Wikwemikong’s Naomi Recollet completes internship at the world’s largest museum

By Rick Garrick

MANITOULIN ISLAND—Wikwemikong First Nation’s Naomi Recollet recently discovered a deck of birch bark playing cards during her Summer Institute in Museum Anthropology internship at the Smithsonian Institution, the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex, in Washington, D.C.

“That was cool — there was a whole deck, 52 cards,” says the University of Toronto student who is working towards a double degree focused on a Master’s of Museum Studies and a Master’s of Information Studies. “They were little birch bark sheets and they were printed.”

Recollet also looked at a birch bark book printed in English during her internship project, which was focused on objects that were made from or contained birch bark, mainly from the Great Lakes region.

“It was a book that was printed in the 1880’s or 1890’s,” Recollet says. “It was printed on birch bark by a Chief named Chief Pokagon. He was Potawatomi from around the Chicago area. In that book he talked about the history of the Potawatomi, but also the history of the Chicago area. It was really cool to see.”

Recollet says she has always been interested in looking at old things.

“I just think they have a story to tell or they have a history to tell,” Recollet says. “I’ve been involved in a few projects where I’ve seen community members or Elders in museum collections. The experience of that is like magic; I can’t explain it other than…it was a magical experience and I want more of that.”

Recollet began the internship on June 24 and completed it in just over four weeks. She says the environment was friendly and “very supportive.”

“I cried a lot in my first two weeks, mostly because it was overwhelming, especially when you are in the storage part of the collections,” Recollet says. “There was so much stuff. So that was overwhelming. I got emotional for a few days and they said it happens a lot, especially when Anishinabek or other Native people go there.”

Recollet says her internship at the Smithsonian Institution has given her a better sense of how to work with museums.

“I’m planning on doing a community project with the Smithsonian as part of their Recovering Voices [program],” Recollet says. “With that I hope to get a few Elders, a few community members and [look] at the birch bark scrolls.”

The Recovering Voices program aims to improve access, in collaboration with communities and partner organizations, to the Smithsonian’s diverse collections and to support interdisciplinary research, documentation, and revitalization.

Recollet has enjoyed being exposed to opportunities and challenges during her studies, noting she also travelled to Vienna, Austria in January to study Odawa and Ojibwa collections.

“It was awesome,” Recollet says. “I got to study under this lady named Dr. Ruth Phillips. She is a superstar within the art history world, so just to learn from her was pretty beneficial for me.”

Recollet says more Anishinaabe staff members are needed in museums and archives.

“We need more knowledgeable people of how to work within those institutions but also be able to work within the community,” Recollet says. “The more representation we have, then the better it will be for our communities in reconnecting with our knowledge.”

Recollet says her ultimate goal is to see a museum established in Wikwemikong to collect the community’s history and provide a place for more learning.