I just felt so spoiled to be picked, it was an honor. So, for a lot of CMI programs you get invited to the CMI building which is located in Toronto, and you go there, and you meet with mentors, and you kind of talk about the music business, and then try to learn from that. I got to connect with some amazing people, people that I now call friends and can work with in the future, um, I’ve made some amazing contacts! I have emails to people who have worked in the music industry for years and years, and I’ve been able to sit down with them, and kind of get their opinion on things such as, like, radio pitching, and just general music business things, all the things that happen kind of behind the scenes. So, that was super cool! We also made a lot of content too, so I’ll be having some new photos coming out, and a live recorded performance of one of my new songs that isn’t released yet. So that was really cool, and that was one of the first times that CMI has done a program like this where they made content and specifically focused on Indigenous music. So, all 7 artists that joined me were Indigenous artists as well. So yeah, then we ended up attending the Juno’s showcase’s, a few of them, and we ended up attending the Juno rehearsals as well. So that wasn’t really apart of the [initial] program, it was like an added bonus that CMI was able to give to us. Luckily, I had planned some extra days to do some fun things around Toronto, and kind of be ‘tourists’ with my mom and connect with the other Indigenous artists, so I was able to go to some of those programs as well, um so I just, I got really lucky and they kind of just wanted to give me all of the opportunity that I could get, and this was a great opportunity to connect with people.
So, [The Juno’s Rehearsal] was a really cool experience, I got to watch the Snotty Nose Rez Kids perform, and I thought their performance was amazing. It was really cool to be involved with the rehearsal process to kind of see behind the scenes and how the music industry kind of makes these events go on. We really got up-close and personal with industry contacts because we also got invited to a lot of the showcase events as well, so I got some really cool photos of a lot of the celebrities that were there, like the host, Simu Liu, and also a lot of the performers too. It was really, really, cool and I just feel super spoiled to have been able to even go.
Nicole: You previously created a music video for your song memories with the help of 2 other metis creatives. I know you have a new song coming out on June 3rd, and I wanted to know if you have been able to continue to work with Indigenous creatives throughout your music career, whether that’s recording, videos, editing, promos…. I’m sure you do a lot of work! Have you faced any struggles to include Indigenous co-collaborators in your work as a rising Metis pop-musician?
Robin: The music video that I created for my song ‘Memories’ was created with the help of two other Metis creatives, and one of those Metis creatives was a guy who goes by the name Strenneth, and he is a local Edmonton Metis Director, and we also had a lot of production help from my mom who is also Metis. At the time, we were dealing with a lot of covid restrictions, so we wanted to be really respectful with that and keep the crew really, really small and be able to social distance and that sort of thing and wear masks, because of course when I am recording, I can’t wear my mask, so we wanted to make sure that people were really safe.
So, in my opinion, not a lot of Indigenous peoples are in places of power and that is pretty consistent with the music industry, uh, right now I see that that is beginning to change and allowing me to make more connections and being able to collaborate more with more Indigenous people, especially with the program through the CMI. I’m really hopeful for the future to be able to continue working with Indigenous people and to collaborate with new artists that I haven’t met before, um, and it really means a lot to me to be able to see these Indigenous people taking up these positions of power and being able to use their art to propel their voice and to help represent the other Indigenous people from our community.
Nicole: That’s awesome to hear. So- with the struggle to work with other Indigenous artists, is it because you are finding a lack of Indigenous people to collaborate with or is it hard then, if they’re found, to collaborate with them in terms of resources- like getting them to you or finding payment, or things like that?
Robin: Yeah, I definitely think that there are roadblocks for Indigenous people, uh, in the sense of being able to find those outlets and being able to um, put together the ability to collaborate. I think a lot of Indigenous people do work, um, when they do collabs they do it for free; they work together for free and then they put out music together or they put out artwork together. I think that’s super cool- but being able to see a lot of Indigenous people now and being able to create a home studio for themselves to come up with more professional recordings and that kind of thing, is kind of a little bit new, because a lot of those [Indigenous] people don’t have access to those kinds of things or the funds to be able to get those kind of things to them, and I have been super spoiled as a Metis person to grow up in Sherwood Park, my family makes money, so I have been able to kind of follow my career and follow my dreams in that sense, but not a lot of Indigenous people have that opportunity. So, I think it is important for me to be able to represent the Indigenous community [through music] because of my own privilege.
Nicole: So, If I’m hearing you correctly, you are saying that for Indigenous music artists it is difficult to find spaces to be platformed, and now, Indigenous artists have finally been able to sort of have their own recording studios and things like that, but even that itself is a really big struggle- to get those spaces in order to let other Indigenous people in?
Robin: Yeah, that’s very true, and you know, when you’re saying that, I’m thinking that like even a lot of non-indigenous people when they’re hearing the words Indigenous music they’re thinking strictly powwow, they’re thinking very, very traditional drumming, singing, in the sense that when you go to ceremony you would see Indigenous people performing prayers and that kind of thing. And that’s interesting to me because the indigenous community in music is actually a lot more contemporary than people think that they are, and they’re kind of expanding into these different places where they’re able to expand on their culture but also bring in this contemporary sense of music, and that’s with me as well. I like to talk about the things that affect me, and effect my community and my music, but I put it underneath a lot of contemporary, very mainstream ideas as well. I think that’s another reason why we kind of have to make our own spaces- is because of this misunderstanding of what our music actually is, because if I am a white person owning a music studio maybe I don’t see the value in bringing in an Indigenous artist who makes traditional stuff- but there are a lot of Indigenous artists making contemporary stuff.
Nicole: So, after attending the 2022 Juno rehearsal and participating in the Indigenous Music Accelerator, what do you see for the future of Indigenous music in Canada? Do you see it headed in a certain direction, are there any common themes emerging? Is there anything that you think needs to be done?
Robin: Personally, I see a very strong generation of Indigenous people using their voices to represent other Indigenous people and making it more acceptable for other Indigenous people to do the same. I see a lot of indigenous artists also adopting more contemporary music styles but infusing it with culture and tradition which I think is beautiful. I also see Indigenous music moving more and more in that direction which in my opinion is helping our culture and tradition become more acceptable in society, and more common for non-indigenous people to see and appreciate and I think that will help non-indigenous people become more comfortable around indigenous tradition. I think when they embrace the more beautiful sides of our culture and tradition then they’ll start to open themselves up to seeing the harder sides, like, the residential schooling and those hard histories and that kind of thing. So, I think that this is a really good movement into that direction. If I’m thinking about anything that needs to be done, personally, I think encouraging those voices, and supporting Indigenous artists- whether you’re a non-indigenous or apart of the community is super important to help them to use their voices and lift them out of the less-advantageous positions in society. I think that is super important.
Nicole: That’s really awesome to hear. Do you have any recommendations on meaningful ways to do that? Are likes, follows, and shares really helpful? Does that make an impact, or are there different ways to contribute?
Robin: Yes, I totally was just going to say that! The most simple way to do that [helping artists] would be to follow people on Instagram, to like youtube videos, to just be able to help the videos and content [gain popularity] that these artists create in the social media realm is huge, because that lifts it up and makes it more relevant for other people to see. I think that’s the easiest way that you can do things without spending a whole lot of time or money into it. So, that’s usually what I recommend for non-indigenous people to do, or for people who are apart of the community. The other thing you can do for supporting indigenous artists is attend art shows, attend music shows that are local too, um, do some research and figure out if you really connect with Indigenous artists, or who you like and why you like what they create, and what parts of their history are included in their artworks. I think that that will really help people to understand the history and the cultural significance between the artwork they create.
Artist Bio
Robin Cisek Biography: Indigenous Superstars’ 2022 Best Emerging artist, Robin Cisek is a Metis singer/ songwriter who creates melodic electro-pop. Robin Cisek emerged into her music career after years of struggles with health problems.
Robin released her first commercial song with the guidance of grammy-winning producers in NYC. Since her first song release, Robin has been on the Indigenous Music Countdown a total of four times. Robin’s single, “Waiting on You” claimed the #1 spot on the IMC.
One of the central themes discussed during the creation of A Walk-Through Indigenous Memory: A Student Exhibitionwas maintaining the presence of Indigenous excellence. To honor this theme alongside the exhibit’s central goal of sharing the names and histories of Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island, here is a re-cap of some, but definitely not all, of the Indigenous excellence featured at the 2022 Juno Awards.
Indigenous musicians are eligible to be nominated in any music category at the Junos, with two categories reserved exclusively for Indigenous music, Indigenous Contemporary Artist of the Year, and Traditional Indigenous Artist / Group of the Year.
This year Indigenous artists took home multiple wins, including Fawn Wood who won Traditional Indigenous Artist of the Year. Indigenous Contemporary Artist of the Year was taken home by DJ Shub, and Inuk singer-songwriter Susan Aglukark received a special Humanitarian Award Presented by Music Canada.
You can check out the biographies of this year’s Indigenous winners and some of the nominees below.
Biographies
JUNO Winners
Fawn Wood– Born into the respected multi-generational traditional singing Wood family, Fawn Wood’s singing reflects her Cree and Salish tribal lineage. At an early age Fawn would sing her heart out at pow-wows alongside her mother and father. In 2006, Fawn was the first female to win the Hand Drum contest at the Gathering of Nations Pow Wow. In 2009 she opened the show at the 11th Annual Native American Music Awards (NAMMYS). In 2010 she sang with her partner, Dallas Waskahat for the opening of the Aboriginal People’s Choice Music Awards in Winnepeg, Manitoba.
Dj Shub– Considered to be the Godfather of PowWowStep, DJ-producer Shub, whose real name is Dan General, is a Mohawk of the Six Nations reserve located in Ontario, Canada is also a husband and father. Since the creation of PowWowStep, he has grown more aware of the Indigenous way of life through his music and merged his heritage with his craft, something most musicians aren’t able to say they’ve done. DJ Shub has had music featured in TV, film, and advertising. Shub has stood on his own since winning a Juno Award with A Tribe Called Red in 2014 – performing all over North America and inspiring other artists.
Susan Aglukark– During a career that has spanned more than 25 years, Susan Aglukark’s journey as a singer-songwriter has led her to reflect on who she is, where she comes from and the importance of discovery – discovery of history, culture and self. Susan is the first Inuk artist to win a Juno (3) and a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for lifetime artistic achievement, she is an officer of the Order of Canada, holds several Honourary Doctorate degrees and has held command performances; but Susan also acknowledges the path has not been easy.“Here I was, living a life I never imagined, but I was struggling to understand who I was. There was no opportunity growing up to learn about who we were, the Inuit, from our own perspective. In essence, we were institutionalized by being told who we were, how we would live and when you are told a story for so long, you learn to believe it,” explains Susan. For Susan, art has played a significant role in her healing journey and in the re-writing of her narrative, she believes it plays an important role for indigenous youth who are dealing with contemporary identity issues today.
JUNO Nominees
Adrian Sutherland – Indigenous contemporary artist / group of the year 2022 nominee. Adrian Sutherland is a roots-rock recording artist with heart from Attawapiskat First Nation on the James Bay in Northern Canada. He’s a singer, songwriter, musician, speaker, author, and advocate. He’s a father of four, a grandfather to four, a traditional knowledge keeper, and respected cultural leader, fluent in Mushkegowuk Cree.
