hyperboreantom

Dearest Mother Pt 1: Hurrying Us Through

Postcards from a Métis Trooper in the First World War In 2024, my father shared with me some postcards he had kept. They were passed down by his great-grandmother, Eliza Scheer (nee Desmarais) a Métis midwife who ran a boarding house in Fort MacLeod in the early decades of the 20th century. Most were fromContinue reading “Dearest Mother Pt 1: Hurrying Us Through”

Steal this Idea: Whenfinding

This isn’t a new or really different idea, but it’s surprising how many museums don’t do this very well. Simple, clean design and clear calls to action. Give your guests a reason to come back. Also did I just coin “whenfinding?” It must appear somewhere else, right? Got other examples? Put them in the comments!Continue reading “Steal this Idea: Whenfinding”

Interpre-meme: Guide on the Side

Interpreters can fall into a number of easy traps, but the most common is making yourself the star of the show. Good interpreters remember that they are equal to their visitors, and help facilitate engagement with the resource. Ideally visitors go away wondering about questions that neither of them can answer.

Interpre-meme: Getting off topic

In unstructured interpretation (that is, not on a tour or more structured programme), it can sometimes be difficult to stay focused on your themes and your mission. But unstructured interpretation has great strengths as well, able to meet visitors where they are and engage on a variety of topics in a variety of ways, unlikeContinue reading “Interpre-meme: Getting off topic”

Clio’s Armada The 1893 Santa Maria and the 1492 Fleet

Tom Long, 2024 I recently covered the Viking ship replica which appeared at the 1893 Chicago Exposition, and feel I ought to give some space to the vessel(s) which Viking was in many ways a response to: the 1893 Santa Maria and other ships of Christopher Columbus. “In 1893, the Spanish government built replicas ofContinue reading “Clio’s Armada The 1893 Santa Maria and the 1492 Fleet”

Clio’s Armada: Freedom Schooner Amistad and adding Social Justice to Sail Training

I have covered several replica tallships for this blog already and was looking for something that took a different approach or had a unique take: enter Freedom Schooner Amistad. This two-masted schooner is a replica of La Amistad, the slave ship at the centre of a seminal moment in the history of abolition in theContinue reading “Clio’s Armada: Freedom Schooner Amistad and adding Social Justice to Sail Training”

North Saskatchewan Heritage River Webinar

In Spring of 2021 Tom got to participate in a Heritage River webinar as part of Smoky Lake County’s efforts to have the North Saskatchewan River recognised as one of Canada’s heritage rivers. (This was successful!) From 30.40 to 40.51 you can see his story “Mr. Rowand’s River Race: The Year the North Saskatchewan wasContinue reading “North Saskatchewan Heritage River Webinar”

Clio’s Armada: 1893 Viking and the Mystique of the Viking Longship

Tom Long, 2024 I still think I’ve found the earliest modern example of heritage boatbuilding with Napoleon III’s 1863 trireme reconstruction effort, but I was still shocked at the vintage of this 1893 viking longship replica, appropriately called Viking. In 1880, a new archaeological discovery of a longship sparked a great deal of interest. TheContinue reading “Clio’s Armada: 1893 Viking and the Mystique of the Viking Longship”

Clio’s Armada: The (Second) Bounty replica and Thirty Years of Adventure

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of replica vessels out there for me to look at in the course of this blog. Often each story I find leads to another. Expo ’86 has proven to be a goldmine of heritage boatbuilding and replicas from around the world, including this second Bounty replica. But that’s notContinue reading “Clio’s Armada: The (Second) Bounty replica and Thirty Years of Adventure”

Clio’s Armada: Loo Taas and the Not So Lost Art of Haida Canoe Carving

One boat leads to another, and there is a remarkable cache of content for me contained in the records of Expo ’86 in Vancouver. The Golden Hind replica of London, Phinisi Antar Bangsa from Indonesia, the York Boats I know so well from Fort Edmonton Park and others. And, of course, famous Haida artist BillContinue reading “Clio’s Armada: Loo Taas and the Not So Lost Art of Haida Canoe Carving”