Dr. Katherine Pettipas, Curator of Native Ethnology and the Hudson’s Bay Company Museum Collection

The past years have been both busy and exciting ones for curatorial staff working with the Hudson’s Bay Company Museum Collection. Former Curatorial Assistant, Doug McGregor and I were involved in making preparations for its relocation to the Museum’s new storage facilities as well as researching, cataloguing and photographing the Collection.

My own research focused on the production of a major exhibition for the planned Hudson’s Bay Company Gallery, which opened to the public on May 2, 2000. Ultimately, I wanted to see its results published as a catalogue presenting the history of the Collection. The catalogue would also feature a selection of representative items in their appropriate cultural and historical contexts.

The search for details about the producers and owners of artifacts is proving to be fascinating. Unearthing layer after layer of new information, we are giving voice to the objects, their makers and users. We follow leads in the original documents and oral histories of the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives; the comparative collections of other repositories; and numerous primary and secondary sources published on the history of the fur trade.
Another area of study involved innovative ways of interpreting and presenting material culture in exhibitions by using new design ideas and interactive technologies. I was working with Chief of Design Gordon Filewych to determine the best ways to present the Hudson’s Bay Company Museum Collection to Museum visitors. Another goal was to incorporate several types of information delivery systems to ensure that the Collection is as accessible as possible to the public.

Since the original donation of the Collection, the continued support of the Hudson’s Bay Company Foundation, along with the new donations to the Collection, have greatly assisted our research. Over the past few years, a number of individuals whose family histories intertwine with that of the Company’s have generously contributed to the Hudson’s Bay Company Museum Collection. We also recently received what had once been boardroom furnishings of Beaver House in London from the Hudson’s Bay Company in Toronto. Each new piece serves to tell yet another story and assists us in providing as full and accurate a portrayal as we can on this important aspect of Canadian history.