Month: September 2023

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation: Remembering Emma Stanley

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation: Remembering Emma Stanley

Jared

Editor’s note: September 30 is National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day. Reading residential school histories can be a painful process. If reading this is causing pain or bringing back distressing memories, please call the Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419. The Crisis Line is available 24 hours a day and can also provide information on other health supports provided by the Health Canada Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program.

Written by: Laura Golebiowski (Indigenous Consultation Adviser) in collaboration with Whitefish Lake First Nation #128.

Emma Stanley was born in 1886, in the area known today as Whitefish Lake in northeastern Alberta. Her mother was Eliza and her father was Cheepo-Koot, or Charles. She had at least two sisters. The last name Stanley was assigned to Indigenous families upon christening by the Methodist ministers of time. These assigned names are still known and common in the community today.

Emma and her family were members of James Seenum’s Band, contemporarily known as Whitefish Lake First Nation #128. Their leader was Chief Pakan, or James Seenum: “a very forceful and highly respected figure.” When the Nation signed Treaty Six, Cheepo-Koot was selected as one of three Councillors.  

In the years and decades prior to Emma’s birth, James Seenum’s Band members lived by the Cree seasonal round, which influenced their hunting, fishing, agricultural and travel practices. “In the spring-time, after the potatoes and turnips were planted, [the people] went south on their buffalo hunt, leaving the missionary and a few of the older people at home to look after the place and anything that had to be done. They would travel till they came to the buffalo range. After a good day’s hunt there was lots to do, such as curing the meat so it would keep. The surprising thing was that there was no such thing as flies to bother the fresh meat.”

“James Seenum, Pakan, and family at Whitefish Lake reserve, Alberta,” ca early 1900s. (CU194507) by unknown photographer. Source: Glenbow Library and Archives Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary.
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Way-Out: A psychedelic tribute to Bruce Haack

Way-Out: A psychedelic tribute to Bruce Haack

Jared

Editor’s note: The banner image above shows legendary experimental musician Bruce Haack (right) with long-time collaborator and friend Ted Pandel (left) , circa 1985. Image courtesy of the Provincial Archives of Alberta.

The Provincial Archives of Alberta also invites you to an evening devoted to electronic music pioneer Bruce Haack at the TELUS World of Science – Edmonton, Zeidler Dome for a screening of the 2004 documentary Haack: The King of Techno followed by a lightshow performance set to Haack’s landmark album The Electric Lucifer. The event takes place on Friday, September 29. Doors at 6:30 p.m., show at 7 p.m. The event is free, seating is first come, first served.

Written by: Jared Majeski (Editor, RETROactive) and Braden Cannon (Private Records Archivist, Provincial Archives of Alberta [PAA])

After creating some of the most spaced-out, light years-ahead-of-its-time experimental electronic music, the renaissance of Albertan Bruce Haack continues apace. His music has been reissued by record labels around the world (including Toronto’s own Telephone Explosion Records), he was the subject of the 2004 documentary Haack: The King of Techno and now, some of his most treasured possessions have been made available at the Provincial Archives of Alberta.

Tape reel from Haack’s recording for Def Jam Records’ Russell Simmons. Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta.

Bruce Haack, from the Rocky Mountain House area, was born in 1931 and displayed music talent from an early age. He attended the University of Alberta before being accepted into the Julliard School in New York City to study music. After a year, he dropped out to explore his own, unique ideas in music. He had an early interest in electronic music and began to design and build his own electronic instruments and voice modulators. Together with Ted Pandel, a pianist whom he met at Julliard, Haack supported himself with songwriting gigs for record labels and advertising firms. He eventually met Esther Nelson, a children’s dance instructor, and collaborated with her on a series of children’s records using Haack’s electronic instruments and his increasingly experimental arrangements. Haack gained further attention through appearances on “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson” and “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood” where he would demonstrate his inventions such as a synthesizer that would emit sound through touch.

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The Bright Path: The Johnny Bright Story

The Bright Path: The Johnny Bright Story

Jared

Editor’s note: The banner image above is courtesy of the Drake University archives.

Written by: RETROactive staff

An African American standout player at Drake University during the 40s and 50s, Johnny Bright was a front-runner to win the 1951 Heisman Trophy. In a game against Oklahoma A&M, Bright was knocked unconscious and ultimately forced to leave the game due to injury. Bright enjoyed a hall of fame career in the Canadian Football League and was an educator, coach and principal. A public school in Edmonton also bears his name.

After years in development, The Bright Path: The Johnny Bright Story, is now available to view free on PBS.

Rallying Point: Blairmore Bandstand designated a Provincial Historic Resource

Rallying Point: Blairmore Bandstand designated a Provincial Historic Resource

Jared

Editor’s note: The banner image above, awarding of a Dominion Day track trophy at the Blairmore Bandstand, is courtesy of the Crowsnest Museum and Archives.

Written by: Ronald Kelland, Historic Places Research Officer

A well-known landmark in the Crowsnest Pass has recently been designated as a Provincial Historic resource and is now listed on the Alberta Register of Historic Places.

View of the Blairmore Bandstand from the east, showing its wooden construction and prominent position along Blairmore’s main commercial roadway, June 2021. Source: Historic Resources Management, Alberta Arts, Culture and Status of Women.

On your drive through the Crowsnest Pass, if you were to pull off Highway 3 and travel down the streets of the communities that make up the municipality you will see historic buildings that harken back to the boom periods of these coal mining towns. One structure that you may miss is a small bandstand in the community of Blairmore situated in a green space between 20th Avenue and the Canadian Pacific Railway line. It may be an unassuming structure, but the Blairmore Bandstand is one of the most significant sites in the Crowsnest Pass – a community landmark and a symbol of hard-won workers’ rights and the labour movement of the 1920s and 1930s.

The Blairmore Bandstand is typical of such structures. Built of wood, the bandstand consists of a raised, circular platform with railings and interior benches under an eight-sided, peaked roof with flagpole. Bandstands were once a common and important fixture in many Alberta communities. Associated with Victorian and Edwardian Age beliefs about the healing and restful benefits of urban green spaces, education and wholesome entertainment, bandstands were often the centrepiece of urban parks, where they were used for public events such as concerts and speeches. Being situated in publicly accessible spaces also leant their use as rallying points for social movements and protests.

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