Jayli Wolf– Indigenous contemporary artist / group of the year 2022 nominee. Jayli is an Anishinaabe / Cree, LGBTQ+ artist born in Creston, B.C. She has released a solo EP entitled “Wild Whisper” about her personal history, along with the Single “Child Of The Government” which exhibits her family’s experience during the Sixties Scoop, where the Canadian Government and Catholic Church were responsible for taking or “scooping” more than 20,000 First Nation, Métis, and Inuit children from their families and communities in the 1950-90s. The children were placed in foster homes, adopted, or sold into non-Indigenous families across Canada and beyond. Many experienced sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, and along with the loss of cultural identity, the government changed many children’s true ethnicity on file. Wolf’s father was one of these children. The single arrived alongside a short film that was directed by Wolf herself. The short film won ‘Best Music Video’ at Venice Shorts and the single hit #1 on CBC and Indigenous Music Countdown charts.
Shawnee Kish– Indigenous contemporary artist / group of the year 2022 nominee. Shawnee is a proud Two Spirit Mohawk artist who has achieved significant career growth during the past 18 months. Named the 2020 winner of the CBC Searchlight national talent search, Shawnee followed up this breakthrough by releasing her debut self-titled EP in June 2021. A highly-sought after collaborator, in 2021 Shawnee worked with the National Arts Centre and the NAC Orchestra to create a ground-breaking show called Undisrupted (CBC Gem), where she functioned as curator and vocalist for the NAC. She also travelled to Dubai to perform and represent Canada at the 2021 World Expo. Shawnee is an outspoken advocate for Indigenous youth and LGBT2Q+ communities. Her extensive work for organizations such as We Matter and the Kids Help Phone continues to confirm that her passion and career is driven by empowering young people.
Snotty Nose Rez Kids– Indigenous contemporary artist / group of the year 2022 nominee. Formed in 2016, the duo released back-to-back albums in 2017. Notably, “The Average Savage” was shortlisted for Polaris Prize, and Juno nominated. They followed up with TRAPLINE (2019), scoring WCMA and Indie awards and another Polaris Shortlist. They concluded 2019 performing 100 shows in Canada, US, Mexico, Europe and Australia. In 2020, SNRK joined Amazon Music’s Rotation North playlist launch, were listed in Complex’s ones-to-watch and booked their first headline US tour. Derailed due to Covid, they wrote their next album, Life After. SNRK rebooked their US tour with 13 dates in fall 2021 to coincide with the release of “Life After” and released four advance singles, with stand-out Uncle Rico’s music video landing in rotation on MTV and BET. To date, they’ve accumulated over 16,000,000 streams worldwide. The group have their music in ‘Inconvenient Indian,’ Syfy’s ‘Resident Alien,’ & CBC’s ‘Trickster,’ ‘Diggstown,’ ‘Eaux Turbulentes,’ and ‘Pretty Hard Cases.’ They have multiple #1’s on the IMC Chart and were selected as guest curators for the Indigenous playlists for both Spotify and Amazon Music.
The Halluci Nation– Electronic Album of the year 2022 nominees. As they enter a new cycle, Bear Witness and Tim “2oolman” Hill of A Tribe Called Red are reintroducing themselves as The Halluci Nation, to reflect the evolution of their music and mission. The late artist, poet and activist, John Trudell, coined the expression the Halluci Nation to describe the global community who remember at their core what it means to be human, and live life in line with Indigenous values. Trudell recognized the connections between what he’d accomplished, and what ATCR did intuitively through music and art that helped these ideas to resonate. Trudell’s voice will be the first heard on The Halluci Nation’s upcoming record, One More Saturday Night, a genre-oblivious homage to the Electric Pow Wow gatherings launched at Ottawa’s Babylon nightclub in 2007 by the DJ crew.
Joel Wood– Traditional Indigenous Artist / Group of the Year 2022 nominee. Joel is a Plains Cree artist from Maskwacis, Alberta who is no stranger to the music industry as he’s also been a part of the widely recognized powwow, round dance drum group, Northern Cree, which was co-founded by his father, Steve. Now pursuing a solo career, his debut solo album titled Singing is Healing came as a result of his work in 2020 when he participated in various online virtual music contests. Some of the events required participants to provide original work, which helped start the creation of his project. After winning Hand, Drum, Fiddle, Instrumental Album of the Year at the 2021 Summer Solstice Indigenous Festival, he’s hopeful the spotlight on himself and fellow artists will help his Indigenous community take pride in their identity and cherish their roots. “It’s not only representing my community, I feel like I’m representing all First Nations across Turtle Island,” he stated. “Having our style of music be recognized at such an event in the category of Traditional Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year, I can’t say enough how proud I am to be representing our people. Our music is beautiful, our music has medicine, our music has a spirit to it. There’s nothing like it. It’s just so much bigger than me…”
Manitou mkwa singers– Traditional Indigenous Artist / Group of the Year 2022 nominees. Manitou Mkwa (Spirit Bear) hand drum singers are from the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. This is a family that have been established and singing their whole lives. They sing traditional songs and have been comprising their own songs for over 10 years. They are also traditional dancers and sing around the Big Train drum group and travel all over Northern and Southern Ontario. Their songs are sung and composed with the intent to uplift the spirits of the people.
Nimkii & the niniis– Traditional Indigenous Artist / Group of the Year 2022 nominees. Nimkii is backed up by the niniis, who all come from world class drumming groups.
Young spirit- Traditional Indigenous Artist / Group of the Year 2022 nominees. Founded in 2001 in the Frog Lake Cree First Nation, Alberta, Canada, Young Spirit (oskiyak kīsik in Plains Cree) has quickly become one of the most in-demand and respected groups on the Pow-Wow trail and the Round Dance circuit. The group was created with the goal of empowering Indigenous/Native American/First Nations youth with music and language. Noted for extensive use of the Plains Cree language in their Round Dance and Pow-Wow songs, Young Spirit view its music as a dynamic catalyst for sustaining Indigenous culture and sharing its importance with the world. Amongst the many singing championships Young Spirit has won over the years, the drum group earned the 2013 and 2018 Worldwide Championship title at the Gathering of Nations Pow-Wow in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Their album Mewsinsational – Cree Round Dance Songs earned them an Indigenous Music Award for Best Hand Drum Album in 2018. The same album received a nomination in the Best Regional Roots category at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. Young Spirit created a viral media sensation when they performed one of their acclaimed Round Dance songs live on the Grammy red carpet, taking Indigenous music to a place that it had never been shared before.
Re: “New Territorial Museum Policy . . . not in place until 1989-1990” section, In this light, I believe it would be worthwhile to investigate the following report & its background: Lord, Gail Dexter & Lord, Barry. 1986. Yukon Museums Policy and System Plan. Whitehorse, YT: Government of Yukon. My related questions would be: i) Why was it commissioned & what were the goals of this research project? ii) How much local research was carried out? iii) How was this accomplished? iv) What was the ultimate impact of the EXTERNAL consultants’ report on the new policy? & vi) Was what happened ‘on the ground’ after the implementation of “new policy” effective and/or worthwhile for DCM? [NOTE: Paul’s definition of “policy” is: what ACTUALLY happens ‘on the ground’ in the real world for the museums being ‘governed’ by the policy directives.]
Paul Thistle
My response in the comment section got far too long so I have decided to create a post directly responding instead.
Yukon Museums Policy and System Plan is a two volume report prepared in 1986 by Lord Cultural Resources Planning and Management Inc with Lori Patterson Jackson and Linda R. Johnson. I will refer to the report herein as the Lord Report.
Unfortunately, I cannot post the Report due to a 50 year copyright on government publications. However, if you are looking for a copy, please send me a message… I have tried to summarize the main points below.
Report Summary
Volume one outlines a proposed support system for Yukon community museums. Broadly, they proposed a policy whereby
Heritage Branch will endeavour to assist the provision of decentralized access to Yukon’s heritage wherever consistent with cost-effectiveness.
Lord Report, Vol 1, x
To that end, they recommended standards with requirements for different grants, which included operations, capital projects, salaries, training, and publications.
Supporting the recommendations, Volume one outlines the context for museums in Yukon, including the territorial geography and actors supporting the sector. Volume two compiles background papers that provide in depth information about Yukon museum development, legislation and policy, as well as comparative museum systems
Research Limitation
Before answering the questions provided, it is important for me to acknowledge a major research limitation – I was not able to interview the Museums Advisor who began in the 1980s and worked in that capacity into the 2000s. As a result, I am missing a key perspective that may have changed my analysis of the Lord Report and its influence.
Why was it commissioned? What were the goals of this research project?
The Yukon Heritage Branch commissioned the report with the following goals:
1. Formulation of a long term (systems) development plan for Yukons present and future museums.
2. Formulation of a draft Yukon Museums Policy.
Lord Report, Vol. 2, 108
The terms of reference asked the report to address:
historic museum development in Yukon
individual museum assessment
legislation and policy analysis
museum model review
How much local research was carried out?
The short answer is: a lot.
Most importantly, two Yukoners helped write / research report – Lori Patterson Jackson and Linda R. Johnson – and the Museums Advisor supervised the study, responding to questions as needed. The research also involved:
document analysis
interviews and public meetings in Yukon
the circulation of a study prospectus with an invitation for written submissions
comparative visits to Yellowknife and Alaska
interviews with federal actors
Consultation was incredibly important. Reflecting the importance, volume two of the report provides a six page list with the 262 names of those consulted on the project.
How was this accomplished?
The consultants had the support of and funding from Yukon government.
Importantly, the resulting museums policy was branded with “Yukon 2000.” Yukon 2000 was an initiative to consult the public about Yukon’s future. It involved a significant time, staff, and financial commitment from the government to consultation.
What was the ultimate impact of the EXTERNAL consultants’ report on the new policy?
The report recommended:
new legislation
mechanisms to encourage existing museums to develop policies and procedures
a requirement that new museums fill a mandate that is not being met and show community support
the formation of a collections committee to reduce the unnecessary duplication of efforts
the inclusion of future Indigenous centers into the museums program
a training policy
The development of a museum service center with:
a conservator who would approve capital projects
the authority to negotiate the return of Yukon artifacts
the ability to assume responsibility for archaeological finds
Funding:
A capital program requiring detailed plans approved by Heritage Branch Staff
a commitment of 20% of operational expenses for the operation and maintenance grant
an extension of the salary assistance program
Most of the items on the list above did not occur, but there were some related changes to Yukon’s museum support program. Notably, Yukon government did not develop a specific service center for community museums with a conservator and collections committee. However, they hired a conservator and someone who helped museums with collection management.
Personally, I think the discursive impact was more significant than the recommendations in two ways:
The report provided the language to support the continued development of the existing support program. Although, they recommended a model with a museum service centre, the report did not recommend the development of a territorial museum. Instead it support a decentralized approach whereby the territorial government supported dispersed community museums. This approach was then enshrined in the articulated community museum policy.
The report also provided the rationale for an expanded museums advisory program:
The report identifies two areas of need – conservation and collection management. The Heritage Branch went on to hire a conservator in 1988 and then an advisor who helped museums with collection management in the early 1990s.
