The University of Lethbridge website aims to reconnect the elements of Blackfoot with the people of Blackfoot – Lethbridge | The Canadian News

It was three years of preparation and finally, on Thursday morning, a collaborative project led by Blackfoot Elders was launched with researchers from the University of Lethbridge and the UK, as well as British artists and museums.

The website is called Mootookakio’s Sin, which translates to “distant consciousness.” It was named for Elder Dr. Leroy Little Bear and aims to connect people living in traditional Blackfoot territory with some non-sacred historical Blackfoot belongings that can now be found in British museums.

“It started simply by acknowledging the lack of access to this important cultural material that has been hidden in museum shops far away,” said Christine Clark, assistant professor of New Media at the University of Lethbridge College of Fine Arts.

“Some people have been able to go and visit him, but many times that experience cannot necessarily be shared beyond those people.”

Blackfoot elders were contacted to see if there would be interest and what protocols should be followed to move forward.

“There was great interest in being able to share these models and share them with others and that contributes to all the hard work that many elders and guardians of knowledge are doing to try to revitalize the culture.”

A group of researchers and elders went to the UK in 2019 to visit these articles and select some to display on the interactive website. Hundreds of photos were taken from different angles and different light sources. These were later used to create the 3D models and the reflectance transformation images (RTI).

Those 3D images and RTI models are Mootookakio’s sin.

“We went and looked at material from the late 1700s to the early 1800s,” said the Piikani Nation’s senior adviser, Jerry Potts. “Some of these things were done before contact with the whites.”

“It was a great opportunity to be able to capture some of the art and how things were done.”

The interactive website allows people who do not normally have access to Blackfoot belongings to take a closer and more engaging look at history.

“So when you bring it digital, you have an interactive image where you can pass light across the surface and reveal details that are actually difficult to see with the naked eye,” Clark said.

Clark added that a lot of time was spent on the design and development phase. They didn’t want the new site to look like the items were on display in a museum. They wanted to feel like they were coming home to Blackfoot territory.

“The website enables people to understand colonization and the impact that colonization has had on indigenous peoples as a whole by removing elements that are deeply connected to people,” said Melissa Shouting, graduate student at the University of Lethbridge who worked as a consultant and researcher. .

The screams are from the Kainai Nation, which is part of the Blackfoot Confederacy.

“It feels amazing to be able to show people and invite them into our world and teach them a little bit, but also allow artisans to use the website so they can create items as well.”

Potts believes this is a step in the right direction when it comes to truth and reconciliation.

“If someone wants to change or make a difference, they need to learn about the culture and other people and how they live and what they do.”

He believes that this collaborative website highlights the university’s efforts to reach out to another culture and give them the same credibility and insight.

“We come from a very high value standard of living in the way we were before contact. And that is what will take us to the future to save who we are, our language, our culture and our process ”.