Museum Exhibit Review: Ontario Museum of Archaeology

Museum of Ontario Archaeology
1600 Atttawandaron Road
London, Ontario
Canada N6G 3M6

The Gathering of Good Minds and Native Harvest Festival presents
‘A Celebration of First Nations Arts, Wisdom and Culture’ September 21-23, 2007.
Reviewed September 22 and 23, 2007


Main Gallery is a permanent exhibit. Temporary Gallery September 23, 2007-March 23, 2008. Lawson Village is an ongoing excavation with reconstructions beginning in July, 2007. Museum is open May-December 10-430 (Sept. to Dec. closed M & T). January-April 1-4 Sa. & Su. only. Family $10, Adults: $4, Seniors/Students: $3.25, Children 5 to 12: $2, Preschoolers and Sponsors Free. Village site open May to Nov. (Weather Permitting). Executive Director, Dr. Robert Pearce.

Internet description of museum, virtual tour, education resources, membership and employment information, the museum gift shop, and the Neutral Iroquoian Village, http://www.uwo.ca/museum/index.html


The Museum of Ontario Archaeology is located in London, Ontario, and was originally founded in 1933 by Amos and Wilfred Jury. It has been affiliated with the University of Western Ontario as a research facility and educational resource since 1927. The 500-year-old Neutral Iroquoian village was discovered in the 19th century, and the land was donated by Tom and Miggsie Lawson for the construction of a new museum and archaeological exploration. The museum’s current location beside the village was built in 1980, after it was discovered that the area was a 4,000-year-old campsite. Their directive is the research, education, archaeology, and collection of local Ontario history and Aboriginal pre-history.

On a beautiful, sunny weekend in late September, the museum hosted ‘A Celebration of First Nations Arts, Wisdom and Culture’ organised by The Gathering of Good Minds and Native Harvest Festival. The festival was supported by such institutions as the Ontario Arts Council, The University of Western Ontario, and the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation. The celebration was outside the museum in the recently unveiled Lawson Iroquoian Village, which is an on-going archaeological excavation and reconstruction of a pre-historic Neutral Iroquoian village, the only one of its kind in Canada. The village is divided from the museum by a reconstructed wooden palisade and efforts were made to make it as “real” as possible. The effect certainly gives the enclosure a sense of “authenticity” and adds to the character of the museum. Within the palisade were several interactive activities and performances. There was a reconstructed longhouse, tipi, canoe, snowshoes, and drums—all of which were hand-made and based on archaeological evidence. The site was attended by local Natives ready and happy to explain the significance of the items, how they were built, and tell fascinating tales from their past or the lives of their ancestors. The interactive activities were mostly intended for children and families, but were interesting enough to capture the attention of any age. They had crafts, archaeological excavations, and song and dance lessons. This was an excellent effort by the museum to get people involved in history.

The museum displays its permanent exhibition in the main gallery, just off of the gift shop entrance. The exhibit was designed to reflect Ontario’s archaeological history, focusing largely on the Native peoples who have occupied the area for the past 5,000 years. According to the staff, the artefacts and displays are arranged chronologically from prehistoric times to the 20th century. There were many interesting artefacts, and a plethora of spearheads almost to excess, but the displays lacked labels and rarely had dates. It is a rather small room, and the displays were haphazard and dusty, making any arrangement difficult to follow. Granted, the main gallery is under renovation for some new permanent displays that will be placed near the entrance, but it is unfortunate that they did not take the time to dust off the displays and fix the broken shelving that had artefacts dangling from them in a most precarious manner.

At the back of the room there was an interesting miniature display showing the arrival of the ‘Black Robes’ to a typical 16th century Native village with a telephone through which you can listen to a dialog about Native life, subsistence, practices, and culture. The dialog was informative; however, it was presented in a rather dull and monotonous voice and the display was outmoded. It was quite dark in the gallery and there was nothing to try and engage the viewer to understand the implications of the myriad of artefacts—quite the contrast to the interactive focus of the outdoor exhibit. The virtual museum on the website for the exhibit provides a more in-depth look into Native lives during different time periods; it is unfortunate that they do not make the same wealth of information available in the museum itself.

In the centre of the room was a large textual panel dedicated to the two armed merchant schooners found on the bottom of Lake Ontario—the Hamilton and the Scourge—from the War of 1812, but there were no artefacts displayed from the discovery. There was also a small room dedicated to the founders of the museum, the Jury family, and their personal collections, but it was closed to viewers. These two displays lacked any identifying visual connection to the overall theme of “Aboriginal culture” and were the only testament to European culture in the local history. They looked awkward and very out of place.

The Temporary Gallery at the back of the building continued the Aboriginal theme of the museum and had a beautiful display featuring three Native artists—Zoey Wood, R. Gary Miller, and Gordon Miller. This room was more like a professional art gallery as the layout had an aesthetically pleasing and symmetrical pattern. The museum chose an excellent combination of artists, each with very unique styles, but all used bright, powerful colours that complimented each other nicely. The lighting was effective, and focused on the paintings on each wall, giving them a gentle glow, while keeping the centre of the room dimmer. The paintings were an excellent conclusion to round off the Native cultural experience; however, because it was so nice, it made the main gallery even drabber in comparison.

The Museum of Ontario Archaeology has many qualities to recommend it—the Village especially was successful in engaging visitors with history. There was more to learn about Aboriginal culture from the one Native woman telling the story of the gathering of the Sweetgrass than all of the indoor displays. The main gallery may not have appeared so vapid had it not been for the fact that there was a bright, fun, engaging, outdoor display. However, the overall effectiveness of the museum to communicate some aspects of Aboriginal history was successful because the culture the artefacts functioned within was recreated in the various exhibits and displays. The three exhibits together provided a more holistic cultural context to the traditional museum by demonstrating how Aboriginal culture, art, and artefacts all came together to form the local history of Ontario.