The report argues Yukon was not accessing federal funding available to museums. After the release of the report, Yukon government began more actively seeking funding for its programs. In particular, the conservator and collection manager were both originally hired with federal funding.
Was what happened ‘on the ground’ after the implementation of “new policy” effective and/or worthwhile for DCM?
I believe the most important influence of the “new policy” was the institutionalization of existing support. The policy provided a rationale for a community museum support program that positioned community museums as more than tourist sites. Once institutionalized it becomes more difficult for governments to cease support and provides a foundation for an expansion of the program.
In terms of the effects on the ground at the Dawson City Museum (DCM), interview participants highlighted the role of the conservator and collection manager in the late 1980s into the 1990s. As discussed in “A Community Hub,” the collection manager helped the DCM standardize collection management and digitize records throughout the 1990s. As discussed in “Territorial Interest and Investment,” the conservator helped with preventative conservation. In particular, her assistance was needed after the Old Territorial Administration building was renovated. When the building was cold year-round with ice in the basement, there were fewer pest concerns. After the renovations, the building had proper heating and those involved needed to learn about pest management.
When considering the archival data, I see fewer policy effects on the DCM. Financially, there does not seem to be a significant change in the Museum’s budget. While the Museum budget increased in the 1990s, the increase relates to a combination of grants and is (seemingly) not attributable to the Yukon museum policy. However, I could argue that the new policy institutionalized the operational and salary support, meaning the Museum’s core funding became more secure and the Director was able to focus on accessing other grants. The museum project grants became increasingly significant and the DCM was able to fund a number of intersecting projects over the next decade.
Conclusion
Thanks so much for the questions Paul! I hope I have answered them fully and look forward to engaging with additional questions as I finish the working papers.
The Dawson City Museum project asks – How has the Dawson City Museum evolved in relation to government policy and community action?
We are taking two approaches to answering the question. First, we are considering the data chronologically to discuss the evolution of the Museum over time (see: “Dawson City’s Community Attic,” “The Importance of People,” and “Territorial Interest and Investment“). Second, we have developed key themes related to policy and community (See: “Inexpensive and Impressive but Challenging and Restrictive“). To solicit feedback, we will post a series of working papers that consider the data in these two ways – that is, chronologically and thematically. These papers will inform the final report for the Dawson City Museum and podcast miniseries.
Providing the fourth chronological consideration of the data, this working paper asks – What are some key moments, influential policies, and community activities that defined the Dawson City Museum’s development in the 1990s?
After summarizing the answers and outlining our research approach, we give a short overview of the Museum’s development in the 1990s. We consider significant policies, focusing the importance of intersecting funding mechanisms and celebration funding. Then, a section on community activity describes the significance of private donations and the continued presence of museum workers within the community. Finally, the paper concludes with a summary and research implications.
What are some key moments, influential policies, and community activities that defined the Dawson City Museum’s development in the 1990s?
Key moments: Gold was “discovered” in Yukon in 1896, leading to the Klondike Gold Rush from 1897 to 1899. The 1990s was, therefore, a decade of anniversaries in Dawson City.
Influential policies:
Policies discussed in previous chronologies continued to be important – that is, the Old Territorial Administration Building, relationships with federal actors, employment funding, and advisory services from Yukon government.
The 1990s highlight the significance of intersecting policies to hiring staff at the institution who then expanded the Museum’s offerings with more dynamic public programming.
Community Activities:
As seen with policies, actions discussed elsewhere continue to be significant – that is, artifact donations and the presence of skilled people within the community.
The 1990s also saw significant donations that more actively shaped the work of the museum – that is, the Jones and Lind family donations.
Research Method
The working paper relies on research conducted as part of the Dawson City Museum Project, including archival research and a document analysis of digitized records. Interviews with fifteen people included interviews with the Director for most of the 1990s and an employee who started as a summer student in 1990. Further, multiple interview participants started in the 1970s and then continued to be involved with the Museum in some form through the 1990s.
Overview
As discussed in “The Importance of People” and “Territorial Interest and Investment,” the 1970s and 1980s saw the professionalization of the Dawson City Museum (DCM). Due to employment grants, project funding, and contracts with federal agencies, a core group of people received on the job training in museum work. They were then available for contract positions at the Museum, contributing to projects that turned the DCM into a professional institution with a building ready for year-round occupancy, new exhibitions, and a documented collection. Once established as a museum following best practices, the DCM began to expand its activities. As an Interview Participant explained, the 1990s were:
a really exciting time to be at the Museum… it was a really fun place to be.
There was a lot of hope and a lot of excitement about ongoing developments and potential.
Interview 10
These developments involved expanded public programming, new collections storage, and changes to the permanent exhibition.
At the beginning of the 1990s, projects continued focusing on professionalization as the Museum worked toward accepted standards of the day. Notably, best practices continued evolving as work took place. As such, the territorial advisory services were key to the Museum’s work, helping the DCM keep pace and directing funding toward contemporary concerns. For example, the Museum followed advice and used territorial funding to purchase a computer then support staff and volunteer training on using computers for administrative tasks and collection management (Directors Report February 27, 1990; Director’s Report March 27 1990).
The new computers helped make the archival and photo collections more accessible to visitors, which was a key goal throughout the 1990s (See “Dawson City Museum Timeline 1990s). As described in interviews:
What we were doing … was establishing the records … making [them] available, I guess I should say. Making available the material so that researchers or writers or whatnot could come, and find the material, and get the work done.
Interview 8
During the 1990s, I was able to secure funding through several grants to continue copying, cataloging [the] historic photo collection and developing a finding aid for it. We had, I think, a combination of grants that we accessed, and in total there were probably four to five other people that were hired to work during that time on this project.
Interview 10
The collection also became more accessible through a more dynamic exhibition program. The Museum had created its first travelling exhibition in 1985 – “Klondike Youth, a Photographic Display.” In the 1990s, travelling exhibitions expanded beyond photographic materials. Most notably, “Klondike Gold” – a travelling exhibition that celebrated the anniversary of the gold rush –included a CD ROM game with films, photos, and archival records (YHMA 1994, December).
In addition to making the collection more accessible with documentation and exhibitions, the Museum targeted the local community with public programs designed to draw them into the institution. For example, a new lecture series explicitly aimed to raise community awareness of the Museum (DCM AGM Minutes April 29 1992). Staff also began working more actively with the local school, developing their first example of curriculum linked programming (DCM Newsletter vol. 11 no. 2). Importantly, activities targeting the local community were made possible, in part, because of Old Territorial Administration Building renovations in the 1980s, which made the building more accessible year-round.
The Museum continued providing a tourist attraction in the summer and developed a more active program for these visitors as well. Live performances became a draw, such as “Discovery Claims” – a popular performance that involved multiple characters claiming to have found the first nugget (DCM Newsletter vol. 11 no. 3). In 1995, these performances expanded outside the building as the Museum partnered with Parks Canada to supply dramatic performances throughout Dawson City (DCM Newsletter vol. 12 no. 1; see documents available in 95 seed challenge, Box 23b, Dawson City Museum Archives).
Alongside an increase in public facing activities and attention, the 1990s saw significant donations that further spurred the Museum’s development. First, a donation from the Jones family led to work on the Klondike History Library and a commitment to having an archivist. Then, the DCM began construction on a new storage facility and planning for an exhibition with funding from the Lind Family Foundation.
In short, the 1990s was a period of expansion for the Dawson City Museum. The expansion can be explained, in part, with a consideration of government policy and community action in relation to the DCM’s work. As noted elsewhere (see “The Importance of People”), project and employment grants continued to be crucial. They provided the support for staff and directed the Museum’s activities toward projects that expanded its work. The 1990s are also notable because it was a period of celebration in Yukon. There was increased attention to and funding for heritage related activities. As a result, the DCM became a community hub with active programming and a feeling of hope for the future.
Policy
From a Yukon Government perspective, the 1990s are significant for the release of the Museums Artifact Conservation Policy and the Yukon Gold Explorers Passport Program. However, neither of these were described as significant to the Dawson City Museum in the interviews conducted, or the archival documents consulted from the period.
It is Yukon Gold Explorer's Passport time again! Drop by to pick up your passport and get your stamp. Then visit the rest of the participating sights to explore Yukon's culture, nature, and history! pic.twitter.com/yGUIoO6hbF
— Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre (@yukonberingia) June 5, 2018
At the federal level, there were cuts to project grants for community museums– that is the Museums Assistance Program. However, these cuts seemingly did not affect the Dawson City Museum until the end of the 1990s when they were denied a grant in the middle of a project.
Throughout the 1990s, policies discussed elsewhere continued to be significant, including:
Employment Grants
“I started working for the Museum in 1994 and was originally taken on as a Young Canada Works student. I was hired back the following summer and trained into the position of the registrar and worked for many years in that capacity – the registrar and collections manager” (Interview 10).
Relationships with federal actors
“The Museum also did partnerships in formal and informal ways with Parks Canada. They had a fully operating and staffed curatorial lab here at the time that I started at the Museum. And so, the expertise was shared back to the Museum for people like me, new in the field without formal education. I got to work directly with conservators. So that was an informal program that the Museum was facilitating” (Interview 10)
The Old Territorial Administration Building
“All of that, the maintenance of the building, the cutting of the grass, whatever that kind of stuff, the shoveling of the sidewalks, we didn’t have to worry about that at all.” (Interview 8)
Territorial Advisory Services
“As somebody who was starting on as a registrar or collections manager, most of my training related to managing the records came from the Museums’ Unit and all of my training and expertise related to how to care for that collection came from the conservator” (Interview 10).
While these policies were previously considered, their use in the 1990s warrant additional discussion because changes in their implementation help explain the Dawson City Museum’s development in this period. For instance, the territorial advisory services expanded to include a collection management position, leading to specific projects at the DCM. Employment policies are also notable because they intersected with project funding to enable the Museum to expand staffing and, therefore, its programming. Further, the project related funding was shaped by the decade of celebration the territory.
Intersecting policies: Employment and Project funding
The number of employment grants used in addition to project funding to support employment costs expanded during the 1990s. Notably, in 1994/95 the Museum employed 50 people with a payroll of $344,180 (DCM Newsletter vol. 12 no. 1), which is more than the total expenses reported in 2018 (Source). A contract worker during the period remarked:
During the 1990s … it was a busy place.
Interview 9
There are a number of factors that shaped the Museum’s use of project and employment funding at the time. First, the funding available for student employment expanded. Second, there were a variety of project grants beyond the ones targeting museums, such as funding relating to celebrations and grants from Yukon Lotteries. Finally, as discussed below in a reflection on community, the presence and availability of people already in Dawson City with the training needed to do the work was crucial.
As noted elsewhere:
The Museum began relying on student work grants in 1980 when they hired six students to clean their collections storage. These student work grants became increasingly important (see “Dawson City Museum Timeline, 1980s”).
In the 1990s, two federal programs are most significant in increasing access to student employees – that is, Summer Career Placement and Young Canada Works. While Summer Career Placement replaced an existing program, it increased the amount available and Young Canada Works offered a new stream that specifically targeted community museums. The Canadian Museums Association administered Young Canada Works for the first time in 1996 (see documents available in YCW CMA 1996, Box 23, Dawson City Museum Archives), providing the DCM with 49 work weeks for five high school students. Additional funding from Dawson City and the Summer Career Placement program enabled the Museum to employ a total of 14 students for the summer (Swackhammer 1996b).
