(Mootookakio’ssin website)

By David Opinko/LethbridgeNewsNOW

Virtual Viewing

New website highlights historical Blackfoot items housed in British museums

Nov 22, 2021 | 3:49 PM

STANDOFF, AB – While you will not be able to see them in person without flying overseas, people in Canada have a new way of viewing historical items that belonged to the Blackfoot people.

Members of the University of Lethbridge and three British museums have launched the new interactive Mootookakio’ssin website, pronounced (moo-DOO-ka-keyo-sin).

Melissa Shouting, a member of the Kainai First Nation and a U of L graduate, says the website allows people to not only look at the items but gain a deeper understanding of the stories behind them.

“We use stories to connect with one another and utilizing the story technique allows us to control the narrative about the item and how it is being delivered. Storytelling also allows us to showcase who we are as a People, and how we think collectively when it comes to our knowledge systems.”

Shouting was part of the local delegation that travelled to Britain to document and photograph the historical items.

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“One of the reasons I said yes to going there was because we weren’t just going to look at the items and keep that knowledge to ourselves, we were going there to eventually create this website that really illustrates who we are, and then deliver it back to our community.”

Blackfoot Elder Jerry Potts says some of these items date back to the 1700s, so so the significance of being able to show these items is immeasurable.

“Some of these items were from the first contact the Blackfeet had with settlers. The material we are looking at was developed before there was any trade, so they were made with quill work and natural dyes,” says Potts. “The Blackfoot People are so tied to nature and the landscape, so you look at these items and try to imagine what they saw. Our culture and our belief system are captured in this art — there’s a lot of value in that.”

Potts sees the website as an important tool in educating Blackfoot youth and non-Indigenous peoples alike.

New Media Professor Christine Clark says the utilization of 3D imaging technology allowed them to bring the items to life in a way that would not have been possible before.