St. Catharine’s Museum and Ontario Lacrosse Hall Of Fame

SOCI 2F60 Foundations for Community Engagement

October 9, 2012

On September 25, 2012,  I sent the afternoon at the St. Catharine’s Museum and Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame.   I was welcomed by a friendly outgoing worker at the gift shop.  Who invited me to tour the museum without charge. 

            My afternoon was quite relaxing and informative.  I was able to read and take in the information at my own pace.  As I took in the information provided by the museum I quickly became frustrated and angry towards the exhibits.  The lack of recognition towards the Iroquois people quickly became the source of my anger and disappointment.  Each exhibit show cased the glory and accomplishments of the early settlers and did not give recognition to the Iroquois of their inherent rights to the land and the role and involvement to the war.   

            Towards the end of my afternoon at the museum I quietly and respectfully watched others take in the museum.   I observed two older East Indian looking men and what seemed to be there wives Walk through the museum. They pointed to museum pieces and talked in a language other than English.  I also seen  more older men and women who were taking in the museum.  I observed a majority of them off loading from the tour bus.  There were also two male oriental men talking in the native language. 

While on the observation deck I observed a cool breeze on a sunny day.  Fortunately there were no boats going through the canal.  Without the boats the waters were calm and the waters were high in the channel.  The peaceful environment of the sun and the breeze created a clam relaxing feeling within myself.  This was disturbed by the canal.  The cannel created a unwanted feeling within myself. I was unable to truly connect with the land by the man made harnessing of the water.  The cannel reminded me of what man has done to create the destruction of a natural environment for  financial gain.   On this day I seen how the natural environment is compromised to generate financial prosperity.   

            The overall experience was quite interesting.  I was able to see firsthand the value and impact of having a museum with exhibits in operation. This is a place where the young, old and different cultural backgrounds can see for then selves  the events  that have happened on the land over the different time periods.  For myself this also shows how bias you can portray history.

            I have learned that, many people from different walks of life come to the St. Catharine’s Museum.  There are people who know absolutely nothing about the area, and are new to the country.  It is very interesting that during this day a majority of the people who are taking in the museum were older or spoke little to no English.  I learned this by observation the people during my afternoon at the museum.  I tried to talk to the East Indian Women and the Chinese men and there was no response.  This significant language barrier is key to understanding who visits the museum on a daily basis.  Knowing who your primary audience is beneficial when you rely on people to take in the exhibits at the museum. 

            I also learned that the Iroquois involvement in the settling of the area of present day St. Catharine’s is not represented in the museum.  However there is definite acknowledgement of the Iroquois in the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame.  This was shown by the specific exhibits giving an accurate description of the Iroquois connection to the game of Lacrosse.  This is important to me because I am a woman of Iroquois ancestry, the Iroquois are my people.  I would like to see more exhibits that show case the game of lacrosse.  There are many more pictures and trophies that need to be showcased in the hall of fame. 

            From this experience at the Museum I will take a new look at the city of St. Catharine’s.  This experience gives myself a strong foundation of information to grow my knowledge on. I know have a totally different perspective to my second O.O.C.L.O.'S.  I feel that I need a O.O.C.L.O. that has a people driven with interaction other than a self-guided tour. I did however feel that I took in tons of information that I did not know before.  I have heard stories about the underground rail road but this was the first opportunity to actually see pictures in person.