The Museum used the student employment funding to expand public programming targeting tourists, such as costumed interpretation outside the Museum. Parks Canada had previously provided the street interpretation. However, in 1995, they began to reduce their public presentations and street theater (Swackhammer 1995). As the Director from the period recalled:
Klondike National Historic Sites, they had the history, they had the reference, they had all that kind of stuff, they had workers that were on the street, and the money. All of a sudden, they couldn’t hire those people to be face-to-face with the visitors, which was really strange.
Anyway, the Museum made arrangements, we borrowed the costumes, sometimes we even stole their plot or whatever they were doing, and we put people out on the street.
Interview 8
When the Museum began to address the gap, the City of Dawson began providing funding from the Centennial Events Fund to offset the costs of summer student wages (DCM Newsletter vol. 12 no. 2). By 1997, the City was providing $10,000 from the fund.
In addition to a grant from the City’s Centennial Events Fund, the Museum received support directly from Yukon Government relating to anniversary celebrations. Notably, at the DCM’s Annual General Meeting in 1990, the Heritage Branch Director reported on cuts to the territory’s museum support program, advising the Museum seek funding from alternative sources. He also suggested the Museum develop a traveling exhibition on the Gold Rush due to the importance of the Yukon Anniversaries Commission (DCM AGM Minutes April 27, 1990). The Museum followed this recommendation, developing Klondike Gold (YLA 28.2.80).
In addition to emphasizing anniversaries to access available funding, the Museum diversified its funding sources throughout the 1990s. They used a range of project grants that targeted their work rather than museums specifically. For example, using grants from the Canadian Council of Archives, the Museum upgraded archival storage and produced an inventory (DCM Newsletter vol. 11 no. 2). Yukon’s Community Development Fund and grants from Yukon Lotteries were also important, providing key support to the DCM’s activities.
In short, the DCM expanded and developed in the 1990s due to a variety of intersecting project and employment grants. Notably, a number of these programs became less accessible or unavailable at the end of the 1990s, which we will discuss in the next chronological consideration. Further, the availability of people with the skills to do the project work was also critical, which we discuss below.
Yukon Collections Program
The federal government and national trends in museum practice continued to influence the services provided to community museums through Yukon Government during the 1990s. Yukon expanded its advisory program, which include a Museums Advisor and Conservator, to help with collection management, hiring a Collections Registration Coordinator. The Coordinator then worked to standardize collection management across the territory with funding from the federal government.
Yukon government facilitated a series of collection management projects in community museums through the 1990s:
First, Yukon Government received funding from the federal government for a pilot project to register and automate museum collection records in 1990 (YLA 27.2.17).
Then, Yukon hired a Collections Registration Coordinator to facilitate the Artifact Inventory and Cataloguing project, encouraging better documentation practices (see documents in Admin correspondence director misc. Box 17b. Dawson City Museum Archives).
By the end of the 1990s, the territorial government designed a collection management database for community museums further enabling best practices related to documenting and digitizing collections (Ball 2004).
As part of these projects, the new Coordinator provided direct assistance to community museums seeking to inventory, catalogue, and better manage their collections records in the 1990s. As one Interview Participant recalled:
I remember working with [the Coordinator] in figuring out how to implement the standard fields and how to deal with the myriad of issues that you deal with…
Interview 9
The territorial program was particularly important to the Dawson City Museum because it forced the institution to develop a more coherent system for collection management. The Museum’s collection work had primarily taken place as part of project grants through the 1980s and early 1990s without consistency in who was responsible and how the work was done. As an employee from the period described:
There had been so many people over the years… with the best of intentions coming in [and] realizing – Oh, we need some organizational structure here. Each successive person invented their own system, which then would get replaced by another system.
Interview 10
The Coordinator and the projects he facilitated helped the Museum with “untangling” (Interview 10) past systems into a more standardized practice.
In short, as described in the overview, much of the DCM’s work during the 1990s focused on making their collection more accessible through documentation. To that end, they worked with the territorial Collections Registration Coordinator to properly inventory the collection and digitize records. The work provided a better foundation for collections management moving forward with a more standardized practice.
Community
As see with policy, the community continued to influence the Museum in ways discussed in the past chronological considerations. Notably donations to the collection continued to be important. As one Interview Participant who worked during the 1990s explained:
We weren’t actively going out and searching for artifacts for the collection, but we would get regular offerings.
Interview 10
There are three additional factors that are important to consider in relation to the Dawson City Museum’s development. First, in addition to the ongoing donations to the collection, there were two donations that significantly shaped the Museum’s work. Second, there were people in the community with skills available to work and the Director was seen as an important member of the community. Finally, the expanded exhibition program provided the impetus for the Museum to seek out community input.
Donations
The 1990s were a period of significant donations to the Museum. As noted above, there continued to be donated artifacts, which are an ongoing manner that community – both local and a broader community of people with an interest in the Klondike – influence the Museum. There were also two donations that had a more pronounced influence on the scope of the Museum’s work in that time – that is, the Lind family and Jones family donations.
First, Ed and Star Jones approach the Museum to donate an extensive collection of archival material, publications, and photographs. The donation included the stipulation that the Museum to develop an appropriate history library to house the collection and employ a full-time archivist (DCM Minutes 14 January 1998). The materials were accepted and the library was dedicated in July 1998 (DCM Minutes 8 July 1998).
Second, the Lind family began talking to the Museum director about a donation to commemorate John G. Lind in 1997. The Museum used their donation to leverage additional funding to build the John G. Lind storage facility. The new space allowed for proper artifact storage with new compact shelving. The donation also provided funding for a new exhibition on the pre-gold rush period, which involved some renovations to create a an exhibition space. While both projects also involved public support, the Lind donation provided the impetus and seed money needed.
In short, the Lind and Jones families shaped the Museum’s work with significant donations. The Lind family donation led to a storage facility and new exhibition. The Jones donation led to expanded library services and promises for future practice. While the Museum was unable to maintain a full-time archivist position, the donation shaped the Museum’s emphasis at the time.
Membership in the Community
As stated elsewhere, people are a museums most valuable resource. During the 1990s, there were people in the community, with a relationship to community that helped the Museum’s development. When the Director began at the Museum in 1994, he asked those around him for help. He recalled:
I can remember when I got to Dawson… I had a meeting of everybody that I could gather together in the boardroom there. Essentially, I said to them, “tell me what’s going on. Tell me what needs to be done. Tell me the things that I don’t know about that need to be looked after. It’ll be my job to try to find the money, and the staff, but I don’t know the tasks that have to be fulfilled.”
They gave me a list of stuff, and some of the things we managed to deal with, and some of the things we couldn’t.
Interview 8
The quote draws attention to the Director’s approach to managing the Museum, which relied on relationship building, and the presence of people with knowledge about what needed to be done.
During the 1990s, the Museum continued to employ a core group of people who started on employment grants or contracts related to projects in the 1970s and 1980s. The Director at the time recalled:
Those folks [were] very important for … the work of the Museum, the day-to-day job of the Museum. They were the most important crew, ultimately… Dealing with that kind of stuff, that was beyond my capacity. My capacity was to find the money, and find the right people, and put those things together.
Interview 8
As a museum worker, right from the very beginning, my responsibility was to find staff and to train staff. Then to hire them so that they could do the work that they were trained to do.
Interview 8
As the quotes demonstrate, the Director saw it as his job to find money to employ people with capacity for museum work. Their continued presence in the community provided the Museum with the ability to build and expand on past work.
The Director’s relationship to these employees as community and the Dawson community more broadly was important. As he explained:
The Museum, and I, as a representative of the Museum, was an active member in the community.
Interview 8
Several people interviewed discussed the importance of the Executive Director to the Museum’s development in the 1990s due, in part, to this role within community. As an Interview Participant described:
The atmosphere at the Museum, especially with the Director that we had at the helm. It was a very opening, welcome, casual kind of atmosphere that worked really hard to sort of punch above its weight as far as providing a really good experience for visitors.
The Director, as well, set the tone. He was fairly, you know, a gregarious outgoing, warm person.
Interview 10
In short, people are crucial to museum work. The 1990s are a significant period of development for the Museum because there were people in the community who knew what needed to be done. Employment and project grants provided the funding needed to employ them. At the same time, the Executive Director listened to these people and formed relationships with members of the community more broadly. As a result, the Museum became a community hub.
Exhibitions
During the 1990s, the Museum developed a more active exhibition program. These exhibitions were a manner that the community influenced Museum content. As a Participant explained:
But there were tons of exhibits that came on suggestion from the community. People would walk into the Museum and say, “hey, I’ve got a great idea, and I’d like to do this.”
Interview 10
The chart below highlights some examples:
Dawson City at Forty Below Zero
“There was a really awesome project that they did one year where they pulled together just interested community members that wanted to tell visitors what their life was like in the winter, and they helped them take good quality photographs and they created a slideshow for the summer. And it contained sort of these iconic images of what a day in the life of a Dawsonite was like in the winter” (Interview 10).
Klondike Gold
“I was there during the time that the traveling exhibit for the centennial of the Gold Rush was coming together and that involved multiple stakeholders and partners. And it also involved a lot of community input for everything from gold miners donating gold and sharing their story about what they wanted the world to know about their experience to community members in general that had a buy-in about what narrative was going out there in the world about their town. And so there just seemed to be a lot of interplay between the community voicing their opinion and then that directing exhibits and activities within the Museum” (Interview 10).
Yukon Order of Pioneers
The Museum developed an exhibition marking the centennial of the Yukon Order of Pioneers, which was installed around Dawson City (See documents available in YTG YOOP exhibit, Box 21a, Dawson City Museum Archives).
The quotes demonstrate the exhibitions as a way the Museum involved the community, shaping the content. Moreover, the more active exhibition program provided the opportunity to circulate the community’s stories both within Dawson and outside the Yukon.
Conclusions
In sum, the 1990s was a period of expansion for the Dawson City Museum, building on the foundation laid in the 1970s and 1980s. In particular, the Museum began to offer more dynamic exhibition schedule and public programs to attract both local and tourism audiences. There are a number of policies of significance to this change. However, perhaps most importantly, changes in employment funding led to more student related grants and, therefore, a larger pool of staff in the summer to development and implement public programs. There was also funding relating to celebrations, encouraging the development of exhibitions that celebrated the Yukon. The celebrations were a significant community activity during the period and the community influenced the exhibitions, contributing expertise.
As one of the largest employers at the time and an active space, the Dawson City Museum became a kind of community hub. Notably, the project and employment funding meant the Museum was well staffed with people who had been with the Museum since the 1970s and 1980s. It could not have become a community hub without these people. Moreover, the Director emphasized listening – listening to those involved with the Museum, listening to the community.
References
Ball, Drew. 2004. Museums Status Report. Blue Binder. Box 33. Dawson City Museum Archives.
DCM – documents from the Museum’s digitized record.
Swackhammer, Mac. 1995. Letter to the Canada Employment Centre. 95 SEED Challenge. Box 23b. Dawson City Museum Archives.
Swackhammer, Mac. 1996a. Final Report. Summer Students SEED 1996. Box 23. Dawson City Museum Archives.
