M’CHIGEENG—Science North’s travelling exhibition, Indigenous Ingenuity, has landed in the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation (OCF) lobby, bringing interactive displays that highlight and celebrate many of the ingenious inventions of Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island.
“We started in September 2022 at the Montreal Science Centre with a 10,000 square foot exhibit,” said a Science North spokesperson. Together with Indigenous Tourism Ontario, Science North reduced the size to a more mobile 1,000 square feet. “We have been working on this for over two years.”
“Indigenous peoples from North America have long demonstrated a great sense of ingenuity, using nature as inspiration,” notes Science North’s website. “The world we know today is influenced by their innovations and scientific knowledge. The exhibition invites visitors to experience the innovative processes that give rise to Indigenous knowledge by: observing nature as a source of inspiration, listening to bearers of knowledge, experimenting with scientific principles and sharing acquired knowledge by passing it on to others.”
The Science North Exhibit highlights traditional crafts such as wild rice harvesting, snowshoes, canoes and dogsleds through interactive and hands-on displays, as well as presenting digital storyboards providing legends from Indigenous groups across Canada.
There are four regions underpinning the displays: Arctic, lakes and rivers, mountains and forest and mountains.
Among the hands-on displays is an innovative hand-held maze that deftly demonstrates consensual decision-making. With handles placed around a large circular board containing a maze and within the maze there is a ball, participants must work together to move the ball to its destination.
The OCF stop is the fifth on this tour and will be in place until May 19. “We usually stay about four to eight weeks,” sthe spokesperson noted. “We will be back in Wiikwemkoong at the high school gym in November and December.”
