James Evans Memorial Museum Consultation

Background Context

Twenty years prior to my involvement in the early 1980's, a Museum had been formed and funds raised with the purpose of preserving First Nations artifacts which at the time were being bought up by visiting collectors from the United States and removed from circulation. It was seen as being a stop-gap measure until a more permanent arrangement indigenous to the community could emerge.

The instigator and visionary of this project was in a fatal accident just after establishing the committee. The committee met faithfully for the intervening years, but had no vision or direction so no further activity had transpired. I was asked to meet with them, assess the present situation and either help them to move forward or to dissolve the organization.

Approach Used

• I met with the stakeholders and researched out the current relevance of the organization.
• I recommended that the organization terminate after the project was finished as the Museum of Man and Nature had started to fill the need. I suggested that funding for an educational film on the creation of Syllabic Writing might be in order as the name sake of the organization was its inventor, and the preservation of a living language might fulfil the spirit of the original mandate of the organization.
• We set up a co-production arrangement for the film, and I researched, wrote and produced the 16mm. film with them.

Current Status

Findings To Date

There is a variety of ways to fulfil an original mandate if one strips back to the current needs and compares them with original mandates.

Lateral Connections

Required for Completion

Finished.