Swackhammer, Mac. 1996b. Final Report. YCW CMA 1996. Box 23. Dawson City Museum Archives.
YHMA. 1994, December. “Summary: Yukon Museum Activities.” YHMA Newsletter: 5-6.
The Dawson City Museum Project is ongoing. I am working with two Research Assistants to analyze and interpret the data. However, the writing stage can be a bit boring sometimes…. So, I have started a new project!
Broadly, I have an interest in subnational community museum policy. I have researched New Brunswick (NB), Ontario (ON), and Yukon (YK) programs, considering intersections with federal and municipal policies. Currently, I live and work in Alberta and have easier access to archival / library materials on Albertan museums. I am excited to start using these materials to consider the similarities or differences between policies in Alberta and the other subnational governments I have studied.
Alberta seems to be an interesting case study because there are significant similarities and differences when compared to NB, ON, or YK. I am excited to explore why policies developed in similar and/or different ways at the subnational levels and the effects.
Similarities
Some interesting similarities
Both Ontario and Alberta have standards attached to funding for community museums.
In Alberta, New Brunswick, Ontario, and Yukon people advocated for subnational policy in the 1970s and/or 1980s in order to better access federal programs.
Museum associations were established or expanded during the 1970s.
Differences
The first document that I read related to Alberta community museum policy was a planning study for the provincial Reynolds-Alberta Museum. The study is interesting because of the rationale behind establishing the Museum. Essentially, existing museums, including community museums, were considered inadequate to preserve and interpret materials related to agriculture, industry, and transportation. The study states:
local and regional museums have been unable to provide adequate preservation for many large items, although some have made a valiant effort.
Alberta Culture 1983, 12
In NB, ON, and YK, observations about the low quality of local/regional museums – that is, community museums – despite the valiant efforts of those running the museums led to a more robust community museum support program at the subnational level. In Alberta, it led to a new museum with the resources to address existing limitations, which is a more centralized approach.
At the same time, Alberta has committed to an arms length funding model where museums access funds through the Alberta Museums Association rather than the provincial government, which is not a centralized approach.
I am looking forward to discovering more differences!
Questions
Do you have any experiences with Alberta Museum policy? What questions do you think I should be asking?
The Dawson City Museum project asks – How has the Dawson City Museum evolved in relation to government policy and community action?
We are taking two approaches to answering the question. First, we are considering the data chronologically to discuss the evolution of the Museum over time. Second, we have developed key themes related to policy and community . To solicit feedback, we will post a series of working papers that consider the data in these two ways – that is, chronologically (see: Dawson City’s Community Attic, The Importance of People) and thematically (see: Inexpensive and Impressive but Challenging and Restrictive). These papers will inform the final report for the Dawson City Museum and podcast miniseries.
Providing the third chronological consideration of the data, this working paper asks – What are some key moments, influential policies, and community activities that defined the Dawson City Museum’s development in the 1980s?
After summarizing the answers and outlining our research approach, we give a short overview of the Museum’s development in the 1980s. We consider significant policies, focusing on territorial investment in the Old Territorial Administration Building and for community museums more broadly with a brief discussion on the role of federal agencies. Then, a section on community activity describes the significance of board and volunteer involvement before considering the Museum staff as part of the community. Finally, the paper concludes with a summary and research implications.
What are some key moments, influential policies, and community activities that defined the Dawson City Museum’s development in the 1980s?
Key moments: The Old Territorial Administration Building (OTAB) renovations in 1986-1987 were a turning point for the Dawson City Museum, setting the Museum up for success with a year-round building.
Influential policies:
Policies discussed elsewhere continue to be significant, including the relationship with federal agencies, support for employment, and territorial support through the provision of space – the OTAB.
The 1980’s are notable for territorial investment with the development of a museum support program, including financial support and advisory services for community museums across the territory. Looking at the Dawson City Museum (DCM) more specifically, the territorial government also invested almost 3 million in the OTAB, which houses the Museum.
Community activities: The community became more involved with the Museum with a more active board and committee structure. At the same time, we see the Museum active in the community through people with multiple memberships – that is, roles as staff and community members.
Research Method
The working paper relies on the research conducted as part of the Dawson City Museum Project, including archival research and a document analysis of digitized records. Interviews with fifteen people included five interviews with people who were involved with the museum as staff or volunteers in the 1980s and the territorial conservator who began in 1988.
Overview
During the 1980s, the Dawson City Museum (DCM) continued accessing employment programs and developing stronger relationships with federal actors, such as Parks Canada. However, the decade was, in many ways, a period of change for the DCM. Yukon Government invested in extensive renovations to the Old Territorial Administration Building (OTAB) and developed territorial support programs targeting museums. The DCM also saw volunteers become more active through the Board and committees, working alongside staff. As a result, by the end of the 1980s, the DCM was operating as a professional museum with a governance structure, exhibitions and collection management practices that reflected museum standards at that time.
Employees were key to the changes that occurred. As explored in “The Importance of People,” the 1980s began with the three-year Klondike Heritage Services Project, which provided funding for people who engaged in museum work like collections management and exhibition development. Importantly, a key project goal was to provide training and develop a pool of qualified personnel from which the Museum could hire. As articulated by the director/curator in the early 1980s, they provided on the job training to:
create a nucleus of locally qualified people from which permanent staff may be hired in the near future.
Jones-Gates 1981, 7
People working in the Museum through employment grants or on contracts with Parks Canada developed skills they could then apply to different museum projects (DCM Klondike Heritage Services Report). As a result, when the director/curator left in 1982, there were still people staffing the Museum with the skills needed to continue professionalizing. The Museum was able to increase its opening hours and expand its programming to include genealogical research, historic photographic services, and film presentations (DCM AGM President’s Report November 26, 1982).
Demonstrating the Museum’s ongoing professionalization, staff and volunteers also developed new policies and procedures as well as a formal committee structure (Ross 1983). For example, in 1982, the Museum established a collections committee for the first time (DCM Klondike Heritage Services Support). Then, they developed new aims and objectives, which prompted work to remove irrelevant objects from the collection (DCM Board minutes July 12 1983) and the development of a collections policy (Thorp 1984).
Despite the presence of staff, policies and committees, the historic building housing the Museum – the OTAB – continued to impede professionalization due to its poor condition. However, starting with a special grant to address issues highlighted in a fire inspector’s report in 1980 (see “Government Relationships“), the territorial government began to respond to concerns about the space with a series of investments discussed in “Inexpensive and Impressive but Challenging and Restrictive.” In 1987, the DCM reopened in the OTAB, which was ready for year-round occupancy and new exhibitions.
New territorial project grants then enabled the Museum to develop exhibitions in the renovated building. The Museum also benefited from a new operations grant and support for a year-round curator from Yukon Government, which provided some stability for the position. Moreover, Museum staff began accessing advisory services from the new territorial museums advisor and conservator as they re-established a museum in the space.
In sum, the 1980s were a period of change for the Dawson City Museum largely due to support from the territorial government. However, the change would not have been possible without the groundwork laid by the first director/ curator who began applying for employment grants and engaging in work (e.g., fundraising, contracts with Parks Canada) to support staffing at the DCM. The work of staff and renewed interest from volunteers then allowed for the development of a professional museum.
Policy
To explain the development of the Dawson City Museum (DCM) in the 1980s, three policies warrant revisiting – that is, the relationships with federal actors, employment programs, and the Old Territorial Administration Building (OTAB). We also see the development of a territorial support program targeting museums, which intersected with federal action and broader territorial objectives. These different policies intersected and overlapped to enable the DCM to reopen as a professional institution at the end of the 1980s.
Federal agencies
The DCM’s relationship with Parks Canada was discussed in detail in “The Importance of People” as a significant policy in the late 1970s. The relationship continued to be important in the 1980s, growing as Parks Canada staff became more involved with the Museum. Parks Canada employees most notably helped with engineering and architectural studies for the OTAB (DCM AGM President’s Report November 26, 1982) because Parks Staff were “very keen” to see the space renovated appropriately (Interview 5). The studies helped Museum staff and volunteers (alongside Parks Canada employees) advocate for financial support from Yukon government to restore the OTAB. Parks Canada staff also served on the Dawson City Museum board and committees (DCM Presidents Report November 15 1985), continuing to lend their expertise to the Museum (Interview 11).
Providing additional assistance, the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) became more active in Yukon in the 1980s. For example, a mobile lab visited the DCM in August 1980, providing a report that outlined security problems and deficiencies in the protection of the collection (DCM Director’s Annual Report March 4th 1981). In addition to conducting surveys, the CCI provided training, such as the “Seminar and Collections Survey for Museums and Galleries in the Yukon” in Dawson City and Whitehorse (CCI 1987, December). Notably, actors from the CCI were also important to the territorial conservator who did day to day work with museums. As she described:
They were invaluable to me. They were the best thing. I don’t know if I could have performed as much as I did without their assistance. They were my lifeline, really, because I had full access to all of their Conservators via telephone whenever I wanted, just to consult on what was happening.
Interview 14
In short, policy supporting museums is not limited to articulated funding programs. Advisory services and informal relationships with government actors can also be crucial. In the Dawson City Museum’s case, Parks Canada and the Canadian Conservation Institute provided invaluable expertise, which guided the Museum’s work as they professionalized collection management practices and other areas of activity.
Employment programs
Within “The Importance of People,” we considered the significance of employment programs to the DCM’s development. Work grants continued to be relevant in the 1980s with a new territorial program in addition to the federal grants. Despite the significance of these programs, issues in implementation began to emerge, which continue to be relevant today.
First, contract staffing, which employment and project grants encourage, challenges the development of a more professional museum due to a lack of continuity. More specifically, the DCM used employment programs and project grants to address problems or gaps. For example, several projects targeted the backlog of artifacts for accessioning – that is, adding the item(s) to the Museum’s collection. However, it was more difficult to fund the ongoing work needed to avoid a backlog and consistently have good collection management practices. As a result, the Collections Committee argued a lack of continuity in staffing was a barrier to conserving and cataloguing the collection appropriately. Although short term staffing allowed projects to take place, the short-term nature contributed to discrepancies in the work completed (DCM Collections Committee Report for 1988-9).
Second, there were some challenges in hiring summer students through the grant programs due to infrastructure issues in Dawson City. The Museum began relying on student work grants in 1980 when they hired six students to clean their collections storage. These student work grants became increasingly important (see “Dawson City Museum Timeline, 1980s”) and the students contributed to the professionalization of the Museum as they participated in a variety of projects. However, for summer staff, accommodation was an issue. As articulated in a museum newsletter:
The Museum is desperately seeking accommodation (room and board, or private accommodation) for two students this summer.
DCM Newsletter Vol. 7 no. 4
In short, employment grants were crucial to the museums ongoing work. However, problems were identified that were never fully addressed. In particular, Dawson City has a housing problem where the influx of people during the summer are unable to find adequate and affordable housing. Further, employment grants encourage contract staffing, which presents a challenge to implementing consistent practices.
