Treaty Canoe, as installed at the University of Windsor Art Gallery

CANADIAN CANOE MUSEUM TO EXHIBIT TREATY CANOE

Our newest exhibit exhibit features two works by Windsor, Ontario-based Artist Alex Mckay. “Treaty Canoe,” (1999) and “Treaty of Niagara, 1764,” (1999) both speak to the nature of treaties between Canada and our First Nations. “Treaty Canoe” is a 12-foot canoe made from the text of original treaties transcribed onto parchment paper. “Treaty of Niagara, 1764,” is a birch bark megaphone representing an important but “lost” treaty based on the Royal Proclamation of 1763. Both works are part of an exhibit entitled “Treaty Canoe: Spirit of the Agreement,” which will be on exhibit at the Canoe Museum from April 15th, 2009 to  February 28th, 2010. The exhibit will also include the opportunity for visitors to read the text of historic treaties.

“This exhibit represents a significant step forward for the Canoe Museum,” said Executive Director James Raffan. “McKay’s work raises important questions about Canada’s relationship with our First Nations. To have these questions posed in the form of a canoe only increases their relevance, for the canoe has been a medium of exchange and understanding between peoples just as treaties have been.” “Treaty Canoe is at one and the same time both a canoe and more than a canoe,” according to Curator Jeremy Ward. “It is related to the more than 500 canoes in our collection, but it also carries a larger message, and makes us keenly aware of the central place of the canoe in the life and culture of Canada.”

The exhibit was organized by a planning group including members of US and Canadian First Nations, Canoe Museum staff and board members, Trent University faculty and graduate students and visiting academics. The Canadian Canoe Museum is open 7 days a week. Entry to the exhibit “Treaty Canoe: Spirit of the Exhibit” is included with regular museum admission.