Old Territorial Administration Building (OTAB)
From its occupancy in 1962, the OTAB has presented both challenges and opportunities for the Dawson City Museum (See “Inexpensive and Impressive but Challenging and Restrictive”). By the 1980s, the challenges were acute and needed to be addressed if the Museum wanted to continue in the space. For example, a report found that 26% of the foundation posts had failed and 35% had rotten to an unsalvageable level (Ross 1982). Moreover, the lack of insulation and ice in the basement meant the Museum was unable to use the space year-round. As discussed in “Inexpensive and Impressive but Challenging and Restrictive,” the territorial government invested 2.9 million dollars into the building in the 1980s, addressing the prescient issues and allowing the Museum to continue in the OTAB.
New Territorial Museum Policy
While an articulated policy was not in place until 1989-1990, the territorial government established a museum support program during the 1980s. First, Yukon created a Heritage Branch and grants that targeted museums. Then the territorial government employed a museums advisor who began to work with federal actors and community museums to maximize the support Yukon museums received. The period ends with the release of an articulated policy, which rationalized the support available.
Consultation on an articulated community museums policy began in 1980 after the release of the Kyte Report. The Yukon Historical and Museums Association (YHMA) commissioned the Kyte Report to provide a profile on Yukon Museums and training. It recommended the definition of a territorial policy with a comprehensive museum development program, which led to discussions between Yukon Government and the YHMA. However, policy development was delayed while government created new Departments and Branches. Once a Heritage Branch was established, hiring a new Director (YLA 24.5.4) then Museums Advisor further delayed the process.
Despite the delays in articulating a policy, Yukon community museums began to receive operational and maintenance funding that targeted museums in 1982-1983 when Yukon Government provided a total of 30,000 split between 6 institutions (the Dawson City Museum received the largest single amount – 9,000). In 1985, Yukon government began covering part of the cost for a director position at the two largest museums – The Dawson City Museum and the MacBride Museum. The curator subsidy was critical for long term stability. As an Interview Participant described:
It made a big difference to have core funding available for one person in the museums… It’s really necessary if you’re going to move from just a tourist operation that opens for a couple of months in the summer.
Interview 7
In addition to operational and staff support, Yukon developed several project grants (e.g., major artifact stabilization, exhibition case construction, major exhibit development, etc.). The DCM accessed these programs, which directed their work toward projects for which they could receive funding. For example, the DCM used the major exhibit development program following building renovations to re-develop their permanent exhibitions (YLA 26.3.7).
Importantly, Yukon Government’s project funding deliberately enabled better access to cost-sharing federal programs (YHMA 1982). For example, the territorial Conservation Security grant was developed to match one from the federal Museums Assistance Program (MAP). At the time, MAP provided funding to community museums across the country, but Yukon museums were not getting equitable amounts. So, the new territorial Museums Advisor worked to improve working relationships with federal actors, touring Yukon museums with a MAP advisor and meeting with the MAP director in Dawson City (DCM 1984 Annual General Meeting Minutes).
The federal government also provided funding that enabled the territory to expand their advisory program. For example, in 1986-1987 MAP funding allowed Yukon Heritage Branch to purchase conservation monitoring equipment for museums and an upright freezer (Heritage Branch 1988). More importantly, Yukon hired a conservator through a shared funding program (Ibid.). The conservator was invaluable to the Dawson City Museum. As one former Director described:
She would come up for a few days, or [a] week at a time, and teach the staff about … cleaning the artifacts, and care of the artifacts, and she’d come up and do stuff herself. That was really good that we had access to a Conservator, and we used her lots, especially when we got into fabrics.
Interview 11
The Department of Heritage provided the Conservator who taught our Curators, and me, a lot more about conservation plus did lots of the work and got those little things that keep track of the humidity and all that going, and looking at the records, and making sure the building was properly conditioned.
Interview 11
Notably, the conservator responded to the Museums’ needs. For example, after the building reopened in 1987, she helped with the creation of new exhibition mounts. As she described:
My understanding of my interaction with the community museums was basically to try and guide and train them in preserving their collections. In my mind that meant all aspects of the collection, and often the community museums didn’t have a lot of staff, so I would hire people to work with me, and I would go there and try and help them with any exhibits that were going on or reorganize their storage areas, create storage mounts, or clean the artifacts. Yeah, it was a lot. Yeah, the whole gamut is what I had been led to believe was my job, basically. Helping the community museums preserve their collections.
Interview 14
As Yukon enacted a museums policy with grants and advisory services, such as a conservator, they also made steps toward the development of an articulated policy. Yukon Museums Policy and Systems Plan was circulated to museums for feedback in 1987. Importantly, the planning and policy development began in earnest during a period of planning for Yukon government. In 1986, they began Yukon 2000 – a consultation process about Yukon’s future, which led to several papers, programs, and plans. After the related consultations with museums, Yukon’s Museums Policy was released in 1989 and a draft Artifact Conservation and Security Policy began to circulate (Meehan 1989).
In sum, Yukon Government developed programs for community museums and then a museum policy in the 1980s. It included operational and project funding as well as an advisory program with a conservator and museums advisor. These initiatives enabled the Dawson City Museum to fund projects following their major renovations, such as exhibit renewal, and helped the Museum continue professionalizing with advice from experts. The development of the museum policy institutionalized the support, which continues today.
Community
During the 1980s, we continue to see the community contribute to the Museum through donated artefacts. While personal in nature to their donors, these items helped to create a substantial collection for the Museum, which was the largest in Yukon at the time. This collection, built primarily by the Museum’s communities, demonstrates how the Museum was valued. It indicates that the Museum is part of the community and part of the history of its inhabitants. Community also intersected with and shaped the development of the DCM through relationships as volunteers and staff acted as both of the Museum and of the community.
Staff and Volunteers
Although there was only one full-time, year-round employee at the Museum – that is, the director / curator, there were a core group of contract staff who worked for the Museum periodically through the 1980s (See “The Importance of People”). These people were both museum staff and community members. It is thus important to consider – what is the Museum? Is the museum the collection? Is the Museum the building? Is the Museum the people who are active in the space? If museums are the relationships that enact the museum – that is, relationships between the building, collection, staff / volunteers, visitors, and community – then it is important to consider the Museum as part of the community because its staff and volunteers are also community members. They have multiple memberships in both community and the Museum.
The development of Quilted Emotions helps illustrate the museum staff and, by extension, the Museum as part of the community. After the Museum opened in 1987 following the renovations, the South Gallery was a big black box. Wanting to put something colorful in the space while they developed permanent exhibitions, Museum staff developed a temporary quilt display. One Interview Participant recalled:
We were looking for a colorful exhibit to fill the space while we were developing a plan for the permanent exhibits.
Most of the women in town were involved in – not most of the women. I mean, there [were] I’m guessing ten, fifteen, maybe even twenty people who had done quilt squares for various quilts. And so, it was quite a large group of young women who were involved in the activity.
So, it was kind of natural to put in something that was really colorful that we could light nicely and it would make a beautiful temporary exhibit.
Interview 7
Importantly, the community involved in the creation of the quilts cannot be isolated from the community of people who enacted the Museum. Museum staff were also members of the local community. People who were involved in developing exhibitions at the Museum were also participating in the quilt creation. They could partner with the community to create an exhibition, in part, because they were also part of that community (“Quilted Emotions”).
The quilt exhibition demonstrates staffs’ position within a local community. Importantly, staff were also members of the broader community interested in the Klondike. As explored in “The Importance of People,” youth began working at the Museum in the 1970s, continuing into the 1980s, because it was an interesting place to work. Contracts and project funding occasionally supported staff research, which contributed to the Museum’s collections and exhibition themes while keeping the contract staff engaged in work that interested them. Responding to requests, the Museum also expanded its programming to include genealogical research in the 1980s (DCM AGM President’s Report November 26, 1982). The DCM, thereby, became a hub for those interested in researching the Klondike. Staff were both attracted to the Museum and engaged others at the Museum as members of this community bound through interest rather than geography.
The Museum content also attracted volunteers. The Museum’s first director/curator left the Museum at a time when the Board and volunteers were not as active as needed. Her departure seems to have prompted change and the development of a more active committee structure. During the 1980s, we begin to see a more involved local community through volunteerism. These local volunteers were valued as experts and consulted accordingly. As one former Director observed:
The thing about Dawson City [is that] lots of families have been there for a very long time, and some since Gold Rush time, so they were involved in some of the decision-making of [where] this piece went or what was happening when, so that was a part of the community.
Interview 11
The local community participated on museum committees, the Board, and in the work of the institution. A Director from the period noted, there were an:
astronomical number of hours that were put in through volunteering.
Interview 11
These volunteer hours contributed to the shape of the collections, through participation on the collections committee, and the development of exhibitions, through participation on the display committee or consultation on themes. For example, with the help of volunteers in 1982, the Museum improved the south gallery with a newspaper office, secondhand store, and a fire display. The north wing was reorganized to include an audio visuals room (DCM Klondike Heritage Services Report).
In short, the local community actively participated in the Museum’s work. As discussed above, this local community included Parks Canada staff who sat on committees and lent their expertise. However, it also included other members of the community with expertise on the community and heritage represented in the Museum. The people who enacted the Museum as staff and volunteers were also active members of both the local Dawson community and a community of people interested in the Klondike. As such, the Museum can be discussed both in relation to community and as a member of community.
Conclusions
The “Importance of People” highlighted the role of staff in professionalizing the Museum, the role of Parks Canada, and the role of project funding in directing professionalization efforts. These factors continued to be important as they contributed to a foundation for change enacted in the 1980s. However, perhaps more importantly, the 1980s are a significant period of territorial investment in the Museum. Territorial support included the development of grants for museum operations, curator salaries, and specific kinds of projects. Yukon Government also developed an advisory program with a Museums Advisor and Conservator. Considering the Dawson City Museum more specifically, territorial investment into the Old Territorial Administration Building in combination with increased operational funding, support for a curator’s salary, and then a series of project grants enabled the Museum to establish itself as a professional institution with collection management practices and exhibitions reflecting the trends of the period.
Considering the importance of territorial support during the period, it is tempting to focus on the subnational level in isolation to explain change at the Museum. However, the federal government had a key role in prompting the development of a territorial program. Most notably, territorial investment was important to enable the Museums to better access federal support. The federal government also provided the initial funding for a staff position, expanding the advisory services provided. Moreover, employment programs continued to intersect with the available project funding to provide staffing at the Museum. Policies and programs intersected to enable the Museum’s work. At the same time, greater community involvement as volunteers and through the board or committees also increased. These people provided invaluable expertise and labour.
What do you think? Is there anything else you would pull out as importance in this consideration of the DCM’s development in the 1980s?
Kyte, John E. 1980, November. Museums in Yukon: A Profile and Training Report. Prepared for Yukon Historical and Museums Association.
Meehan, Joanne. 1989, October 26. Letter to the Museums Advisor. Museums Policy. Box 15. Dawson City Museum Archives.
Ross, Brian. 1982, September. Letter to the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Heritage and Cultural Affairs. 7.7.10; grants 1981 1982. Box 5. Dawson City Museum Archives.
Ross, Brian. 1983. President’s / Executive Committee Report. 982-1983 Reports. Native exhibit 1984 proposal to foundations. Box 8. Dawson City Museum Archives.
Thorp, Valerie. 1984. Collections Committee. Collections Committee 1984. Box 8. Dawson City Museum Archives.
YHMA. 1986. March, 1986. Yukon Historical & Museums Association Newsletter.
I am happy to host a new student project – “A Walk Through Indigenous Memory: A Student Exhibition.” Nicole Da Costa created the exhibition and wrote the description below. I am looking forward to reading more about the process in some future blog posts.
A Walk-Through Indigenous Memory: A Student Exhibit is a collaboration between MacEwan’s Indigenous Students Club (MISC) and Nicole Da Costa to showcase the names, cultural backgrounds, and notable histories of Indigenous persons from across Canada. The exhibit was displayed in the Macewan library from April 4th-8th 2022.
Guided by the central research question: “in a setting that is post-repatriation, how do we create exhibits without the use of stolen objects?” Nicole collaborated with the MISC, along with a supervisory team consisting of Dr. Robin Nelson (museum policy analyst), Dr. Cynthia Zutter (anthropologist and archaeologist), and Crystal Pennell (cooordinator of kihêw waciston Indigenous Centre).
Guided by the MISC president’s question “who signed treaty six?”, we sought to acknowledge the fragmented and contested histories of Indigenous peoples in Amiskwaciwaskahikan, Treaty 6, and so-called Canada by highlighting the names of Indigenous peoples and their histories that traditionally have been silenced.
The MISC hand-wrote the names of over 70 Indigenous peoples along with their cultural background, and their notable histories. The histories showcased included the Chiefs who signed Treaty 6, along with roles that the MISC were proud to see held by Indigenous persons, such as lawyers, midwives, activists, veterans and politicians. The exhibit also featured names of those who endured extreme hardship, such as missing and murdered indigenous women (MMIWG) and residential school victims. Indigenous excellence is also present in the exhibit, with influencers, film makers, actors, fashion designers, and musicians included.
We are taking two approaches to answering the question. First, we are considering the data chronologically (Dawson City’s Community Attic) to discuss the evolution of the Museum over time. Second, we have developed key themes (Inexpensive and Impressive but Challenging and Restrictive) related to policy and community. To solicit feedback, I will post a series of working papers that consider the data in these two ways – that is, chronologically and thematically. These papers will inform the final report for the Dawson City Museum and podcast miniseries.
Providing the second chronological consideration of the data, this working paper asks – What are some key moments, influential policies, and community activities that defined the Dawson City Museum’s development from the 1970s to the early 1980s?
After summarizing the answers and outlining our research approach, I give a short overview of the Museum’s development from the early 1970s to the early 1980s. I consider significant policies, focusing on employment policy and the relationship with Parks Canada. Then, a section on community activity describes the community of employees that moved to Dawson City in the 1970s and communities continued influence on the collections. Finally, the paper concludes with a summary and research implications.
What are some key moments, influential policies, and community activities that defined the Dawson City Museum’s development from the 1970s to the early 1980s?
Key moments: In 1972, the Museum’s first year-round director/curator began working as a summer employee. She then used employment programs to hire year-round staff, including herself, in 1975. The presence of staff led to a more active and professional institution that accessed a range of government programs and participated in the community.
Influential policies: Federal employment grants, such as the Local initiatives Program, were the most influential policies of the period. However, the Museum also began accessing project grants, such as those associated with the national museum policy, and developed a supportive relationship with Parks Canada.
Community activities: In the 1970s, the local community grew to include a group of young people interested in heritage who were not employed by Parks Canada. They became the backbone of the Museum’s work for the next twenty years.
Research Methods
The working paper relies on archival research in the Dawson City Museum’s corporate archive and a document analysis, focusing on digitized minutes of Board meetings and curator/director reports. The fifteen interviews conducted for the Dawson City Museum Project included three with people who worked at the Museum in the late 1970s – that is, the curator/director and two contract workers – as well as a Parks Canada employee who worked closely with the Museum.
Overview
The Dawson City Museum (DCM) would not be where it is today without the foundation laid in the 1970s and early 1980s when the Museum began employing year-round staff. At the beginning of the 1970s, the Museum was not very active. As one Interview Participant recalled:
There was not much of anything, other than the Museum opened in late May and closed in September.
Interview 5
However, by the early 1980s, Museum staff were actively engaged in collections management, exhibition development, and advocacy for territorial support. The change is attributable to the work of the first Museum director/curator who started as a summer employee in 1972 then began using government programs to support year-round staff, including herself.
In 1975, the DCM used the federal Local Initiatives Program to employ people during the winter for the first time. Staff enabled the Museum to professionalize. They built a washroom, did research, and catalogued the collection. Cataloguing was particularly important because the Museum’s collection was not well documented at that time (Snowalter 1975). An Interview Participant described collection management as follows:
We kind of knew what was in the collection… People back in ‘62 had painted, I think, DM and a number of accession on an item, and they had recycled a really big old account book from one of the old businesses in town. It was leather bound and had plenty of pages. So, they just wrote down who donated, what the item was, and the date then put a number to it. That’s what we used to see what we had, but we were still getting artifacts and there was no official way of including them in the collection. Inventorying what we had was, to me, number one on the list.
Interview 5
Therefore, museum staff began establishing collection management procedures and cataloguing materials according to the best practices at the time.
In addition to addressing issues with collection management, staff worked on the exhibitions. They organized displays into dioramas of rooms and shops, including Klondike Kate’s bedroom, a blacksmith shop, and a cabin (Rubinsky 1976). As they developed new exhibitions, they expanded into new spaces. An Interview Participant recalled:
We opened the north half of the main floor. I think it was the same year we took out the boxed-in walls barricading the second floor… [and] hiding that wonderful staircase up to the second floor. New exhibits went in both the north side and the south side, and they were more organized. There were people who had art skills, or research skills, or display skills, so we did a heck of a lot of renovation.
Interview 5
We were able to create these wonderful exhibits. I take no credit for [them], it was a group decision on what we needed, [and] what research needed to be done to create certain things.
One of the exhibits I do remember was recreating a ton of goods, which is what was needed to climb the Chilkoot. That seemed to really impress visitors, they had no concept of what it meant to take a ton of goods over the Chilkoot. That particular exhibit was well worth it.
Interview 5
As the quotes demonstrate, the new exhibitions were well researched and aimed to be more professional.
Despite the year-round employees and increase in activity, the Old Territorial Administration Building or OTAB, which houses the Museum, was not yet ready for year-round occupation. It was too cold. Staff worked in the City’s garage (DCM Curator’s Report 1975) and, later, a Parks Canada office (DCM Curator Report December 7, 1976). As an Interview Participant recalled:
It was pretty hard to do anything in the building in the wintertime. So, if you were doing a project, it was usually a research project or something that didn’t rely on the on the resources that were in the Museum.
Interview 7
In addition to hampering year-round work, the building’s condition limited the funding the Museum could access from federal programs targeting community museums (Rubinsky 1976).
Money was thus a constant concern for the DCM and its new employees. As an Interview Participant observed:
It seemed that my life revolved around finding funds in any way, shape, and form.
Interview 5
As a result, the staff started an auction, which is still held annually, and developed other ways to earn money. For example, they used the Local Initiatives Program in 1976 to start Big Cabin Crafts, hiring locals to make Jubilee Dolls for the Museum’s gift shop (DCM AGM Minutes October 27, 1976).
The Museum also engaged in contracts with federal agencies. As an Interview Participants described:
The Museum did projects for other organizations – mostly government. [They did] inventories for historic sites, trips out into the backcountry and photographic and description projects – mostly to keep money flowing in.
Interview 7
Examples include a contract to coordinate the Dawson Film Find for the National Film Archives (DCM Minutes July 26, 1978) and a contract from Parks Canada for a Creek Survey Project (DCM Director’s Report July 23 1979).
Maintaining funding levels to support staff and the increase in Museum activities was a challenge. The Director described 1980 as a year of turmoil because she attempted “to cover too many bases at once” and there was a lack of community involvement within the Museum Society (DCM Director’s Annual Report March 4th, 1981). As she recalled:
I just went ahead 24-7 most days… [there was] constant worry of where’s the money coming from, not just to hire me, but to hire people to continue with what had been managed by these Winter Grants, and then Summer Grants. There was always in the background – what’s going to happen to the building? We fundraised, we put on steak barbecues, we started the annual Christmas Fair, Christmas Bazaar, out of which came the Museum auction
Interview 5
As the quote demonstrates, the director/curator was fundraising, applying for a range of grants to support employment, and managing contracts with federal agencies while also professionalizing the Museum and supervising staff. At the same time, the board expected her to do bookkeeping and treasurer work for which she was not trained (See, for example, documents available in Klondike heritage services programs final report January 1982, Box 5, Dawson City Museum Archives). As such, in 1981 she warned that she may resign, pointing to a lack of support for the job from the Board (DCM Director’s Annual Report March 4th 1981). Finally, in 1982, she resigned after being asked whether she took money from a Museum event (DCM AGM President’s Report November 26, 1982; interview).
In short, the second period examined ends with the first, but not the last, example of a director leaving the Museum due, in part, to work overload. She had done an impressive amount of work to ensure the DCM had staff who began professionalizing the institution. While the board had many suggestions, they were not yet providing the support needed. Moreover, as seen in the first period, the building continued to be a significant, ongoing concern (DCM Minutes January 25 1978). It failed a fire inspection and was unable to re-open without addressing the issues, which prompted territorial investment that will be discuss as part of the next chronological consideration.
Policy
There are three policies that were most important to consider during this period. First, employment programs intersected with other grants and Museum activities, enabling the DCM to professionalize. Second, new federal project grants encouraged museums to professionalize and directed activity at the DCM. Third, relationships with Parks Canada provided expertise guiding Museum staff in their efforts
Employment Policies
Staring in 1975, the DCM began using federal employment programs to support staff. The grants were particularly important because there were no operational funding programs targeting Yukon community museums at the time. The DCM’s ongoing funding was limited to earned revenues and a $500 tourism grant. Employment programs supplemented the limited funding with support for what became the Museum’s most valuable resource – staff.
In the 1970s, baby boomers were entering the workforce, causing an increase in youth unemployment rates (Roy and Wang 2000). In some areas, de-industrialization also contributed to these high rates. The federal government responded by investing in employment with the Local Initiatives Program in 1971. While the program experienced cuts and was terminated in 1977 (Blake 1976), the federal government announced a new Employment Strategy in 1976 (Keck 1995), which led to a variety of programs like Canada Works.
Reflecting on the importance of these employment programs, an Interview Participant recalled:
In the 1970s the federal government had Winter Works programs, LIP, Local initiative Programs, which evolved into the Winter Works Grant or the Canada Works Grant, and it was primarily to keep people working in the winter.
I offered to put together one of the applications in ‘75. I had moved to Dawson by that point so that allowed me to stay in Dawson, and have employment through the winter, and then I could hire other people. We basically batted heads together with the Society on trying to improve the appearance of the Museum and give it a more solid standing within the community.
Interview 5
As the quote suggests, the employment programs enabled the Museum to professionalize its offerings. Most significantly, the Museum received a $133,000 “work grant” from the Department of Employment and Immigration’s Canada Community Services Program (DCM Director’s Annual Report March 4th, 1981). The grant supported the three-year Klondike Heritage Services project beginning in 1981. It enabled work on the resource center, education programs, audio-visual materials, registration and collection, photography, displays, and more (DCM Klondike Heritage Services Report).
Importantly, federal civil servants actively supported the Museum in making applications for the work grants. As an Interview Participant recalled:
Canada Manpower in Whitehorse was instrumental in those grants being divvied out… There was one individual who was responsible for Dawson. He had come up, and invariably after the first grant we got, he would jokingly say, “now what do you want?” He’d tell me what grants were available, and he’d give me tips on what not to ask for, or what could be covered.
Each year, it seemed that when we applied for a grant, the parameters for that grant had expanded. He was very quick to tell us, “last year you wanted to do this, that and the other, and you couldn’t. Well, this year, you can apply for that if it fits in with what you want to do.” If we submitted an application, he would phone us up and say, “yeah, I don’t think it’s going to happen if you include this or that.” Usually, by the time we had done the final draft on our application, we had covered all the bases that were asked of us. He was involved in that. I can’t take that credit.
Interview 5
In short, employment grants were available and applications for them were supported, leading to year-round staff at the DCM. As described in the overview, having staff enabled the Museum to become more professional. For example, the DCM used Winter Work and Canada Works grants to research exhibitions (DCM Minutes March 28, 1978; Jones 1977). As one Interview Participant observed:
[The Director] got some grants that ran a couple of years and hired nineteen people. We set up, essentially, a modern museum like the staffing structure. That was really the beginning of pulling the Museum out of a curio shop into a museum with policies and procedures and an idea of what the correct way to go about things were.
Interview 7
Notably, the new staff were also able to support fundraising events and apply for project grants, which further expanded the Museum’s capacity.
Project Funding
In the early 1970s, the federal government development a national museums policy, involving support for community museums. The DCM was ineligible for support as an associate museum and other project grants because of the poor condition of the Old Territorial Administration Building, which housed the Museum (Lawrence 1978). However, they began accessing available project grants in the late 1970s, which provided direction for professionalization with support for employment tied to projects the programs encouraged.
More specifically, in 1978, the Museum used a National Inventory Assistance Cataloguing Grant to hire staff (DCM Minutes September 26, 1978; DCM Director’s Report May 30 1978), directing work toward the collection. As an Interview Participant recalled:
The first funding that was available was for cataloging because, as I said, even at the Dawson Museum, we didn’t know where a lot of this stuff came from. Just to have photographs and descriptions just the basics without even trying to figure out where the things came from hadn’t been done to that point. So that was, again, government that said, “you have to look at your collections and figure out what you’ve got.”
Interview 7
The winter work was the core of people that were doing inventory or cataloging. Lots of cataloging, of course, because that’s where the money was from the government.
Interview 7
In short, the Museum was eligible for and able to get funding through the National Inventory Assistance program, which directed work toward collection management. However, due to an inadequate facility, the Museum was limited in the grants it could apply for. Importantly, the DCM was not alone. The Lord report observed an under use of federal funding in Yukon “largely due to inadequate staff and facilities to qualify for them” (12).
Relationship with Parks Canada
In addition to funding through articulated policy programs, the Museum began receiving support from Parks Canada. Notably, Museum and Parks Canada employees (that is, people) developed a relationship with each other as they worked on the Dawson City Film Find in 1977. Parks Canada employees then began to support the Museum more actively in a variety of ways. An Interview Participant recalled:
During my time there, the person in charge of Parks Canada in Dawson was amazing. Anything they could do for the Museum they would do it.
Interview 5
Addressing the perennial concern – money, Parks Canada assistance directed more finances toward the Museum. As an Interview Participant stated:
Whenever we were looking at how to put more money into the museum, which would allow us to work on exhibits, research, cataloging, anything like that, Parks Canada came in
Interview 5
The financial support mentioned in the quote was indirect and not grant related. For example, Parks Canada engaged the Museum in contract work. One of the Interview Participants began working at the Museum through a contract with Parks Canada. She recalled:
I was relatively new to the community, I was looking for work, and I heard of a project that I was interested in. It was a joint project between the local Parks Canada office and the Dawson City Museum. [It] was documenting and recording historic sites and objects in the Klondike gold fields. I applied for it, got hired and worked for the summer months
Interview 9
The contracts provided the Museum with the funding to staff the project and a small profit. Further, Parks Canada collaborated to develop materials for the Museum’s gift shop, such as a post card series and a poster.
Supporting collections management, Parks Canada began allowing the Museum to store materials at the Bear Creek Complex (this continues today). Parks Canada employees also helped provide training for those doing collections work. As stated in a newsletter:
[Employee] has also been hired to assist with cataloguing. She is currently receiving three months training by [the] Curator of Collections for Klondike National Historic Sites (KNHS). In a cooperative venture, KNHS will provide [the employee] with on-the-job training in exchange for her “free” labor to that organization for this three-month period
Jones-Gates 1981, 8
Eventually, Parks Canada employees would even play key roles on the Museum Board and communities, such as the collections committee established in 1982. Participation enabled them to help train and guide museum staff. Several Interview Participants noted the importance of Parks Canada experts in providing advice and expertise whenever issues emerged:
Parks Canada, probably, was the one group in Dawson who very happily sent any specialist who came to town, they’d send them over, “go talk to [the Director] at the Museum” about whatever it was, so lots of advice, lots of sound suggestions from their staff
Interview 5
We relied a lot on what we considered the elite conservation or maintenance of collections. We looked to Parks Canada for expertise, and they had a big crew at one time. They had more than 60 people working in town. They had a conservator… They were very generous in supporting the Museum always.
Interview 7
In short, through relationships with Parks Canada staff, the Museum’s staff (hired with support from employment grants, project funding, and contracts with federal agencies) were better able to professionalize – that, engage in collections management and develop well researched exhibitions. The relationships formed in the late 1970s were thus integral to the Museum’s development moving forward. In particular, Parks Canada staff began to sit on the Museum’s board and were able to direct the Museum’s efforts through the 1980s, which (as we will discuss in the next working paper) was a decade of change through territorial investment.
Community
While the employment programs, project grants, and Parks Canada’s assistance provided the support needed to professionalize, the professionalization would not have been possible without the people the museum employed and the impressive collection around which those people organized.
People
During the 1970s, there was an influx of young people with an interest in heritage. Some of those people were working for Parks Canada, which was developing the Klondike National Historic Sites. Others had moved in search of adventure. The youth became integral to the Museum as volunteers and staff. As Interview Participants recalled:
Young people were discovering Dawson. By young people, I’m thinking that in the summer months, Dawson had many businesses that only opened for the summer, so they all needed staff, and people could pitch their tents across the river and come into town to work. They would have free time and some of them, well, many of them, were University students. They’d come to the Museum, and some of them would volunteer to, I don’t know, wash the floors, or do this, that and the other. As a result, wherever they were working, they would let their employee know that it was a neat place to go to the Museum.
Interview 5
A lot of people had moved in the seventies and were looking around for something fun and exciting to do and be involved in. The Museum is a huge structure, and the collection was just amazingly interesting. So, it was a natural draw for those people. They were keen to be involved.
Interview 7
The second quote highlights that youth engagement at the Museum reflected a desire to engage with such an interesting collection in an interesting place. As that Interview Participant recalled:
At the time when I started [at the Museum] I think I was making five dollars an hour. And so, it wasn’t a well-paid job. People didn’t come to it because of that. They came because it was an interesting place to work, and it drew other interesting people.
Interview 7
Despite being central to the Museum’s work, staff was not paid well or employed permanently because of limited funding. As a result, employment at the Museum was only one job. An Interview Participant recalled:
The younger kids that came in would have worked at the casino and then they would be in a restaurant or handling baggage. You could have three jobs or two jobs during the week – one in the day and one at night and a third one on the weekend – but that wasn’t my position. My position was I would get a project and follow through with that, and then I would either be working on another project or working in construction
Interview 7
Engagement with the youth that moved to Dawson is important because they became fundamental to the Museum’s work moving forward. Some of the employees who started at in the 1970s were contracted over a period of about 20 years. As Participants recalled:
At that point [that is, 1976], I think I was running the staff and the front desk stuff. But over the years I’ve had very many positions with the Museum and sometimes there were a few of us that were quite loyal and, depending on the job, one of them would be the lead and I would work for them or at another time I would be and somebody else [would] work for me on the project. It was something that we didn’t worry about too much … but just focused on getting the job done and making the Museum a great institution… We were a great bunch of loyal people for a number of years.
Interview 7
I wasn’t full time at the Museum, I had other part time work or other contract work that was augmented by work at the Museum. There was always a shifting face of staff, but generally there were a core six to eight people.
Interview 9
In short, the availability of people is necessary for museums to use project and employment grants. However, it can be challenging for museums to maximize these programs to professionalize without staff with the knowledge and experience to engage in museum work. Starting in the 1970s, the DCM began hiring people with an interest and enthusiasm for the institution. They were able to develop the skills they needed. Given the seasonal nature of employment in the region the Museum continued to benefit from their experience over a long period of time.
Collection
Within the first chronological consideration of the data, I argued the community influenced the museum through donations to the collection. The collection continued to be a key vehicle of influence in the 1970s. As an Interview Participant recalled:
The first Museum burned and people in the community were great about saying “well, this should be in the Museum.” Now that you’re in a bigger building and there’s room for things. The connection to the community was very strong. People would come in and say, “can I see that mammoth tooth that I donated twenty years ago?” They were quite proud of the fact that they had contributed to the collection the Museum held.
Interview 7
[The] collection related more to what the community thought was important. So we got collections that related to mining. We got more personal things and a lot of that was the items that First Nations made to sell tourists… The second museum [that is – after the 1960 fire] was like a new start for the community to say “Okay, this is important. This is what we consider important”
Interview 7
Importantly, the community shaping the collection was not limited to a local community. The museum helped researchers and would occasionally receive donations through that community of people:
Most of them were quite happy, and quite often it resulted in, sometimes a donation of money, but generally if they had photographs, or diaries, or letters, or anything from that period, they would either donate them or make quality copies for us to have, with the idea that when they passed away, they’d donate the originals.
Interview 5
As a foundation for activity, the collection then influenced other areas of museum work. For instance, when the contents of a cabin were donated to the Museum, staff created a diorama of a cabin. An Interview Participant recalled:
Oh, there was Harry Leaman’s cabin. When he passed away, the contents of his cabin were donated to the Museum. In one corner, there was a re-creation of the interior of his cabin, his table, his chair, etc.
Interview 5
In short, communities notably shape the Museum’s activities through donations to the collection.
Conclusion
Some may argue that collections are museums most valuable resources. I do not think that is true. I think its people. Without people, collections are just storages of decaying objects. People are central to all aspects of museum work.
The 1970s saw a confluence of grants and migration that enabled the Museum staff – people – to professionalize. While the federal museum program provided some direction toward collections work, implicit museum policies were in many ways more important. In particular, employment funding allowed the Museum to hire staff who worked to implement best practices and relationships with Parks Canada provided direction to those efforts. Without staff, the Museum would have been unable to both access project funding and then do those projects.
References
Blake, Donald. 1976. “LIP and Partisanship: An Analysis of the Local Initiatives Program.” Canadian Public Policy. Vol. 2 (2): 17-32.
Museoception 